Iranian reading contest picks “Crime and Punishment”

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Iran’s Hasht Behesht Book Reading Contest has selected Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1866 novel “Crime and Punishment” for its new edition, which will be held on June 25.

The Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research is the organizer of the contest, which will be held online, and applicants have been called on to register through bookrc.ir.

Over five Persian translations of “Crime and Punishment” by Mehri Ahi, Parviz Shahdi, Asghar Rastegar, Ahad Aliqolian, Hamidreza Atashbarab and Ahmad Banpur have so far been published in Iran.

The novel was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866.

It was later published in a single volume. It is the second of Dostoevsky’s full-length novels following his return from ten years of exile in Siberia. 

“Crime and Punishment” is considered the first great novel of his “mature” period of writing. The novel is often cited as one of the supreme achievements in literature.

The novel focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money. 

Before the killing, Raskolnikov believes that with the money he could liberate himself from poverty and go on to perform great deeds. However, once the deed is done he finds himself racked with confusion, paranoia and disgust for his actions. His justifications disintegrate completely as he struggles with guilt and horror and confronts the real-world consequences of his act.

French writer Victor Hugo’s celebrated novel “Les Misérables” was selected for the previous edition of the Hasht Behesht Book Reading Contest, which was in September 2020.

source: Tehran Times