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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
mitya if you're reading this i am free on thursday night. if you would like to hang out i am free on thursday night when i am free to hang out. i am free to hang out on thursday night so if you want to hang out on thursday night i am free
This book is a masterpiece of philosophy and religion - full of fervor and witty intellectualism. I cannot say that I have been as moved by a book in a long time as I have been moved by this particular novel, and for good reasons which have already been espoused by almost every other positive review on here. I won’t go into most of the book’s positive aspects here.
I will say, this is one of the few books which I read almost entirely with an audiobook, a series of free recordings of the novel on Youtube. It really helped me, especially at the beginning, because Dostoyevsky's prose can seem unwieldy, and the paragraphs are, admittedly, probably too long for my taste. Nevertheless, on this third attempt in my life to hurdle the Herculean task presented by this book, I am proud to say I've done it.
Not every part of this book is as engaging, or even as moving as it is as a whole. I think particularly about the penultimate section and the speeches given by the prosecution and the defense. Those were incredibly slow, and I think unnecessary, though there were some interesting and engaging sections in the council for the defense's monologuing.
There are three main sections which moved me intensely: 1) The Grand Inquisitor, 2) The Russian Monk (Part 6), and 3) Ivan's Nightmare. These showed me, in prose, spiritual truths and realities that I seem to have been searching for in non-fiction for over a year. I rank these three parts as immensely insightful, and very important sections for me as a still-growing Christian.
More interesting than anything, however, is the fact that The Brothers Karamazov is an absurdist novel par excellence, that is, it handles dialogue, characters' motives, and pacing very well, and the tragedies of the novel, both minor and major, can all be boiled down, at some level, to absurd premises. From now on, I will point to this novel as the standard bearer for a novelization of life's great absurdity, with the caveat that Dostoyevsky does not leave us with mere rage against religion or other such super-structures, as we find in Camus's The Stranger. No, we see an absurd world redeemed by men and women of faith, whether it be faith in God, faith in honor, faith in family, faith in the nation, etc. These competing faiths do not destroy the absurdist premise, but rather set it in even starker outline for the reader. I could go on, but I won't.
If you are thinking about reading this novel, but feel daunted by the prospect of sitting down and dedicating a month of your life to it, I would highly recommend listening to the free audiobook recordings of the novel on Youtube, particularly the recording in 4 parts on the channel "Ion Books". The narration was clear, and I enjoyed the translation from which they read.
TL;DR: #justiceforMitya
I will say, this is one of the few books which I read almost entirely with an audiobook, a series of free recordings of the novel on Youtube. It really helped me, especially at the beginning, because Dostoyevsky's prose can seem unwieldy, and the paragraphs are, admittedly, probably too long for my taste. Nevertheless, on this third attempt in my life to hurdle the Herculean task presented by this book, I am proud to say I've done it.
Not every part of this book is as engaging, or even as moving as it is as a whole. I think particularly about the penultimate section and the speeches given by the prosecution and the defense. Those were incredibly slow, and I think unnecessary, though there were some interesting and engaging sections in the council for the defense's monologuing.
There are three main sections which moved me intensely: 1) The Grand Inquisitor, 2) The Russian Monk (Part 6), and 3) Ivan's Nightmare. These showed me, in prose, spiritual truths and realities that I seem to have been searching for in non-fiction for over a year. I rank these three parts as immensely insightful, and very important sections for me as a still-growing Christian.
More interesting than anything, however, is the fact that The Brothers Karamazov is an absurdist novel par excellence, that is, it handles dialogue, characters' motives, and pacing very well, and the tragedies of the novel, both minor and major, can all be boiled down, at some level, to absurd premises. From now on, I will point to this novel as the standard bearer for a novelization of life's great absurdity, with the caveat that Dostoyevsky does not leave us with mere rage against religion or other such super-structures, as we find in Camus's The Stranger. No, we see an absurd world redeemed by men and women of faith, whether it be faith in God, faith in honor, faith in family, faith in the nation, etc. These competing faiths do not destroy the absurdist premise, but rather set it in even starker outline for the reader. I could go on, but I won't.
If you are thinking about reading this novel, but feel daunted by the prospect of sitting down and dedicating a month of your life to it, I would highly recommend listening to the free audiobook recordings of the novel on Youtube, particularly the recording in 4 parts on the channel "Ion Books". The narration was clear, and I enjoyed the translation from which they read.
TL;DR: #justiceforMitya
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
Amazing, rich novel, I’m glad that I decided to try to read it again, in audiobook format. I didn’t like all parts of it, but they are necessary for this novel.
This novel should make you question your beliefs and your way of living. And make you think how your actions influence people around you because it’s all connected.
This novel should make you question your beliefs and your way of living. And make you think how your actions influence people around you because it’s all connected.
I was quite fond of the beginning but it is beyond pro-longed. I get that it’s necessary for the character development although it just gets boring and difficult to follow when there’s too much irrelevant content
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very long, but very worth it–value in all of the content