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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
The Brothers Karamazov is a story that follows three men Alyosha, Dmitry, and Ivan Karamazov as they deal with love, violence, family, love triangles, betrayal, sin, philosophy, the law, and murder. Probably a bunch of other things too like drunkenness, morality, duty, and so on. This book was really fucking long and I’m trying to boil it down to a paragraph, mercy on me please.
Two weeks ago; I was bored with the two books I was reading and stuck downtown for a few hours so I went to Brattle on West Street and this was the only Dostoevsky book in stock. I grabbed it thinkIng “what the hell if I don’t like it I’ll just give it to Maya”, then I feel face first into it and got hooked.
I’ve been told classic Russian lit is a bit like a telenovella because of the drama and how it largely hinges on its characters. Which if this book is anything to go off of it most definitely is. The best way to describe this book is a bunch of messy people being terrible to everyone & each other, all the time. (Except Alyosha cause he is Dostoevsky special little soft boy who can do no wrong)
The translation I had was likely not the best so certain things like the Grand Inquisitor poem did not read well (or like a poem at all).
As far as faults for the actual story keep in mind this book is like 150 yrs old so my grievances can probably be chalked up to a difference in culture both physically and chronologically. There was SO MUCH god talk; and a lot of the pro-religious argument hung on the idea without god what is keeping people from being terrible. But no one brought up just ya know caring about other people as being enough reason. I don’t know; the arguments themselves were fine but that lines of reasoning was repeated like 7 times. Obviously women were kind of sidelined in the novel but I was surprised how much their own full characters they were despite that. In my controversial opinion everything is Fydor’s(the dad) & Mitya’s fault, Vanya needs to stfu, and Alyosha needs to grow a spin. Grunsheka and Katya did basically nothing wrong and I love them for that.
And the book is so dense so I can’t really fault anyone for having no interest in trying it. But as someone who really hasn’t read any classic Russian Lit before it was actually pretty approachable and followed well after it got started. I’d sit to read a chapter and be startled when it ended. I genuinely recommend checking it out if at all interested.
I generally dislike Dostoyevsky, as he has extrapolated his own personal experience of a dictatorship, which broke him, personally, into all areas of his life and philosophy, as a universal truth. A bit like Tolstoy, in this respect.
He, as Boris Cyrulnik would say, was a man "broken by the camp". Barely surviving, hoping and yearning for nothing, and thus, having ceased to be human, and having returned to a purely animal state.
He, as Boris Cyrulnik would say, was a man "broken by the camp". Barely surviving, hoping and yearning for nothing, and thus, having ceased to be human, and having returned to a purely animal state.
For such a big book, I can't rate this any less than a 5 star! But also, it was so profound in the story telling and character development.
I've been wanting to read this for several years per the recommendation from my younger brother and several others. I still don't really know what I think about it all. It was so long and detailed. I wasn't able to follow the thread as well as I wanted to as I learned about all the different characters - and the fact that the same characters had so many name variations.
There were some beautiful and compelling scenes (The Grand Inquisitor, The Devil, The speech at the stone, the trial) and Alyosha is such a beautiful soul. I love his effect on others. All of the characters had their redeeming qualities, but also...so extreme in their actions! And none of the female characters were that great. I was disappointed in that and annoyed by all of them. I still can't believe the trial. The speech by the defense was so good! Dismantling all of the evidence piece by piece. It was so engaging.
I've been wanting to read this for several years per the recommendation from my younger brother and several others. I still don't really know what I think about it all. It was so long and detailed. I wasn't able to follow the thread as well as I wanted to as I learned about all the different characters - and the fact that the same characters had so many name variations.
There were some beautiful and compelling scenes (The Grand Inquisitor, The Devil, The speech at the stone, the trial) and Alyosha is such a beautiful soul. I love his effect on others. All of the characters had their redeeming qualities, but also...so extreme in their actions! And none of the female characters were that great. I was disappointed in that and annoyed by all of them. I still can't believe the trial. The speech by the defense was so good! Dismantling all of the evidence piece by piece. It was so engaging.
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
mysterious
slow-paced
After reading Notes From Underground a few months ago I’ve really been itching for more Dostoevsky so I decided it was finally time to jump into this mammoth of a book. It really only took about 200 pages for this to become one of my favourite books. It’s amazing how consistent great literature has been with response to the human condition over time. It’s such a blessing that a book from over 100 years ago can grant us the words to express such rich and complex feelings towards ourselves, others and society as a whole.