Situated in the late 19th century, this is a novel written by history’s most esteemed writers, Leo Tolstoy. This novel will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, not only making you fall in love with the literature but also making you question and detest the school of thought behind it. Keeping the writer’s history in mind, Leo Tolstoy although was a sensualist in his youth, he grew up to become more anachronistic and to put it loosely, more venomous with his ideologies. This is why I would deem this novel as one of the most controversial and thought-provoking literary pieces out there. 

This work of Tolstoy is a bitter story driven by jealous, rage and suspicion. The story follows the journey of an old man travelling from Moscow to the deep wild parts of Russia. At the initial stage of the journey he is accompanied by a few other persons, however one of the companions is rather suspicious and eerie. Turns out that this companion has been released from jail on the exoneration of the murder of his wife. Although being guilty of the crime the man was let go because the jury deemed it as a crime of passion. The era being the mid 19th century can easily be the justification behind the highly questionable verdict. Therefore, this extremely mentally disturbed man was let out back into the world because he was no longer a threat to anyone as the wife (the person in danger) was already dead. Just as this long journey progresses the number of companions of the narrator start to decrease and the suspicious man gets close to the narrator and starts to give him all the insights on this crime of passion. 

While reading this novella, I would highly suggest that you divorce your emotions and get into the depth of the writing itself. Instead of focusing on the rather obvious fact i .e. how the murder was not justified, try to understand how the toxic and jealous nature of the man drove him to utter and complete madness.

 Personally, I thought this novel to be beautifully constructed but at the same time it undoubtedly infuriated me because the justifications for the murder were making no sense and complete sense at the same time. It was a short read so I was really able to dwell on the outrageous ramblings of the murderer. Although I think that the man was completely insane but the way Tolstoy gave us the tool to pick apart the brains of this man with the progression of the book was magnificent. Gentle suggestion would be to not read this book if you are a first-time reader or if you would mind a few brain fuses being blown by the end of this galvanic script. But if you do choose to read it, suspend your emotions and be prepared to fall in love with Tolstoy’s stimulating prose. 

-Marwa Elahi