by Fyodor Dostoevsky
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
SUITE 3 LITERATURE – SKIP TO A PAGE
BOMBER PILOT ⎔ BURDA MODEN ⎔ CRIME & PUNISHMENT ⎔ THE COMPLETE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ⎔ MASH ⎔ OUTDOOR LIFE ⎔ TIME MAGAZINE ⎔ THE THREE LITTLE PIGS ⎔ TRAVEL HOLIDAY MAGAZINE
APPEARANCE
118:47-118:55; 119:31-120:14; 120:19-120:26; 122:41; 123:35-123:37
Appears to be in the Suite 3 bookcase (top shelf, red spine), next to some Russian translation of Shakespeare (the Shakespeare only appears in one shot, as we’ll see, later).
IDENTITY
Crime and Punishment is another classic work of highly-celebrated literature, which is said to invoke a kind of mirrorform quality, the first half being reflected by the events of the second half.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
The main character is Rodion, which means “song of the hero”, derived from the Greek Heroides. This was also the name of a collection of Ovid’s poems, which involves Theseus twice and Ariadne once (not to mention Hercules and Danaus). Rodion murders a morally compromised woman because he thinks he could spend her money better than she could.
Not being totally certain of this book being the book (I’m reasonably certain, just not 100%), I’ll forego a large analysis of the man, but suffice to say, he’s been influenced by a few of the writers we’ve looked at already, and was roundly praised by figures who’ve factored in Kubrick’s thoughts over the years. Placing him next to a Russian Shakespeare was, I imagine, Kubrick’s way of saying, “These guys? These guys are the guys.” Crime and Punishment‘s mirrorform hinges upon the middle-murder of the morally compromised woman, and I wonder if Kubrick saw a connection to the murder of Julius Caesar near the middle of Julius Caesar.
Also, while the spine is blurry, it appears to have been published along with another of Dostoevsky’s works, which I can’t make out, I’m afraid.
Fun fact: if we treat the backwards “DR” in the centre of Danny’s REDRUM for their Cyrillic value, the word would read as something like “Redyum”, which sounds an awful lot like Rodion in my book.
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
OTHER MAIN PAGES FOR SHINING ANALYSIS
THE MIRRORFORM ⎔ THE BEATLES ⎔ THE RUM AND THE RED
BACKGROUND ART ⎔ OVERLOOK PHOTOGRAPHS ⎔ GOLDEN SPIRALS
PHI GRIDS ⎔ PATTERNS ⎔ VIOLENCE AND INDIGENA ⎔ ABSURDITIES
THE STORY ROOM ⎔ ANIMAL SYMBOLS ⎔ THE ANNOTATED SHINING
