Reviews

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Only show reviews with written explanations

ben11m's review against another edition

4.0

Dostoïevski successfully wrote the longest book ever made.

Sans niaiser c'est un coup de circuit de réussir à écrire autant sans ressentir qu'on tourne en rond trop souvent et que ça tienne la route. Crime que j'aurais pris des centaines de pages sur Illioucha et Kolia au lieu de focuser sur d'autres choses par contre.

woweewhoa's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

nilaia12's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

The intended message of the book is extremely interesting, however they way in which you have to go through hundreds of pages of useless yapping is really tiring.

cultneophyte7's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

A marvelous piece of work.
Certainly not what I expected going in, this hugely philosophical novel has given me a lot to think about. A lot is implied, and while I may not agree with all of it, the insurmountable genius of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and what he has achieved here can't be denied.
I'll be writing a detailed review later, once I have managed to gather and make sense of my thoughts.

hnw1991's review

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

mickb's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

willand90's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

aselvey's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Go to review page

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

Go to review page

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

More...