Day Ninety-Seven

7/7

The Book: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

ISBN: 978-1-59308-081-5

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: Home (Longview, Tx)

When: 9-9:30P

Music: None

Company: Sissy

Pages: 258-313(55)

The Lead In: Dostoevsky takes some shots at God, but he does it through the lips of the murderer. I wonder if this is done to blunt the attack, or to use a despicable character to espouse something he disagreed with?

The 411 on the 55: Raskolnikov is becoming more and more ragged. He alternates between calm and insanity and switches quickly. He visits his sister’s fiancee with the rest of his family and a close friend and eventually it is revealed that the lawyer is a jerk and a control freak. They throw him out and the marriage is off. Money has been willed to his sister so things are not as pressing as it was originally thought.

A stranger meets R in the street, accuses him of murder, and walks away. Later, R visits the daughter (a prostitute) of the man who got ran over before. He mocks Sonya’s faith, but she is still nice to him. Eventually, he forces her to read the story of Lazarus to him.

Line of the Day: “I shall be a religious maniac myself soon! It’s infectious!” pg 311

Fact on the Fiction: Lazarus has made many appearances in popular works. On the list, Moby-Dick, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, and A Separate Peace. This passage is particularly important to Crime and Punishment in that it provides hope for both of Raskolnikov and Sonya. Both have experienced a sort of spiritual death, Sonya because of her extreme poverty and the time she spent as a prostitute in an attempt to support her family, and Raskolnikov because of his alienation from society. They feel that, like Lazarus, they may someday experience a sort of resurrection that would allow them to end their spiritual depravity.

Day Ninety-Six

7/6

The Book: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

ISBN: 978-1-59308-081-5

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: Mugshot (Longview, Tx)

When: 5:30-6P

Music: Classical

Company: Sissy

Pages: 202-257(55)

The Lead In: There is a distinctly Christian vibe in this coffeeshop and its freaking me out.

The 411 on the 55: Quickly now, R seems to come around with his sister marrying the rich lawyer, and seems to want to make things right with him. R’s friend convinces him to run by the inspector who is investigating the murders so he can claim the items he had pawned. R has qualms but goes.

Instantly, he realizes it was a mistake to go. The inspector goes after his logic on crime and tries to get him to confess. R is irritated with himself for showing up and looks down on the inspector’s line of question. There is an interesting interchange I wish I had the time and energy to describe. It focuses on how society doesn’t have the right to control great man, and they should operate above society’s laws..

Line of the Day: “If he gets out and has a breath of fresh air...it is horribly close in his room...But where can you get a breath of fresh air here? Even the streets here feel like shut-up rooms. Goodness! What a town!” pg 230

Fact on the Fiction: The name, Fyodor, means “divine gift.” It is a variant of Theodore.

Day Ninety-Five

7/5

The Book: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

ISBN: 978-1-59308-081-5

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: Home (Longview, Tx)

When: 8-8:45

Music:None

Company: Family

Pages: 146-201(55)

The Lead In: Being on vacation makes reading more difficult, but not impossible.

The 411 on the 55: The badgering of Raskolnikov continues until he has had enough and forces everyone out of his apartment. After they leave he gathers up and heads out to drink tea. While there, his friend, Zametov, comes in and, in the course of one of his diatribes, he admits to killing the lady and her sister, but his friend seems to assume he is still sick.

After leaving the bar, Raskolnikov happens to walk past an accident. A drunk (turns out to be a drunk R had met previously) has been run over by his car. It is a touching, but cynical scene when he is brought in to die on the couch. R hands a handle-full of money over to his widow and seems to change his view on life.

Upon arriving him, he discovers his sister and mother and fights with them over his sister’s engagement. Two of his friends decide his sister is hot and begin hitting on her. Ah, with friends like that...

Line of the Day: “Where is it I’ve read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he’d only got room to stand, with the ocean, everlasting darkness, everlasting solitude, everlasting tempest around him, if he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live like that than to die at one! Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be!” pg 154

Fact on the Fiction: Great quote. "Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientist, more than Gauss!" -- Einstein

Day Ninety-Four

7/4 (Happy 4th!)

The Book: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

ISBN: 978-1-59308-081-5

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: Mugshot (Longview, Tx)

When: 1:30-

Music: Happy Hollow - Cursive

Company: Sissy

Pages: 90 - 145(55)

The Lead In: Had some difficulty reading today, had an Iced American with 4 shots. Bouncing a bit.

The 411 on the 55: Part two of this book begins with Raskolnikov summoned to the police station (he finds out later it is for an IOU). He is shaken and ill, requiring the help of friends he has either ignored up to this point or hates. They nurse him back to help and, during the process, discuss the murder case against two painters (one that ol’ Rasko might know a little about...).

His sister’s fiance shows up to meet him and, in response, he is rude and contrary to everything the poor man says.

Line of the Day: “...and now I see that I want nothing. Do you hear? Nothing at all...no-one’s services...no-one’s sympathy. I am by myself...alone. Come on, that’s enough. Leave me alone.” pg 110 (that’s some tasty existentialism)

Fact on the Fiction: On the making of “Crime and Punishment” (the 1935 movie): “Von Sternberg, who was contractually obligated to make the film, disliked it, later writing that is was "no more related to the true text of the novel than the corner

Day Ninety-Three

7/3

The Book: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

ISBN: 978-1-59308-081-5

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: On the road

When: 4-4:45P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 30-89 (59)

The Lead In: When I was a kid, I read a comic book version of this book. There was a scene when a woman got an axe in the head. I remember as a kid, it freaked me out. Nice to see the scene the second day in.

The 411 on the 55: Meet Raskolnikov, an ex-student who lives in the city, without a job or any desire to have one. His sister and mother support him with money, in hopes that he will turn out well. He pawns all that he owns with the same lady, an old crone who he comes to see as the embodiment of his pain and, eventually, his chance.

Rasko wanders the city considering what he will do but keeps coming back to the idea of knocking off the old lady and stealing her fortune. He is pushed further that direction when his mother sends him a letter informing of his sister’s pending marriage to a rich, older lawyer. Upon reading the letter, he interprets everything in relation to himself, assuming that his sister is only doing it in hopes of getting him a job.

Unable to just be happy for his sister, he decides that the deed must be done. If he gets money, she can beg off. He travels to the old lady’s house and hatchets her to death. During the robbery part of the crime, her sister walks into the house and he dispatches her as well. He is almost discovered in his exit, but manages to sneak away.

Line of the Day: “He thought of nothing and was completely incapable of thinking; but he felt suddenly in his whole being that he had no more freedom of thought, no will, and that everything was suddenly and irrevocable decided.” pg 63

Fact on the Fiction: During the writing and serial publishing of Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky paused to hammer out (in a month) The Gambler. He did this to complete a contractual clause and maintain rights to his work. (from the introductory material)

Day Ninety-Two

7/2

The Book: Serve the People by Yan Lianke

ISBN: 978-0-8021-7044-6

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: Home

When: 8-8:15P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 192-217 (55)

The Lead In: I liked this book. It was sweet.

The 411 on the 55: As everything has been disbanded and his world is falling apart, Wu decides to try to see Liu. She is uninterested in him and gives him the “Serve the People” sign they had used to signal romance time. He leaves for the city.

15 years later, he spots his son (by Liu) in the street and attempts to see his mistress. When he finally gets to the house, she sends him a note asking him if he wants money, he is crushed and instead gives her back her sign. End of story.

The 20/20: Sweet story, nice period piece. I liked it very much. A quick read.

Line of the Day: “The secret sank without a trace, like a piece of gold into the sea. pg 208

Fact on the Fiction: “The novel [Serve the People!] was banned by the Chinese government at least partially because of its depiction of items related to Mao Zedong, who is still revered by many Chinese people in China.” Wikipedia

Day Ninety-One

7/1

The Book: Serve the People by Yan Lianke

ISBN: 978-0-8021-7044-6

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: WalMart Automotive Dept.

When: 9-10A

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 65-191 (126)

The Lead In: The last couple of days have been incredibly hectic due to job stuff, and I feel I haven’t been fair in the focus on this book. Got a lot of reading done today, while waiting on my car’s oil to get changed.

The 411 on the 55: OK, quick buzz through this as I am almost done with the book. Wu is a young man who is trying to get promoted within the political system in China, he does this by working in the military. As a chance to move up, he takes a position working in the house of the commander. When the commander leaves town for a bit, the wife of the commander, Liu, decides to seduce him.

He is reluctant at first, but eventually gives in. The rebellion of this relationship extends beyonds the simple bonds of marriage that both of them are breaking. It is also an issue of class difference, military protocol and political viewpoints. They find love in the most complicated of situation.

After several months of awesomeness, the commander returns and Wu is sent off to the village where his family lives. He is cold to his wife and gives up on trying to make it work, returning to his army base. When he arrives, he discovers the entire regiment has been broken up and disbanded. He, unlike the other soldiers, has been given a nice office job in the city, just as Liu had promised him.

Line of the Day: “‘Serve the People,’ she said, ‘take it off.” pg 87

Fact on the Fiction: “Mao’s two most famous essays, both from 1937, 'On Contradiction' and 'On Practice', are concerned with the practical strategies of a revolutionary movement and stress the importance of practical, grassroots knowledge, obtained through experience. Both essays reflect the guerrilla roots of Maoism in the need to build up support in the countryside against a Japanese occupying force and emphasise the need to win over 'hearts and minds' through 'education'.” Wikipedia