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These extraordinary people also bring to mind Nietzsche's Übermensch.

I found this chapter particularly oppressive because of the way in which Porfiri tries to herd Raskolnikov into a corner. He seems to know exactly what Raskolnikov has done. And he just keeps on coming. As I've said before, I don't like Raskolnikov and yet I'm on his side. Dostojewski forces the reader to look at things from Raskolnikov's perspective.

Funny you should mention Columbo, because that's exactly who I was thinking of too. :-)

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I read in a comment over on @Dana • Dostoevsky Bookclub’s Substack that Columbo was actually inspired by Porfiry. Figures!

I agree that the author has us rooting for Raskolnikov, even though he’s a double murderer. That never happened in Columbo though, right?

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Ha ha, no!

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