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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
I hope to come back to this one someday. I just realized pretty quickly that maybe this wasn’t the right book to start my journey into the work of Dostoevsky.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I honestly don't know what to think about this. I finished the last page about 15 minutes ago, but I'm still speechless. There is a lot to digest in this book (obviously, I mean this translation and edition is approximately 700 pages.) There is a richness of issues that Dostoevsky touches upon, from religion to moral responsibility to free will to even what it means to be a father. And it's all woven expertly into this natural dialogue about a family.
To be sure, this novel reads very slowly at times. But, it's honestly natural to feel yourself slowing your pace because you'll realize, almost right away, that there is so much, even within only a page or two, to absorb, that you can't rush through a book like this. I actually started reading this as a group read, and it was planned that we would finish the book in two months. Now, I'm looking back on that (I spent four months total) and I can't believe that we were that ambitious.
You know, this is my first read-through of the novel, and I understand, you know, that with the first read, you're trying to get a sense of the novel at large, and how the pieces fit together, rather than on any particular part. But even in this first read, it's a long, arduous journey, but it's so well worth it. It's a wonderful, engaging narrative, with brilliant characterization, and it does a fantastic job of making you contemplate your view on various philosophies. Yes, maybe you end up just justifying to yourself what you always believed in, but it makes you contemplate it nonetheless.
Honestly, this is a great book. I highly recommend it for everyone, especially those looking to make the jump into Russian literature. I'll definitely be reading it again at some point in the future, and honestly I can't wait.
To be sure, this novel reads very slowly at times. But, it's honestly natural to feel yourself slowing your pace because you'll realize, almost right away, that there is so much, even within only a page or two, to absorb, that you can't rush through a book like this. I actually started reading this as a group read, and it was planned that we would finish the book in two months. Now, I'm looking back on that (I spent four months total) and I can't believe that we were that ambitious.
You know, this is my first read-through of the novel, and I understand, you know, that with the first read, you're trying to get a sense of the novel at large, and how the pieces fit together, rather than on any particular part. But even in this first read, it's a long, arduous journey, but it's so well worth it. It's a wonderful, engaging narrative, with brilliant characterization, and it does a fantastic job of making you contemplate your view on various philosophies. Yes, maybe you end up just justifying to yourself what you always believed in, but it makes you contemplate it nonetheless.
Honestly, this is a great book. I highly recommend it for everyone, especially those looking to make the jump into Russian literature. I'll definitely be reading it again at some point in the future, and honestly I can't wait.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is hard to rate the book because I'm of two minds about it.
Valuable as a classic? Definitely, top-notch writing, great information into historical Russia, important thoughts on philosophy, human nature, theology, etc. As a book to sit and study it and pull it apart, it is 5 stars.
Pure enjoyment? Not as much. If you stick to the plot and characters without getting into any of the philosophy then it is a very enjoyable book but to be constantly pulled into long debates and tangents was exhausting and just wasn't what I was looking for at the time.
So this is both a 5-star and a 3-star read and I'll settle it with 3.5-stars as to not drive my recommendations in this direction.
Valuable as a classic? Definitely, top-notch writing, great information into historical Russia, important thoughts on philosophy, human nature, theology, etc. As a book to sit and study it and pull it apart, it is 5 stars.
Pure enjoyment? Not as much. If you stick to the plot and characters without getting into any of the philosophy then it is a very enjoyable book but to be constantly pulled into long debates and tangents was exhausting and just wasn't what I was looking for at the time.
So this is both a 5-star and a 3-star read and I'll settle it with 3.5-stars as to not drive my recommendations in this direction.
I failed out of finishing this book. It really wants for an editor, with characters often explicitly noting "I am repeating myself with that I tell you". Maybe if read as a serial, with one section per month and everyone talking about it (like prestige television), it would feel better.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
my biggest project book of 2025 thus far. enrapturing and engrossing. on the whole, surprised at how fluently and easy to read it was (at least on the level of the sentence), but it is incredibly dense, verbose, and low-in-plot. i completely understand how this is an "important book". it felt like a perfect snapshot of that exact time in russian society. excited to read more dostoevsky!
“Oh, I know, I know that heart, that wild but grateful heart, gentlemen of the jury! It will bow before your mercy; it thirsts for a great and loving action, it will melt and mount upwards. There are souls which, in their limitation, blame the whole world. But subdue such a soul with mercy, show it love, and it will curse its past, for there are many good impulses in it. Such a heart will expand and see that God is merciful and that men are good and just".
This is just one of the many passages in those brilliantly beautiful novel that broke me down in tears. Dostoyevsky has found the heart of grace, and the pulse of it beats so strongly throughout the whole story. I spent 6 months slowly journeying through this book, and every second was worth it. This is one of the stories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
This is just one of the many passages in those brilliantly beautiful novel that broke me down in tears. Dostoyevsky has found the heart of grace, and the pulse of it beats so strongly throughout the whole story. I spent 6 months slowly journeying through this book, and every second was worth it. This is one of the stories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I did it!!!! Wow this was a big book project. I loooooved it. Russian characters are wild and so dramatic. And this was a really gorgeous exploration of a lot of themes I like to think about. I’m still thinking a lot about that ending. I was wondering why the story of ilyushechka kept coming up, but it felt very right and beautiful to end there. Was it really even about the brothers? Was it about the murder? Or was it just about family and friendship and the divinity of all that? Who knows…i gotta stop writing this
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I loved this book. I find it fascinating that the plot on the back of the book says it’s a murder mystery. But I’d argue it’s a deep psychological novel about a dysfunctional family… with a bit of murder mystery. Incredible book, specifically the entire section on elder zosima and the grand inquisitor. Favorite quote is “what is hell? It is the suffering of being unable to love”