The Brothers Karamazov

This was my choice for the Russian Classic category of the 2017 Back to the Classics Challenge. I was most intimidated by this category, since I assumed Russian classics are probably mostly thick-as-brick epics filled with tragic events in ice and snow, with political uprisings, tsars and serfs in the background. This book sounded interesting because the blurb said it could well be one of the greatest novels of all time, and that's a very bold claim. I was sceptical about that, but then I started, and WOW! Now I'll have to call it one of my all time favourites. As well as being quite an intense family saga, it's all about faith versus doubt, and reason versus passion. It is pretty thick, but I wanted to keep reading every chance I could.It all takes place in a little village called 'Skotprigonyevsk.' Luckily for us, most of the time it's simply referred to as 'our little town.'Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov is a lecherous, unpleasant old man who has three sons in their twenties from two different wives, both of whom he treated horribly. On the surface, each of the boys could be said to represent one of the three aspects of man. There's physical Dmitri, who can't master his earthly passions; intellectual Ivan, whose brain keeps torturing him; and spiritual Alexey, who feels called to enter a monastery as a novice, aged twenty. If you think this makes them sound like cardboard, one-sided characters, no way! They are all deep and complex enough to make us love them.Oh, and there's also Smerdyakov, Fyodor's young servant. Although it's never been openly acknowledged, everyone is 99.9% certain that he is actually his illegitimate son, since Fyodor was rumoured to have raped 'Stinking Lizaveta' the mute village vagrant who gave birth in his garden. Although Smerdyakov knows better than to ever acknowledge his half brothers as such, there's a major chip on his shoulder as he hangs creepily in the background. Dmitri calls him, 'the epitome of all the cowards in the world on two legs, with no character to speak of.'One night, old Fyodor gets what many believe was probably coming to him. Someone smashes the back of his skull and kills him, and it was most likely one of his sons, who have a swarm of motives between them.It's easy for everyone to pin the blame on Dmitri, whose name is shortened quite often to Mitya. An impulsive guy who'll wear his heart on his sleeve, he always speaks (or punches) before he thinks. He made no secret that he wanted to kill the old man, who has not only withheld Dmitri's inheritance from his mother, but is also trying to use it to seduce Grushenka, the girl Dmitri loves. But undercurrents are bubbling away elsewhere too, so is it really that clear cut?The brilliant Ivan, the middle brother, is a scholar with a major existential crisis. He can't dismiss the idea that man invented God to suit himself, rather than vice versa. I came to really appreciate the raw and honest young atheist whose huge intellect and photographic memory become burdens rather than gifts. His flippant approach conceals his desperation, giving me the impression that he's so open with his youngest brother because he'd love to be convinced out of cynicism into faith. And Ivan's madly in love with Katerina, the fiance Dmitri dumped so he could pursue Grushenka. So their eldest brother is not Ivan's favourite person.The youngest is also known as Alyosha, which seems to be a derivative of Alexey. He's the mortar that pulls the whole story together. He loves unconditionally, never finds fault, and often becomes our lens. I doubt I would have loved Dmitri and Ivan so much if I didn't see them through Alyosha's eyes. Perhaps most importantly, he makes me think of Jesus' commission for his friends to be his hands and feet. Ivan spends so much time griping about the lack of proof of God's existence, but I think his smartness just caused him to search in the wrong places. He need look no further than his kid brother to see concrete proof that the spirit of God exists, through the lives of his followers. Even the omniscient narrator refers to Alyosha at one point as, 'the young hero I love so much.'So there's the scenario. Even though we get to love each of the brothers heaps, at the same time, we can't help wondering which of them may be tied up with the murder, and how. Or was it a combination crime? And the solution is all tied with blackmail, psychological twists that do your head in, and arguably justice. Before I get too carried away, I'll give some quotes from the story. Needless to say, a book this thick is full of them, but the following are a few of my favourites.4937Father Zossima, the old man who was Alexey's mentor and hero, has some good things to say for a start. He also predicts that his young follower will, 'bless life, and make others bless it.'1) Men are made for happiness, and anyone who is completely happy has a right to say to himself, "I am doing the will of God."2) Precious memories may remain even of a bad home, if only the heart knows how to find what is precious.3) If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things.4) Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.Ivan Karamozov's thoughts are possibly poles apart from Father Zossima's, but maybe equally worthy of thought.1) I don't understand how anyone can love one's neighbour. For anyone to love a man, he must be hidden, for as soon as he shows his face, love is gone. One can love one's neighbour in the abstract, or even at a distance, but at close quarters, it's almost impossible. (Yeah, he's a cynical dude.)2) People sometimes speak of bestial cruelty, but that's a great insult and injustice to beasts. A beast can never be so artistically cruel as a man.(At one point, Ivan has a conversation with the devil, who's sitting on his couch during a time when he's sick. The doctors warned Ivan that he may be subject to hallucinations, but he wouldn't listen. It's a very interesting chapter, with some fascinating dialogue.)Ivan (trying to disprove the hallucination): You're just an incarnation of myself, but only one side of my thoughts and feelings. Only the nastiest and stupidest of them.Satan: If I'm like you in my way of thinking, it's all to my credit.Satan: From the vehemence with which you deny my existence, I'm convinced that you believe in me.Ivan: Not in the slightest. I haven't a hundredth part of a grain of faith in you.Satan: But you have the thousandth of a grain. Homeopathic doses perhaps are strongest.But one of the book's best quotes was by Dmitri. He's a guy who normally drops lines such as, 'On the way here it seemed alright, and now it's nothing but nonsense.' The narrator says that at one point, 'an absurd, chaotic confusion followed, but Mitya was in his natural element and the more foolish it became, the more his spirits rose.' So this heartfelt quote by him is a great place to wrap up this review.Dmitri: It's God that's worrying me. What if he doesn't exist? Then man is the chief of all the earth, the universe. Magnificent. Only how is he going to be good without God? I always come back to that. For whom is man going to love then? To whom will he be thankful? To whom will he sing the hymn?Sometimes I wondered just what the women in Fyodor Dostoevsky's life must have been like, because I doubt there's one female character who didn't have a hysterical fit at some point in the story. They grew on me though, just like the guys. I really liked Grushenka by the end, and Katerina made me grin when she called Alyosha a 'religious little idiot' just because he hit a bit too close to home at one time. Feisty ladies indeed.Altogether, this has to be one of the books of the year for me. And since there's probably no way I'd ever have read it if I hadn't been doing this reading challenge, you can consider this blog post a great shout out for reading challenges too.

One of the better classics that uses a strong story line and sub plots to allow the author to develop his views on humanity, theology, and culture in a non-preaching manner. It is not the Russian novel that frightens people away (2,000 pages, 1,000 characters, each with 12 names) nor is it slow and boring.As is the case of most older classics the beginning is more of a background setting than a hook which is common in this form of writing. These are all important facts though in describing the family which is the main plot. Then the story moves on into what today would have been book one in a serial, which again is a trait of older classics.Between the different but related stories and an enormous amount of detail, which is a good learning tool to aspiring authors, Brothers becomes long but Dostoevsky keeps it entertaining because of the additional sub plots and conflicts this requires.Brothers is not the type of book a person reads to see the main conflict, result, and how the protagonist is better for the experience. While that happens it happens in greater detail than current novels. Basically, this is a book to sit back and enjoy over a period of time. And it makes the reader think.

Purchased as a Book Club selection. Book is ok, just long! Is it the “great” literature described? Not really, but is an ok book.

I got a great leather books with beautiful pages not the one advertised but better.

A great writer, a great story. characters well drawn.Aloysha, the hero, exemplifying the Christian faith. Long but worth it. Not difficult to understand.

This very long story is like a soap opera filled with philosophy, treatices on great Biblical truths, ethics, and passions of nineteenth century Russia. It also contains a murder mystery! So there is something there for every reader. Just be patient, stay with it; it's marvelous and immense!

This novel was long, philosophical, and complex--and absolutely worth the amount of time I spent reading it. It turned out to be far more than just a mystery of who killed Fyodor, the morally debauched Karamazov patriarch. The Brothers Karamazov is also an intense character study, a love story, and--above all--a novel of ideas.Those who have read Dostoevsky's other works will see some familiar themes in this novel--themes of redemption, guilt, and suffering, as well as what drives people to heinous crimes such as murder. Religious questions are also explored in-depth, such as the existence of God and the ultimate source of morality. Of course, Dostoevsky did slip in some of the "hot" philosophical topics of his day--such as the theory of socialism--but all the ideas explored in this book are timeless.One of my most favorite aspects of this book was how well-developed all of the characters were, especially the three Karamazov brothers Dmitri (Mitya), Ivan, and Alyosha (as well as their illegitimate half-brother Smerdyakov). Dostoevsky really got into their minds, developing their personalities and mindsets until they practically jumped living and breathing off the page. He also used their characters as a vehicle to explore the various philosophical and religious ideas mentioned above. This depth is something I generally love about literature, and it was done particularly well in this book.In short, this is a behemoth of a book. Not a beach read by any stretch of the imagination, and not something relaxing to sit down to after a long and stressful day. However, it is a work of emotional and intellectual genius, driven by complex characters and riveting ideas. It will make you think. Highly, highly recommended.I also posted this review on Goodreads.

This book is almost impossible to categorize. Essentially, it is a complex "whodunnit", but it is so much more. Like many people, I had started the book many years ago but failed to finish it. I know why. The first one third is slow, repetitive and dominated by philosophy and religious dogma. I became very impressed with the author's knowledge of the Christian bible, which is quoted extensively and the references are often subtle. The central characters are three Russian brothers - Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha. They are very different but love one another despite their hedonistic, selfish and greedy father. Much of the book consists of a series of frantic and breathless conversations between the brothers, the father, the monks in a local monastery and the women whose love ensnares the brothers and the father. This style of writing made me think of a play with the scenes moving on from act to act. Rather like Thomas Hardy, the author introduces a parallel theme based on the "peasants" and their children. This aspect is handled tenderly and with more than a little reflection on the true meaning of life. The murder is dealt with in an exciting and dramatic manner, though I found the eventual trial to be overly long and repetitive. The final moments of the book deal with the central need for forgiveness if one wishes peace of mind. Writing on a grand scale, but I am fairly sure that 9 out of 10 who start the book will not finish it since it was written at a time when taking several weeks to read a book would be a blessing, not a chore!

Completed on 22nd May 2019 taking over a month to read. I remember being very impressed by Crime and Punishment. Perhaps my expectations were too high or maybe I didn’t choose the best translation; I did not find it an easy or fulfilling read. I am glad I have completed it and regard it as a show off book like Tristan Shandy , 100 Years of Solitude or Ulysses. It got better after the first 40%. I read it on kindle and was constantly checking what percentage I was up toIt is too long and I didn’t find the characters sympathetic or easy to relate to. I felt that Dmitri deserved to be convicted even though he hadn’t killed his father as he seemed a very violent man who could throw a pestle at the kind old servant Grigory who had brought him up. The women are mostly mad or hysterical. I felt much more could have been written about Smerdyakov’s character and his motivation for the murder.But it is a book ahead of it’s time the origin of Crime fiction with its courtroom dramas and denouements (Smerdyakov’s detailed confession). There is also humour at times - Dmitri’s visit to the drunken Lyagavy and Trifon Borissovitch pulling up floor boards in his Inn to look for the missing money. Descriptions of madness were very real especially of Captain Snegiryov at the funeral.

This edition is pure rubbish. It is about the size of an A3 desk diary approx. 45 pages of large print and looks like a Janet & John book. It was ordered 13 June, printed in Poland by 'Amazon Fullfillment' on 13 June, delivered (through letterbox) on 17 June and Amazon tell me the it is eligible for return until 17 June! Last book I order from Amazon unless I receive an apology and a proper replacement edition.

this book in particular was only a part of the novel and didn't say anything about this 'detail'! I had to buy another, with the complete text!

Bad parenting. A son and father in love with the same girl. The younger brother as peacemaker. Gives up his monks robes when his mentor dies and is decried when his body starts to stink. The father is killed. The son is accused. Religion and the Russian mentality are challenged. The son is tried. Is Mitya convicted. And does anyone get Gruschenka? Read it and find out. This is not a spoiler!