Crime and Punishment

During an exhibition including Osama Tezuka's Crime and Punishment in St. Petersbrug in 2007, Dostoyevsky's great grand son speculated that the Russian people would view a cartoon version of the masterwork as blasphemy. Great books are meant to read not distilled. This Inquisitorial spirit certainly misses what manga can do.Tezuka takes some liberties with the original story. He changes the roles of characters a bit. He alters the order of some key events in the psychological development of Raskolnikov. He ties the theme of murder and its intellectual justification into a full-fledged riot at the end of his novel. He adds tons of slapstick humor and adds anachronistic flourishes to the story.Strangely, this mishmash presents Dostoyevsky's vision in tack. Christian mysticism is a light sprinkle to the tale, whereas it plays a more prominent role in Dostoyevsky's original work. Yet, Dostoyevsky's critique of the extraordinary individual shines through, and its anti-social implications are revealed in their full revolutionary fervor.I became familiar with Tezuka's works two decades ago when attending a three week workshop on Japanese culture. I was initially intrigued by the fact the writer had written a multi volume philosophy of history titled Phoenix. I was initially put off by the childish animations, but after overcoming a bit of scholarly snobbery, I dove in and began to enjoy his work. It was surprising how he dealt so lightly with such deep topics. The compact nature of his symbolism of humanity's most serious concerns wrapped up with Tezuka's sense of humor was a remarkable achievement of the human spirit.This rendition of a literary classic is an early of achievement of Tezuka and it is well worth the hour or so I spent to engage it. I have studied Dostoyevsky extensively. His major works take hours of time, and I should note it is time well spent. Tezuka's homage does no harm to the great works of the author. For those who only wish to spend an hour, Tezuka gives them a marvelous gift. Others may take this gift and decide to go more deeply into the work of the great Russian writer. Both will gain a pearl of great price.

It's nothing fancy or expensive, but I'm always happy to have more Tezuka volumes published in English. Keep them coming!