After 16 weeks over two years in Russia under Boris Yeltsin’s rule, I acquire enough tales to fill a book…in fact, I filled several journals with the goings on of a college student studying abroad.
As luck would have it, I took a Russian Literature class the semester before my summer in Russia. One of the books we read was “Crime and Punishment” by Feyder Dostoyevsky.
While in St. Petersburg I met a musician and we became friends. The afternoon we spent walking the streets of St. Petersburg, discussing physics no less; I began to wonder about the story of Raskolnikov and his travels through the city.
We started at what was then the Haymaker Market – today it is a Metro station – and began to see if we could figure out the path he took back to his attic apartment.
Thanks to one of the Russians involved with the group, I got the address of that attic apartment and with the help of my friend – he got the code to enter the building – and we climbed the stairs to that attic. Standing there on a hot July day, it was easy to understand how hot it could be in summer.
Walking down the stairs, we passed what was the landlady’s apartment along the way.
The journey brought the story to life like nothing else could. I enjoy books that accurately describe the surroundings so that you can get a feel for the place and the setting. Walking the streets of St. Petersburg put me back into the setting of that story.
I have not ready “Crime and Punishment” since that class; but the memories of that afternoon are still with me…along with many other stories of street musicians, tourist attractions, school children, walking the streets of the city, and Bela Noch (white nights).