Concluding Thoughts | Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment #43

[@jghodnette]

Excellent project and very helpful commentary throughout.

[@Historelic]

I was one of the listeners who requested for this novel, I am grateful for the time and effort you put into making it happen and that too in a very insightful manner, really enjoying this beautiful audiobook I just wish I had more time to finish it and start again.

[@hippiasminor6264]

Thanks very kindly for sticking with me! This project took me a year longer than anticipated (yikes!), so I'm sure it may have tested the audience's patience. :)

[@idontcare9661]

great work as always, though I have gripes with crime and punishment as a work you still provided a great experience for it, and your little annotations are also great as always, and I even wish you did more of your own personal option, in between the chapters of course! I am curious though why you have done crime and punishment when you still have some other shorter ones you could do? Though perhaps you’re not just going from shortest to longest.

[@hippiasminor6264]

Many thanks! I'm curious--what shorter works do you have in mind? I got a tip some months ago concerning a story I might have passed over. (Perhaps that was from you?) But I wonder if there are more on that list...

[@idontcare9661]

@@hippiasminor6264 well you do mention doing the adolescent next which is shorter, and the idiot is shorter to, It’s partially my fault because I thought devils was also shorter but after brief research it’s not. I just figured you were going shortest to longest not saying you should

[@hippiasminor6264]

Ah, I see. Yes, Adolescent and Idiot are roughly on a par with C&P lengthwise. In fact, I had guessed that they both might be slightly longer in terms of words, but at least one source says I'm wrong. But yes, the current plan puts Adolescent next...although it might take me a while to get to it, given a writing commitment I'm under.

[@idontcare9661]

@@hippiasminor6264Ooh, a writing commitment?

[@hippiasminor6264]

@idontcare9661 Yes--I have a contract for a boring academic book that will gather dust on a couple of research libraries somewhere. :) Not Dostoevsky-related, though. It concerns issues of moral responsibility in both secular and theological contexts.

[@jessicapryer9681]

Fantastic audiobook and analysis! Thank you so much! This was my first Russian classic, and it was made much easier to understand with your help.

[@hippiasminor6264]

Excellent--glad to hear it!

[@hazemfreeman5051]

Masterpiece. Music to the ear

[@tenzinchoegyal8764]

SO great , the whole project. And the conclusions were not too long at all for, greatly appreciated. Thank you for the whole thing and all the effort put in it

[@hippiasminor6264]

Thanks very kindly, and thanks for sticking with me!

[@KraussAudioBooks]

Woooo thanks for the conclusion! Looking forward to your thoughts on this masterpiece

[@hippiasminor6264]

These are the most extensive comments I've provided on this channel, and so I'm afraid they've run a bit long. For listeners who would (understandably!) like to skip around, I've provided a set of timestamps in the video description with a bit more detail (with extra subheadings) than what is visually presented on the screen.

[@TobEOrN0t2bE]

Great work

[@austinnottingham522]

Thank you so much for these concluding thoughts! I like this style of ending a book reading with discussion. It reminds me of when I finish watching a film with family and friends and I get the chance to discuss the themes or messages with them. I for one tend to agree with you conclusion on "Raskolnikov's theory". (Though in transparency it could be the fact that I am a practicing Christian, and it aligns with my worldview.) I believe that love and servitude to God and to ones fellow man is a far better way to live than those consumed by selfish ambition and grasps for power. (Without regard of who it hurts or affects.) We see many examples of such men through history and they seldom have a positive impact on society or the individual person. In addition, in the case of an "Orlov" I would argue that those are more the characteristics of a disconnected psychopath rather than an "ubermensch" or "Napoleon". To echo your sentiments "there is nothing admirable about being beyond goodness" or concern for ones fellow man. Many scientists agree that empathy and concern for others is a sign of high intelligence. So I would argue the lack of these characteristics is more a sign of regression rather ascension to the state of the superior.

[@hippiasminor6264]

Amen. Your comment about Orlov leads to a question I didn't really dive into much in these recorded comments, and is perhaps worth consideration: what exactly are the outlines of an ubermensch, and how do they *differ* from the disconnected psychopath? I've been just looking at a little book on the Pacific theater of WWII--and it seems that such occasions really do call for the callousness of a MacArthur, who looks at divisions of marines as pieces on a chessboard. (They *also* call for the heroism of a PFC Desmond Doss, the pacifist medic who saved 75 lives while under heavy fire on Okinawa.) I would hesitate to call MacArthur a Napoleon in the way Raskolnikov defines that concept--but certainly there are contexts in which the stark utilitarian guidelines seem to provide the clearest way forward. (One fine book on this topic is Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars, the first chapter of which engages the question of whether "all is fair in [love and] war." He argues for moral norms even in the theater of combat--I think his argument is largely persuasive, and it cuts against R's theory.)

[@austinnottingham522]

@@hippiasminor6264 That is a provoking question. One of which I might research further, should I have the free time to do so. Philosophy and the many ideas from it can be an endlessly entertaining to explore. To be honest with you I haven't heard of Michal Walzer or his book. However they sound interesting, and like something i'd like to read or listen to. Do you know of anyone who has made an audio reading of it? No worries if you don't. I just thought you might since you're familiar with the book.

[@hippiasminor6264]

Afraid I don't know of any audio version--although I haven't looked for one. I wouldn't be surprised to see one on Audible, although of course that's not a free service. Just did a quick search on Google to find a full-text presentation of that first chapter, and it appears to have been successfully protected by the publisher. (I got a lot of search returns of people *responding* to Walzer, though.) That first chapter goes by the title "Against 'Realism,'" and it is more or less a response to Thucydides and those who agree with the Athenian generals in that famous Melian dialogue.

[@austinnottingham522]

@@hippiasminor6264 Ok great! Thank you so much, I will check it out.

[@detectiveassassin7937]

Great job, I actually kept with you until the end of your journey but some stuff happened in my own life at the time this video was uploaded that dampened my enthusiasm for literature for a little bit, I was reading TBK then but I put it aside, I did pick it up again a month ago and I'm 2 chapters into Book 12 now, I wonder when you will continue with your journey into Dostoevsky with The Adolescent, your method of analysis results in deep immersion in the work in a way that I'm yet to see elsewhere. I'm also keen to see you tackle the rest of the "big 5" especially The Possessed and TBK, though I know those will probably not be uploaded anytime soon, I'm keen to see your take on them, I can only imagine how vast an analysis of TBK could be. Also, I haven't finished it yet but in regards to the book, I think it is mainly a theodicy by Dostoevsky as well as a focus on the state of morality without god. (mainly with the famous" Without God Everything is Permitted." line.).

[@hippiasminor6264]

I need to get back into BK myself one of these days! It's been too long... Glad you could get back into the literary world. I've been in a holding pattern for a while as I've been tied up with other commitments. (I am trying to finish up a draft of a book, which is eating up my bandwidth.) But I hope to get back into the fold in a bit...

[@hazemfreeman5051]

I can make a slight connection of you being Senator Josh Hawley😅😂

[@hippiasminor6264]

Ha! Now, I'll have to listen to Senator Hawley to catch the point of comparison. 😀 Nevertheless, I'm afraid I don't traffic in such exalted circles in my day job and serve as a very humble professor.

[@venatorpaul8195]

Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only great man. Everyone else is a sheep. Part of the herd. Some only manage to be at the front of the herd like Napoleon, but nevertheless, they are still sheep being lead by the Great man himself, who is Jesus of Nazareth.

[@hippiasminor6264]

I'm inclined to agree with you--strongly. Unless, that is, I strongly disagree with you. (Ha!) Much depends upon interpretation, per usual. As I see it, the gospel message surprises us with the idea that the greatest of all human persons (indeed, the greatest metaphysically possible human person) neither had nor desired the greatness of a Napoleon (as Raskolnikov understands that "greatness"). (So...the "WWJD" bracelet signifies something radically different from the content of a "WWND" bracelet, so to speak.) I'm guessing that's part of what you meant. And yes--in the final analysis, we are all sheep!