The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece
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- Create Date：2021-11-23 17:20:56
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Kevin Birmingham
- ISBN：B08X4XH97S
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Summary
From the New York Times bestselling author of THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK， the true story behind the creation of another masterpiece of world literature， Fyodor Dostoevsky's CRIME AND PUNISHMENT。
THE SINNER AND THE SAINT is the deeply researched and immersive tale of how Dostoevsky came to write this great murder story--and why it changed the world。 As a young man， Dostoevsky was a celebrated writer， but his involvement with the radical politics of his day condemned him to a long Siberian exile。 There， he spent years studying the criminals that were his companions。 Upon his return to St。 Petersburg in the 1860s， he fought his way through gambling addiction， debilitating debt， epilepsy， the deaths of those closest to him， and literary banishment to craft an enduring classic。
The germ of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT came from the sensational story of Pierre Fran�ois Lacenaire， a notorious murderer who charmed and outraged Paris in the 1830s。 Lacenaire was a glamorous egoist who embodied the instincts that lie beneath nihilism， a western-influenced philosophy inspiring a new generation of Russian revolutionaries。 Dostoevsky began creating a Russian incarnation of Lacenaire， a character who could demonstrate the errors of radical politics and ideas。 His name would be Raskolnikov。
Lacenaire shaped Raskolnikov in profound ways， but the deeper insight， as Birmingham shows， is that Raskolnikov began to merge with Dostoevsky。 Dostoevsky was determined to tell a murder story from the murderer's perspective， but his character couldn't be a monster。 No。 The murderer would be chilling because he wants so desperately to be good。
The writing consumed Dostoevsky。 As his debts and the predatory terms of his contract caught up with him， he hired a stenographer to dictate the final chapters in time。 Anna Grigorievna became Dostoevsky's first reader and chief critic and changed the way he wrote forever。 By the time Dostoevsky finished his great novel， he had fallen in love。
Dostoevsky's great subject was self-consciousness。 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT advanced a revolution in artistic thinking and began the greatest phase of Dostoevsky's career。 THE SINNER AND THE SAINT now gives us the thrilling and definitive story of that triumph。
THE SINNER AND THE SAINT is the deeply researched and immersive tale of how Dostoevsky came to write this great murder story--and why it changed the world。 As a young man， Dostoevsky was a celebrated writer， but his involvement with the radical politics of his day condemned him to a long Siberian exile。 There， he spent years studying the criminals that were his companions。 Upon his return to St。 Petersburg in the 1860s， he fought his way through gambling addiction， debilitating debt， epilepsy， the deaths of those closest to him， and literary banishment to craft an enduring classic。
The germ of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT came from the sensational story of Pierre Fran�ois Lacenaire， a notorious murderer who charmed and outraged Paris in the 1830s。 Lacenaire was a glamorous egoist who embodied the instincts that lie beneath nihilism， a western-influenced philosophy inspiring a new generation of Russian revolutionaries。 Dostoevsky began creating a Russian incarnation of Lacenaire， a character who could demonstrate the errors of radical politics and ideas。 His name would be Raskolnikov。
Lacenaire shaped Raskolnikov in profound ways， but the deeper insight， as Birmingham shows， is that Raskolnikov began to merge with Dostoevsky。 Dostoevsky was determined to tell a murder story from the murderer's perspective， but his character couldn't be a monster。 No。 The murderer would be chilling because he wants so desperately to be good。
The writing consumed Dostoevsky。 As his debts and the predatory terms of his contract caught up with him， he hired a stenographer to dictate the final chapters in time。 Anna Grigorievna became Dostoevsky's first reader and chief critic and changed the way he wrote forever。 By the time Dostoevsky finished his great novel， he had fallen in love。
Dostoevsky's great subject was self-consciousness。 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT advanced a revolution in artistic thinking and began the greatest phase of Dostoevsky's career。 THE SINNER AND THE SAINT now gives us the thrilling and definitive story of that triumph。
Reviews
Christine
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I'll keep this as short and non-scary as I can for a book about Dostoevsky and （checks notes） murder。 And to be honest， I don't have to try hard at all because this book has just the right balance of everything。"The Sinner and the Saint" sounds like it's going to focus on Dostoevsky's masterpiece "Crime and Punishment，" but really it's all about the lead-up to that book and then where it took the author's career。 The lead-up is much longer than the aftermath， probably because Kevin Birmingham's I'll keep this as short and non-scary as I can for a book about Dostoevsky and （checks notes） murder。 And to be honest， I don't have to try hard at all because this book has just the right balance of everything。"The Sinner and the Saint" sounds like it's going to focus on Dostoevsky's masterpiece "Crime and Punishment，" but really it's all about the lead-up to that book and then where it took the author's career。 The lead-up is much longer than the aftermath， probably because Kevin Birmingham's account is split down the middle。 We have half the book dedicated to our famous Russian author， and the other half centers on a man who was executed the same year that Dostoevsky turned fifteen。 This man is a French murderer called Pierre François Lacenaire， and he is part of what inspired Dostoesvky's murderer protagonist， Raskolnikov。Lacenaire's story is fascinating， not so much because of his life but more because of the phenomenon he represented。 Early 19th century France had a real true crime phase， not unlike the one we've observed in the U。S。 for the last few years。 Anyway， "The Sinner and the Saint" does a great job of summarizing the Lacenaire case， its media circus， and what made the account stand out enough for it to eventually make its way into Dostoevsky's hands years later。 I wish there had been a more chronological treatment of his criminal career， the jumping back and forth got a little confusing halfway through。 Still very well told。 The Dostoesvky biographic parts were much more gripping for me， but I was never much of a true crime enthusiast。Even if you haven't read Dostoesvky before， this is a really interesting intro to the author and his work， and it will make you appreciate how much the author went through so that we， over a hundred years later， could feel too intimidated to pick up his novels。 Dostoesvky is more approachable than you think， and Kevin Birmingham knows how to bring that out in this book。Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Press for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Christine Liu
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Dostoevsky lived a difficult and fascinating life with enough tragedy and suffering to rival some of his greatest fictional creations。 His remarkable talent as a writer launched him into literary renown at an early age with the publication of his novella， Poor Folk。 But the next period of his life was marked by critical failure， debt， and subversive political activity that culminated in being brought before a firing squad and then exiled to a Siberian prison camp。The Sinner and the Saint by Kevi Dostoevsky lived a difficult and fascinating life with enough tragedy and suffering to rival some of his greatest fictional creations。 His remarkable talent as a writer launched him into literary renown at an early age with the publication of his novella， Poor Folk。 But the next period of his life was marked by critical failure， debt， and subversive political activity that culminated in being brought before a firing squad and then exiled to a Siberian prison camp。The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham is a new book that chronicles the genesis of Crime and Punishment， the novel which heralded the start of Dowtoevsky’s most prodigious period of creative outpouring。 It’s also the story of Pierre-François Lacenaire， an aspiring French poet whose notoriously cold-blooded murder of a man and his elderly mother for their money in 1834 gave Dostoevsky some of the details of his most well known plot （and also inspired Hugo， Stendhal， Balzac， Baudelaire， and Flaubert。）The narrative is divided into three sections。 Part I offers a few glimpses into Dostoevsky’s early life， then details his subsequent foray into fiction writing and fateful involvement with the Petrashevsky Circle， a group of literary progressives who promoted ideas of social reform that the tsar found intolerably offensive。 Part II chronicles the four years he spent in Siberia as well as his subsequent return to St。 Petersburg and his process of reestablishing himself as a writer in a rapidly changing Russia。 Part III concerns the reactions to Crime and Punishment once it began to appear in print and provides a skillful dissection of why this novel had the impact it did and still continues to today。Interspersed throughout are chapters about Larcenaire and the trail of criminal schemes he concocted before he was apprehended and brought to justice by the French police， although I would have gotten just as much out of this book if all the information on Lacenaire was condensed and kept to an isolated， shorter section in the beginning。 That Dostoevsky was familiar with Lacenaire’s crimes and took inspiration from them to craft the psychology of his protagonist is clear， but this book is compelling enough just as a biographical work on Dostoevsky without the interweaving of details of Lacenaire’s life。You definitely don’t need to have read Crime and Punishment to appreciate this book。 In fact， I would recommend this as a great introduction for anyone who hasn’t read Dostoevsky but is interested in why his contributions to literature are held in such high regard。 It’s also a gripping and fascinating history of the sociopolitical climate of Russia during the mid-19th century。 。。。more
Mairi
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Genre fiction has often been sneered at， generally by the same people who hold "classics" as being the epitome of literary achievement。 Who can forget the interview where Martin Amis implied he would only stoop so low to write children's literature if he had a "brain injury。" This kind of elitism and snobbishness has always existed in the arts。 However what the many who tightly cling to this sense of superiority do not realise is that it is only very recently that realism has crept into literatu Genre fiction has often been sneered at， generally by the same people who hold "classics" as being the epitome of literary achievement。 Who can forget the interview where Martin Amis implied he would only stoop so low to write children's literature if he had a "brain injury。" This kind of elitism and snobbishness has always existed in the arts。 However what the many who tightly cling to this sense of superiority do not realise is that it is only very recently that realism has crept into literature - think about Homer， Beowulf， Shakespeare with his Wyrd Sisters， Titania and Oberon。 Human beings have always enjoyed a good does of the mysterious， miraculous， mythological and the unexplainable in our stories。 For those that read the types of books I cover in this blog， there is one book that while being called a classic is utterly and undeniably crime fiction。 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky， which has set a standard for not just crime writing but also novel writing in turn influencing Kafka， Joyce and Woolf among many others。 Dostoyevsky was part of the Golden Age of Russian Literature and is seen as a forerunner of many new movements。 But for all it's accolades and the other similar weighty tomes it will sit next to on a book shelf， at the centre of this book lies a crime， it's motivation and it's consequences， which also places it quite firmly as a piece of genre fiction。In The Sinner and The Saint， Kevin Birmingham tracks Dostoyevsky's writing of Crime and Punishment， and how his life shaped his thinking in the novel。 While most Russian writers were writers because they came from nobility and could afford to be， Dostoyevsky was slightly different。 He was born on the edge of nobility， and spent most of his life trying to pay off debts that could easily land him in jail because of a barbaric attitude to debt in that time。 Indeed one does get the impression that if someone had taken young Dostoyevsky in hand and taught him to have more than a toddlers grasp of budgeting then it could be likely that his life would have been much easier， he may well have lived longer， and been able to be happier。 It is a good a morality tale for not raising man-babies incapable of looking after themselves as any。 read more here https://true-crime-fiction。com/2021/1。。。 。。。more
3 Things About This Book
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I don’t think Dostoyevsky needed to go too far away to look for an inspiration to write Crime and Punishment， as the world around him was enough to feed him with ideas left and right。 But I found it extremely exciting that I have something common with him: passion for true crime。 Apparently America’s favorite pastime was Dostoyevsky’s favorite activity besides writing what’s know to be world classics and dreaming of good days for Mother Russia。This book could easily pass for an enjoyable history I don’t think Dostoyevsky needed to go too far away to look for an inspiration to write Crime and Punishment， as the world around him was enough to feed him with ideas left and right。 But I found it extremely exciting that I have something common with him: passion for true crime。 Apparently America’s favorite pastime was Dostoyevsky’s favorite activity besides writing what’s know to be world classics and dreaming of good days for Mother Russia。This book could easily pass for an enjoyable history book。 You get to to understand Russia during Dostoyevsky’s time， his life， his struggles， his thought process， his relationship and also this once noble， now wanna be evil French axe murderer。 The bits and pieces from these stories shaped up one of the greatest stories of all times。If you are not so into nonfiction like me but wouldn’t let it pass if you find a good one （especially about books and true crime）， well， you got yourself a winner… because this is absolutely great 2 in 1。 。。。more
Danielle M
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Crime and Punishment was the first book that I became wholly engrossed in when I took AP English in high school。 And it was after reading Song of Solomon， same class， that I began to look at literature in a different way。I loved C+P and this book THE SINNER AND THE SAINT delves into the political and social climate （from an authoritarian state that relied on serfdom to opening up the country with modernity but in a non-European centric way） and historical time period's mentality （egoism， individ Crime and Punishment was the first book that I became wholly engrossed in when I took AP English in high school。 And it was after reading Song of Solomon， same class， that I began to look at literature in a different way。I loved C+P and this book THE SINNER AND THE SAINT delves into the political and social climate （from an authoritarian state that relied on serfdom to opening up the country with modernity but in a non-European centric way） and historical time period's mentality （egoism， individualism， nihilism） that brings so much light to the time period Dostoevsky lived。 It also manages to deftly give so much perspective on who Dostoevsky was （irascible， risk-prone， hailed genius to fallen angel）。 What I enjoyed most though was a blending of characters。 As you might know， Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia for 4 years for his involvement with a radical circle。 During imprisonment， he to the best of his abilities， extracted bits of character pieces that he could smuggle in his mind to be used later in his writing and explorations of "why" someone would be pushed to kill。 Years later， D also became intrigued by a famous case of a French man （very abriefed summary） who cold-heartedly and with no apparent remorse later， who was convicted of murder and many instances of attempted murder/robbery。 What Birmingham does so well in this book is merge the stories of Dostoevsky， his MC of Crime and Punishment - Raskolnikov， and this true killer - Lacenaire into a whirlwind psychological study of motives， character examination， and context。 I was fascinated by this book and after 50 pages could not put it down。 （4。5） 。。。more
Dan
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My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group The Penguin Press for an advanced copy of this new literary biography。Inspiration can come from many places。 For the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky， inspiration came to him by reading of a French murderer who had become a celebrity in Paris， for both neutrality to his act of murder， and his gentlemanly ways。 Kevin Birmingham has in The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece written both a dua My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group The Penguin Press for an advanced copy of this new literary biography。Inspiration can come from many places。 For the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky， inspiration came to him by reading of a French murderer who had become a celebrity in Paris， for both neutrality to his act of murder， and his gentlemanly ways。 Kevin Birmingham has in The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece written both a dual biography or writer and villain， a true crime study and a history of the times and events that help create the novel Crime and Punishment。 The book， as I stated， covers many things。 Politics， philosophy， turmoil and confusion in Russia and Europe， plus the state of literature and the lives of our two protagonists。 Alternating chapters follow the author Dostoevsky from his days in military school， and the murderer Pierre François Lacenaire starting at his entry to the criminal underworld。 The similarities of both men， a love of gambling and losing fortunes， believing they were both destined for great things， exile for one， prison for another is interesting to read。 The book does a very good job of following both men as they live their lives。 The writing is absorbing and though it covers a number of different subjects does not get lost nor bogged down。 The true crime aspect is not sensationalized， but written with enough detail to understand the barbarity of the crime， and why it must have been such a thunderbolt of inspiration for a Russian author in need of a novel。 Both characters are fleshed out and interesting though how Lacenaire became the toast of Paris does escape me。 I'm not sure how acting like James Dean in court with some cool poems would make me look past the axe murder of pawnbroker and his mother， but there numerous true crime podcasts out there， so it must be just me。 A very different kind of literary study， as much a biography of a novel as it is these two men。 Much happens， but I never found it dull or confusing。 This is the second study I have read by Mr。 Birmingham， and I am excited to see what author or novel he might cover next。 。。。more
Nancy
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Crime and Punishment is a murder mystery， though the mystery isn’t who killed the pawnbroker and her sister。 The mystery is why。 from The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin BirminghamI was intrigued by the idea of The Sinner and the Saint， this biography/literary criticism/history/true crime book， and found it enjoyable and rewarding reading。As a biography of Dostoyevsky， I was astonished by his life。 He was plagued by poverty and ill health and epilepsy， and cheated by his publishers。 He became invo Crime and Punishment is a murder mystery， though the mystery isn’t who killed the pawnbroker and her sister。 The mystery is why。 from The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin BirminghamI was intrigued by the idea of The Sinner and the Saint， this biography/literary criticism/history/true crime book， and found it enjoyable and rewarding reading。As a biography of Dostoyevsky， I was astonished by his life。 He was plagued by poverty and ill health and epilepsy， and cheated by his publishers。 He became involved with radical thinkers。 He was arrested by the tsar for treason， nearly executed， and sent to Siberia where he studied criminals up close， eliciting them to share their grisly stories。 The description of life in Siberia is very affecting。 Russia had no prisons， and convict labor in Siberian mines fueled massive wealth。After four years in prison， Dostoyevsky was required to serve in the Army。 He and his brother then tried to run magazines， which failed。 He tried gambling in a desperate bid for solvency。 The tsar kept tight control with censorship of newspapers， magazines， and books， and yet Dostoyevsky wrote some of the greatest novels ever written。Russia was in turmoil， reform movements and radicalism spurring the tsar to authoritarianism。 One philosophy was to believe in nothing–nilhism。 When a man who tried to assassinate the tsar was asked by the tsar what he wanted， he replied “nothing。”The French murderer Lacenaire， unapologetic and enjoying his notoriety， inspired Dostoyevsky’s character of Raskolnikov。 Lacenaire’s wealthy family lost their fortune。 He was expelled from schools and hated his jobs， and took up gambling while trying to write。 He adopted a philosophy of egoism and decided to become an outlaw。 He had no remorse for the murders he committed and met his execution with impersonal interest。The murderer fascinated Dostoyevsky。 He decided to write a murder story from the viewpoint of the murderer。 A man who kills for no reason， for nothing。 He would not be a monster， he would be someone we could understand。Dostoyevsky’s novel is about how ideas inspire and deceive， how they coil themselves around sadness and feed on bitter fruit。（…）It is about how ideas change us and how they make us more of who we already are。from The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin BirminghamI enjoyed the book on many levels: learning about Russia under the tsar and the philosophical and political ideas that arose in 19th c Russia; as a biography of Dostoyevsky; for its discussion of Russian literature; and as a vehicle to understand Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece， Crime and Punishment。I received a free egalley from the publisher though NetGalley。 My review is fair and unbiased。 。。。more
Terese
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