A Curse On Dostoevsky: When a Novel Turns Into a Curse!

It is a Psychological Fiction novel by the Afghani novelist Atiq Rahimi, first published in 2011. Influenced by Dostoevsky, Rassoul sheds light on the absurdity of committing a murder in a country mired in political and religious conflicts.

The moment Rassoul lifts the axe to bring it down on the old woman's head, the thought of Crime And Punishment flashed into his mind. It strikes him to the very core. his arms shake; his legs tremble. And the axe slips from his hands. It splits open the old woman's head.and sinks into her skull.

Rassoil stands in front of the old woman's corpse, troubled, burdened with his deed, and searching for the reason that prompted him to commit such a crime. Is it the need for money? Or to free his fiancée from the clutches of this old woman who works in prostitution, or did Dostoyevsky spoil the matter and incite him to kill? He leaves the corpse as it is, in its place, next to it the money and jewels, and flees between the alleys empty-handed, except for a crime that yielded nothing!

And in front of the clamor of the extremists’ guns on the one hand and the Soviet missiles on the other, the absurdity of the screaming appears as Rasul loses his voice, his throat becomes dry from the letters and his inner voice alone remains the resounding echo of his growing crime within him. Who will now listen to his confession? How can he explain his crime? None of this will happen now. Dostoevsky ripped out his voice and ran away!!

The writer later depicts the state of turmoil and confusion that Rassoul suffers from after committing his crime, mentioning the general atmosphere that hangs over that burning country, within a narrative that is not devoid of a philosophical, social, and even psychological character. Accurately describing Afghan society in its human, social, and political composition, trying to convey the approach of the novel Crime and Punishment, but with the Afghanization of names, atmospheres, and personalities.

Rassoul's confusion and his certainty of the absurdity of his act increase when he decides to return to the old woman's house to see what happened to her corpse, and he sees that manifestations of peace and tranquility hang over the neighborhood, as there are no policemen searching for a suspect, no chaos indicating that this place has committed a crime, and he has not been heard. Nobody talks about the existence of a corpse in the first place! So who came after him and erased all this evidence? Who erased his crime? But does it really exist?

This question had a resounding impact on the soul of Rassoul, as he enters into a state of conflict to prove to himself and others the importance of his act, as he only wants to give his crime a true meaning with a lofty goal, not just to be in the chaotic killing contexts disguised behind outdated religious and social beliefs, but rather to be the motive behind the trial of all war criminals and putting them before accountability and trial.

During his search for someone who believes him, he saw a commander of one of the camps, who listens to him and finds him innocent, because no similar crime has occurred, and even if it existed, the killing of a usurious woman is considered an application of justice! Dostoevsky claimed one day that if God is not Exists, everything will be permitted. But God is present in Afghanistan not to prevent sins, but to justify them!

In any case, Rassoul rejects these allegations and continues his research, until he falls into the hands of the ruler who hears him and begins to prepare for his trial on charges of "possession of Russian books", which are supposedly communist, and not on charges of premeditated murder. In Afghanistan, you can kill, rape and steal, provided you are not a traitor to your country and its principles.

To what extent did this crime reach absurdity? Is it possible to what extent this country has become so chaotic that possession of Russian books is considered a crime more than killing a human being? Here, the writer Ateeq Rahimi depicts the strangeness of this trial and enters Kafka's labyrinth in his novel The Trial. As long as there are no witnesses, victims, or evidence, only a delirious and delusional confession of murder.

For Rassoul, in the end, it is not how he is judged that matters but why he is judged! He just wants to rip out that fragment from his heart that is generated by how guilty he feels about the act of killing. He just wants to be prosecuted to alert his countrymen to how reprehensible the act of murder is and to sow the seeds of guilt in the soul of every murderer.

In an interview with the writer to talk about his book, he quotes the philosopher Jacques Lacan, to explain the duality he worked on in his novel: "Guilt causes two types of mental illnesses, either neurosis for those who are still closed inside this guilt and refuse to get out of it, or psychosis for those who They refuse to enter it.” He is now dealing with a case of psychosis.

Rahimi wrote this novel in loyalty to his brother, who was studying in the Soviet Union until he became a communist, and volunteered with the Soviet forces while they were in Afghanistan and was killed by the Afghan Mujahideen. “This novel is for those who do not feel guilty about the bloody history of this country,” Rahimi said one day.

Book information

Book: A Curse On Dostoevsky

Author: Atiq Rahimi

Release date: 2013

Pages: 276

Genre: Psychological Fiction