Reviews

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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aselvey's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rhi_xo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

it’s really hard to write a review of this book without just explaining every character & every piece of the plot so I’m just going to say if you love classics & have ever considered reading russian lit, you’ve gotta read this at some point in your life. yes, it’s long & I did almost fall asleep at one point (hence only 4 stars lol), but I already know that I will be thinking about the ideas in this book for years to come & I’m so glad that I pushed myself to read it. here’s what you can take away from my review: dostoevsky absolutely cooked in the pro and contra part of this book & with Ivan’s character in general; basically the point is there will always be a longstanding battle of whether you want to believe that love and faith stand a chance against the grief & horrors humans inflict on each other everyday; and finally, maybe god is the friends we made along the way :) okay gotta go learn russian now, byee🏃🏻‍♀️

gwenswoons's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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

hunziker's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

My wife wanted to named our son Aliocha and forced me to read this. By the end of the first hundred pages I was convinced. Absolutely loved it (particularly the devil scene, oh how I love Ivan!).

velvetspectre's review against another edition

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5.0

I didn't think that this novel would make me cry, but it did, so I have to give it five stars (it is otherwise phenomenal too).

ibisette's review against another edition

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1.0

I'm a 120 pages in and it's pure torture. I made side notes to keep track of all characters but it is so god damn boring.
I gave it a honest chance read each line carefully and tried to really dip into it, but I've hated each and every page of this book. I'd rather use it as a buttwipe.
Will still try to read 'the idiot' by Dostoevsky though.