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cthedan 's review for:
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Some things that might be interfering with my feelings: translation, expectation, reputation, mood, Nabokov.
At first, the characters were fascinating and perversely relatable, but by Part 2 or 3, they were predictable in their shallow unpredictability. The style seemed to lack complexity. I had trouble with the parts that were sermons, and the parts that were courtroom dramas.
I think I tried, too, like consulting George Saunders and Elif Batuman's recent books on Russian Lit. Saunders doesn't mention him, and Karamazov is only referenced in relation to Tolstoy shitting on it.
But what do I know! I liked Notes From the Underground a lot, I don't like Bulgakov as much as a lot of similar-minded people seem to, and I liked Anna Karenina. I dunno.
At first, the characters were fascinating and perversely relatable, but by Part 2 or 3, they were predictable in their shallow unpredictability. The style seemed to lack complexity. I had trouble with the parts that were sermons, and the parts that were courtroom dramas.
I think I tried, too, like consulting George Saunders and Elif Batuman's recent books on Russian Lit. Saunders doesn't mention him, and Karamazov is only referenced in relation to Tolstoy shitting on it.
But what do I know! I liked Notes From the Underground a lot, I don't like Bulgakov as much as a lot of similar-minded people seem to, and I liked Anna Karenina. I dunno.