I'm about 200 pages into Crime and Punishment and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I find Raskolnikov fascinating, as his character seems to evolve in every chapter. He's gone from neurotic to venomous to aloof to confident to vulnerable to somewhat altruistic. This constant metamorphosis can be somewhat confusing and disjointed but one must observe the subtle moments in which these changes occur. One can then appreciate the wherefore of these changes dependant upon the circumstances of each situation presented. The continual undercurrent of anxiety keeps the story moving so that when characters such as the long-winded Razumikhin goes off on an emotionally charged tangent, the reader is less aggravated. I'm still trying to understand Rodya's motivation for the murder, as it cannot be for the initial reason presented by the character himself -- money (which seemed to stem from a sense of revenge against someone who had money by someone who didn't), for he didn't even make off with much and later threw it away. I don't even think it was a test of wits to see if he could pull off something so heinous. It's almost as if he relishes the idea of having committed such an act in order to lay claim to it -- to have something that is his own, that no one can take from him. Perhaps this is why he amuses himself with such perilous conversations where he finds himself on the verge of admitting the truth. He wants to invite the interlocutor in to his world, tease them with a taste of his perversion, and banish them completely. How delicious!

So, I've actually been reading more lately. With the new store opening, I have a lot of free time on my hands so I've been bringing books. The first book, since the last post, was Lucifer's Shadow. It takes place in Venice now and back in the 1730's during the age of Vivaldi. Actually, Vivaldi (one of my favorite composers) is mentioned as a character several times in the book. In both time periods, it follows the lives of an owner of a particular violin and the mysterious death involving both of the female owners. It's really the kind of book you should read while in Venice or planning a trip to Venice, or after you've returned from Venice, as there are too many geographical references to count. Plus the whole mysterious air surrounding the story could be more greatly appreciated with some sort of familiarity with the city. It was a pretty good book in terms of its intentional cliff-hanger mentality. Next, I read Gilgamesh, the first written piece of literature (preceding the Bible, and Homer, etc.) I read a lot of commentary and analysis before actually tackling the poem itself. This, I found much more interesting the the actually work. Perhaps it was the rather prosaic translation but there wasn't anything captivating about the story. It is a true epic, but there is hardly any character development (outside of some basic descriptions) nor anything to incite even the most remote sympathetic feelings toward the characters. Perhaps I will read an earlier, and perhaps more sophisticated translation of the story and change my mind. What I found very interesting was the translator's (Stephen Mitchell) analysis of Shahmat and Ishtar's place in society as prostitutes and Gilgamesh's possible homosexual relationship with Enkidu. Mitchell's notes alone make this worth reading. Next I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers. After the first few pages into the prologue/introduction I discovered that this was quite possibly the best book I've ever read. I read every page (including the copyright page) and discovered each page to be charming, witty, clever and each joke is fresh, better than the last. I recommend it to EVERYONE. My brother, a non-literate, is thoroughly enjoying the book and I am happy to finally have something about which to discuss with him. Now I'm reading Crime and Punishment, truly a must for me as a lover of intense Russian (redundant?) literature. The first 150 pages are great and I haven't gotten lost in any sort of political mish-mash as I usually do with Russian novels. Next on my list will be either Melymbrosia by Virginia Woolf (whom I LOVE) or Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson. Ciao for now.