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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's very slow paced, and sometimes you might think to yourself «Okay, but how does this affect the plot.» Fair point, definitely, but to me personally, such scenes meant everything in the parallel situations of these characters and for Dostoyevsky to explore some of his philosophy, which I think he has the right to with such reflections. Also, as my dad so rightfully reminded me, this book was written in a period where people had the time to read. Not meaning that they weren't as busy as we are now, but simply that their attention spans had not been abused such as ours have due to various categories of modern entertainment.
There is no shame in this, but it's important to note that if you're wanting to read this. I, too, found it boring at times, because no, I genuinely could not care less about Father Zosima.
And on the note of characters I couldn't care less about, we have Alyosha. Yes, I see Dostoyevsky praising and loving him, but I found him pretty whiny, actually. He was about as relevant as an emotional support animal, to be quite honest. That is until the epilogue, where I appreciated his part of the whole journey.
My favourite character was Mitya, though Ivan stands as a close second, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it is because I found them sexy. Not only because I found them sexy, but it was undeniably a factor in there somewhere, and I am young and gay, so who can blame me. Still, they were both fantastically written characters, both with depth and interesting plot lines.
Yes, my review has been mostly about the characters and what I thought of them, but they are the plot after all. However, I want to add finally that I noticed how the synopsis of the book leads with the murder of Fyodor Pavlovich, when that doesn't «come up» until a good... 500 pages in? A bit odd, but I suppose that was what brought the entire piece to a conclusion.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Bullying, Suicide, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Racism, Addiction, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Racial slurs
abbyreadsbigbooks123's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence
cnohero's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Death of parent