A surprising read...

The Kreutzer Sonata is the tale (or rather narrative) of a man who kills his wife on the mere suspicion of her committing infidelity.

The story itself starts off with his seemingly rather preposterous misogynistic claims and his viewing of women as inferior beings that only act to charm and "trap" men. Frankly, it is quite alarming how misogynistic it is initially but the quality of the writing and description will keep you reading to at least understand Pozdnishef's (the murderer and narrator of this story) mentality and actions.

Pozdnishef emphasises Christian ideals such as sexual abstinence before marriage and mentions his faithfulness to his wife which he felt was not being reciprocated several times. Despite there being no definite evidence of his wife's infidelity the great detail he uses to explain his mechanism of thought that led him to committing the murder seems almost logical and justified.

Taking a break halfway through the story and letting it sit in your mind makes you realise that Pozdnishef is not wrong in his claims about women and they can actually be seen as a criticism of the objectification of women by society. This also partially explains the censorship of this piece by Russian authorities and the public of that time declaring it an "immoral" and "improper" piece of writing. It is beyond easy to use the theme of this book (jealousy being portrayed as a justifiable means to murder) as a way to condemn it but notably harder to understand the allusions to systematic misogyny and sexism made by this story.

4/5
To conclude, the "moral" of this story may not be something very conspicuous to all but definitely something that brought this book from a 2 star review to a 4 star review.