Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.

This vivid translation by David McDuff has been acclaimed as the most accessible version of Dostoyevsky’s great novel, rendering its dialogue with a unique force and naturalism. This edition also includes a new chronology of Dostoyevsky’s life and work.

@RobPeterPayPaul It’s hard being a poor student – lots of work, crappy room, and I have the ugliest hat this side of the Urals.

It is a bit of a rut being so miserably impoverished. I need something to lighten up my life, something exciting…

I’ve got it. Rather than accept financial aid from my friend, I’ll murder an elderly money-lender in cold blood. Why? I’m not telling.

However, if you’d like to guess at my psychological and ideological motivations for the next couple of hundred years, be my guest.

From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less