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challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is just so completely magnificent - funny, wild, unusual at every turn and in every detail. I made it through my college Russian major, somehow, without reading any Dostoevsky, and this was such a joy this winter. It took up 4 months(!!) of my life, and made me laugh out loud more than almost any book I can remember. So complex, strange, and peculiarly Russian in the best way. The translation (by Pevear and Volokhonsky) is so wonderfully idiomatic and Russian-feeling in cadence, diction, atmosphere, structure. I just loved loved loved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Suicide, Antisemitism
Minor: Medical content
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a book that is going to stick with me for a long time. It is a book that feels like it contains the full range of human emotions and experiences. The characters are so vividly painted, each of them flawed yet loveable (or, at least, if you don't love them you will understand them). The main focus of the book is on the relationships of the Karamazov brothers and their father, and we see how their family breaks down and how the characters react. In true Dostoevsky fashion, he puts his characters (main and side characters) through absolute misery and portrays them with such psychological depth as they deal with inner demons and external events that you can't help but relate with them and their struggles. I have so many thoughts about this book, I could probably write pages and pages, but I will leave it at this: if you are thinking about reading this, just do it! You will laugh, cry, think, and feel, and what more can you ask of a book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Violence, War
Moderate: Murder
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it is evident that Dostoevsky built in several stories, that are not integral to the plot nor the message of the book, making it at times appear to be loosing the central thread. Nonetheless, the philosophical ideas embodied in the main characters and the complexities of even the side characters make for a deeply psychological, sociological and thought-provoking story. Truly a masterpiece!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence
Minor: War
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is about the three Karamazov brothers, their father, and people they interact with. One of the other characters might be a fourth brother. That is never definitively revealed. The book is set around the year 1860 in Russia. There are a couple of women who the two oldest brothers have, or desire to have, romantic relationships with. Their father also desires a romantic relationship with one of the women. Jealously between the father, and Dimitri, the oldest brother about the woman, is a big driver of the story. Another driver of the story is political, religious, and social changes taking place in Russia at that time. Around halfway through the book, there is a leadup to a crime. At this point, and the aftermath of the crime, I found the book a page turner. Toward the end, the story dragged. The book is a very long book. The version I read was 845 pages long. And the pages were very densely packed with words. With the exception of the youngest brother, Alyosha, I didn't find any of the main characters particularly likable. Because of this, I really didn't care that much about what happened to them. The book was beautifully written and translated. A lot of words were used for not all that much happening. I did enjoy book. I am glad I read it. Reading it didn't make me want to read any other classic Russian books any time soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Sexism, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was definitely worth the while, even if it took me a long while.
It's very slow paced, and sometimes you might think to yourself «Okay, but how does this affect the plot.» Fair point, definitely, but to me personally, such scenes meant everything in the parallel situations of these characters and for Dostoyevsky to explore some of his philosophy, which I think he has the right to with such reflections. Also, as my dad so rightfully reminded me, this book was written in a period where people had the time to read. Not meaning that they weren't as busy as we are now, but simply that their attention spans had not been abused such as ours have due to various categories of modern entertainment.
There is no shame in this, but it's important to note that if you're wanting to read this. I, too, found it boring at times, because no, I genuinely could not care less about Father Zosima.
And on the note of characters I couldn't care less about, we have Alyosha. Yes, I see Dostoyevsky praising and loving him, but I found him pretty whiny, actually. He was about as relevant as an emotional support animal, to be quite honest. That is until the epilogue, where I appreciated his part of the whole journey.
My favourite character was Mitya, though Ivan stands as a close second, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it is because I found them sexy. Not only because I found them sexy, but it was undeniably a factor in there somewhere, and I am young and gay, so who can blame me. Still, they were both fantastically written characters, both with depth and interesting plot lines.
Yes, my review has been mostly about the characters and what I thought of them, but they are the plot after all. However, I want to add finally that I noticed how the synopsis of the book leads with the murder of Fyodor Pavlovich, when that doesn't «come up» until a good... 500 pages in? A bit odd, but I suppose that was what brought the entire piece to a conclusion.
It's very slow paced, and sometimes you might think to yourself «Okay, but how does this affect the plot.» Fair point, definitely, but to me personally, such scenes meant everything in the parallel situations of these characters and for Dostoyevsky to explore some of his philosophy, which I think he has the right to with such reflections. Also, as my dad so rightfully reminded me, this book was written in a period where people had the time to read. Not meaning that they weren't as busy as we are now, but simply that their attention spans had not been abused such as ours have due to various categories of modern entertainment.
There is no shame in this, but it's important to note that if you're wanting to read this. I, too, found it boring at times, because no, I genuinely could not care less about Father Zosima.
And on the note of characters I couldn't care less about, we have Alyosha. Yes, I see Dostoyevsky praising and loving him, but I found him pretty whiny, actually. He was about as relevant as an emotional support animal, to be quite honest. That is until the epilogue, where I appreciated his part of the whole journey.
My favourite character was Mitya, though Ivan stands as a close second, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it is because I found them sexy. Not only because I found them sexy, but it was undeniably a factor in there somewhere, and I am young and gay, so who can blame me. Still, they were both fantastically written characters, both with depth and interesting plot lines.
Yes, my review has been mostly about the characters and what I thought of them, but they are the plot after all. However, I want to add finally that I noticed how the synopsis of the book leads with the murder of Fyodor Pavlovich, when that doesn't «come up» until a good... 500 pages in? A bit odd, but I suppose that was what brought the entire piece to a conclusion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A pivotal case study in family dynamics and the manifestations of parental failures upon children in adulthood, all culminating in the bitter but ultimately satisfying truth of who killed the Karamazov patriarch. Daddy Issues™️. Alyosha best boy confirmed.
In all seriousness, it’s a powerful exploration of family trauma, greed, guilt, and faith with a satirical overtone—don’t let anyone say Dostoevsky was gloomy! He posits important questions to the reader.
Can your daddy issues make your a murderer? Is that really the devil? Can you try to make your family come together beforeyour bastard half-brother kills your father because he mistakenly thought your other brother wanted him to and your other other brother is set up as the fall guy?
I liked how it ends without resolving everything.We don't know if they're going to help Mitya escape and we don't know if Ivan will end up with Katerina after all or if Grushenka will decide she loves Mitya after all. We end with the funeral of a young boy called Ilyusha who fell ill at some point after seeing Dmitri beat up his military captain father instead of with some grand conclusion on the story of Ivan, Aleksy, Dmitri, and Smerdyakov. We don't know if Marfa and Grigory have been spoken to by Ivan or Alyosha after Smerdyakov confessed to Ivan.
The religious overtones are also very interesting. Alyosha is considered this pure being, so much so that Rakitin spends basically the entire novel trying to shake his faith whether by poking fun at elder Zosima's decaying corpse or trying to introduce him to Grushenka. Alyosha is clearly the author's thought of what people should be like with his innate goodness and love of mankind. He resolves any doubts he has with his simple faith and his belief in the goodness of mankind. He does good and tries to help bring his family together after. He isn't naive or innocent and while his brother sees suffering as a reason for atheism or a cruel God, Alyosha sees it as a resolve to try to put goodness out into the world.
Ivan is religiously and spiritually conflicted. He oscillates between a belief in a Machiavellian being and atheism. This turmoil from his own cold sophistication and eventual overthinking skepticism eventually leads tohis vivid hallucination of the Devil and his spiral into madness.
Mitya tries desperately to overcome his own jealous and angry nature to become a better man.His and Ivan's optimistic endings can be seen as authorial optimism for the outlook of mankind overall.
In all seriousness, it’s a powerful exploration of family trauma, greed, guilt, and faith with a satirical overtone—don’t let anyone say Dostoevsky was gloomy! He posits important questions to the reader.
Can your daddy issues make your a murderer? Is that really the devil? Can you try to make your family come together before
I liked how it ends without resolving everything.
The religious overtones are also very interesting. Alyosha is considered this pure being, so much so that Rakitin spends basically the entire novel trying to shake his faith whether by poking fun at elder Zosima's decaying corpse or trying to introduce him to Grushenka. Alyosha is clearly the author's thought of what people should be like with his innate goodness and love of mankind. He resolves any doubts he has with his simple faith and his belief in the goodness of mankind. He does good and tries to help bring his family together after. He isn't naive or innocent and while his brother sees suffering as a reason for atheism or a cruel God, Alyosha sees it as a resolve to try to put goodness out into the world.
Ivan is religiously and spiritually conflicted. He oscillates between a belief in a Machiavellian being and atheism. This turmoil from his own cold sophistication and eventual overthinking skepticism eventually leads to
Mitya tries desperately to overcome his own jealous and angry nature to become a better man.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism