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byrenical's review against another edition
3.0
I deducted a star because he mentions bread too much as I ate too much of it today. If you have not ate too much bread this is worth a read, although quite heavy at points, almost as if you'd ate too much bread.
“Without a clear perception of his reasons for living, man will never consent to live, and will rather destroy himself than tarry on earth, though he be surrounded with bread.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor
hades9stages's review against another edition
4.0
“That day must come when men will understand that freedom and daily bread enough to satisfy all are unthinkable and can never be had together, as men will never be able to fairly divide the two among themselves. And they will also learn that they can never be free, for they are weak, vicious, miserable nonentities born wicked and rebellious.”
Dostoyevky’s last work (?) and definitely one of his most interesting. It’s pretty dense, written in a way where it’s kind of hard to follow, even for a Dostoyevky. A startling difference to his much earlier stories which I have recently read. But I found it quite interesting. Not my type of book, though.
“I swear man is weaker and lower than Thou hast ever imagined him to be! Can he ever do that which Thou art said to have accomplished?”
“'And thus, after all Thou has suffered for mankind and its freedom, the present fate of men may be summed up in three words: Unrest, Confusion, Misery!”
“Humanity as a whole has ever aspired to unite itself universally. Many were, the great nations with great histories, but the greater they were, the more unhappy they felt, as they felt the stronger necessity of a universal union among men.”
Dostoyevky’s last work (?) and definitely one of his most interesting. It’s pretty dense, written in a way where it’s kind of hard to follow, even for a Dostoyevky. A startling difference to his much earlier stories which I have recently read. But I found it quite interesting. Not my type of book, though.
“I swear man is weaker and lower than Thou hast ever imagined him to be! Can he ever do that which Thou art said to have accomplished?”
“'And thus, after all Thou has suffered for mankind and its freedom, the present fate of men may be summed up in three words: Unrest, Confusion, Misery!”
“Humanity as a whole has ever aspired to unite itself universally. Many were, the great nations with great histories, but the greater they were, the more unhappy they felt, as they felt the stronger necessity of a universal union among men.”
lipsandpalms's review
3.0
It's an interesting idea to have christ return during the Spanish inquisition. Even today there seems to be a movement towards atheism for the sake of evidence based science. Freedom of faith is a complex subject and while the message in this book is a bit muddied either by the antiquity of the language or the difficulty of translation to English, the overall message that powerful men seek to save people from themselves by reducing their freedom still rings true.
I'm not sure how necessary the framing of the story was with two men discussing the in-story as some kind of poem. Is this part of a larger story? The Brothers Karamazov maybe?
I'm not sure how necessary the framing of the story was with two men discussing the in-story as some kind of poem. Is this part of a larger story? The Brothers Karamazov maybe?
strange_paradox's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
noxefa's review against another edition
3.0
La primera parte del libro “The Grand Inquisitor” me gustó un montón. Básicamente en esta primera parte (la cual es un extracto del libro “Los hermanos Karamazov”) se habla [a modo poema] de la resurrección de Jesús en España. Aquí se trata a la religión con una perspectiva más filosófica: el entender la moral humana y cómo esta guía las decisiones y comportamientos del ser humano, poniéndose por encima de Dios mismo. Una de mis frases favoritas fue: “And since man is not strong enough to get by without miracle, he creates new miracles for himself, his own now, and bows down peasant woman, even though he is a mutineer, heretic and atheist a hundred times over”. Aquí se juzga al ser humano con todo, al igual que la religión y eso me encantó un montón. 5/5.
La segunda parte que es “Selections from The House of the Dead”, trata sobre un hombre qué pasa diez años de su vida en una presión de Siria, la cual retrata aquella época de Dostoevesky qué pasó siendo prisionero en dicho lugar. La verdad no disfruté tanto esta sección del libro. Si bien hubieron secciones que encontré interesantes y de reflexión, en general la historia no me dejó con impacto alguno. 3/5.
La segunda parte que es “Selections from The House of the Dead”, trata sobre un hombre qué pasa diez años de su vida en una presión de Siria, la cual retrata aquella época de Dostoevesky qué pasó siendo prisionero en dicho lugar. La verdad no disfruté tanto esta sección del libro. Si bien hubieron secciones que encontré interesantes y de reflexión, en general la historia no me dejó con impacto alguno. 3/5.
mangocats's review
5.0
brilliant brilliant brilliant!!!!
“We have completed that work in Thy name…people are more persuaded than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet”
“Do you really think that the Roman Catholic movement of the last centuries is actually nothing but the lust of power, of filthy earthly gain?”
a beautifully ironic chapter.
complex conversation about society’s desire for freedom and dread of suffering and the knowledge of good and evil… and how the catholic church offers the illusion of salvation and structure that people long for…
“We have completed that work in Thy name…people are more persuaded than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet”
“Do you really think that the Roman Catholic movement of the last centuries is actually nothing but the lust of power, of filthy earthly gain?”
a beautifully ironic chapter.
complex conversation about society’s desire for freedom and dread of suffering and the knowledge of good and evil… and how the catholic church offers the illusion of salvation and structure that people long for…
spacetime03's review
“it is this need for a community of bowing down that has been the principal torment of each individual person and of mankind as a whole since the earliest ages…they have created gods and challenged one another : and so it will be until the world’s end, when even gods will vanish from the world : whatever happens they will fall down before idols.”