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!