Alana Estelle

The Brothers Karamazov by, Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I love it. I’m a person who has to rate and rank things in my life because that’s just how my brain functions. I’m an INTJ, so I’m quite logical and can be rather technical at times, but I’m also an artistic, creative INTJ, which is even more uncommon. In order to anchor my scattered-brained, artistic side, I use lists and rankings. I’ve bee struggling figure out where The Brothers Karamazov fits on my favorite books list. Nothing is taking Jane Eyre’s place, but I think this bad boy is in the top three. I predicted that this book would be one of the best I’ve ever read and I was right. 

I like a good challenge. I like it when an author can grab me by the collar and make me think. I like it when an author is unapologetic about their craft. I don’t like a lot of fluff; give me the meat and potatoes. I’m a grown woman, who knows her own mind and I need stimulating reads that makes my brain do intellectual push-ups. Whew, this book made me work. I was reaching for my Marx-Engles Reader to supplement Dostoyevks’y arguments against socialism and I even had to flash back to my Sociology of Law text book and reminisce about the paper I wrote about parricide. 

The Brothers Karamazov is engaging, intelligent and thought-provoking. This is a novel that focuses on the complex nature of relationships, especially between siblings and parents, nationalism/patriotism, socialism, religion, justice, redemption, and grace. This story is so nuanced that it’s impossible to catch everything, even if you read it three times. I love these types of novels - an excellent book should be timeless and a reader should be able to revisit the text at various times in their life and grasp new concepts. I do plan on rereading this again and exploring various translations. 

This is a slow-burner, at almost 1000 pages. In today’s world of Amazon Prime 2-Day shipping, express lanes and instant downloads, we have become a society that demands immediate gratification. However, there is something to be said about patience and endurance. This book is a marathon, not a sprint and those who are willing to do some heavy lifting and take a break from microwave plots (I said what I said…), I would highly recommend tackling this book. It is absolutely stunning. Don’t let the size intimidate you - slow and steady wins the race. This book is not difficult to understand, but it demands your attention. I won’t recap the plot here; I have posts on each part of this book for that purpose. 

Easily a Rating of 5/5 for me. 

Lastly, this book prompted me to come up with 5 questions to think about should you decide to pick up this book to help focus you a bit, or if you’ve already read it and want to discuss. I think I’ll do this for my book reviews from here on out, because I think it will generate really stimulating conversations. 

1. Dostoyevsky speaks quite a bit about the Russian people and Russian identity. Why is nationalist/patriotism important? Why is preserving a national identity important?
2. Iluysha is a seemingly minor character, yet Dostoyevsky still emphasizes this boy and his relationship with family and friends. What distinctions are Dostoyevsky making between Iluysha and the Karamazovs?
3. Dostoyevsky blatantly denounces socialism. Do you find his arguments convincing and why or why not?
4. Each of the brothers is flawed and these flaws appear to be clearly evident in Ivan, Mitya and Smerdyakov. What are Alyosha’s flaws and why are they more difficult to detect? 
5. Mitya is accused of parricide and his trial captures attention of the entire nation. What makes parricide more scandalous than filicide? Is Dostoyevsky using this as symbolism to portray what he felt was happening to Russia at the time he was writing The Brothers Karamazov? 

Part IV of The Brothers Karamazov by, Dostoyevsky is the final section of the book and it did not disappoint. I’ll just be going over what stood out to me the most in this part and I’ll save my final thoughts on the novel as a whole in another post. 

We get more detail on a character named Kolya, who has a run-in with Alyosha earlier in he narrative. In true Dostoyevsky fashion, we get a detailed background on this school boy. I love how Dostoyevsky writes about his characters - they’re depicted as well-rounded, fallible human beings, who still have endearing qualities. Kolya and Alyosha have a conversation and as they get to know one another, Kolya begins to admiration Aloysha (me too kid, me too…). Even thought they initially don’t agree on some topics, they are able to get along. Aloysha is infinitely patient with Kolya and chastises him when needed.

“I am only sad that a charming nature such as yours, which has not yet even begun to live, should already have been corrupted by all this vulgar nonsense.”  

Aloysha’s relationship with Kolya and the other school boys juxtaposes the relationships

that Aloysha has with his brothers. Aloysha is able to mend and nurture the bonds between these young boys that doesn’t quite happen between Alyosha, Ivan and Mitya. 

Ivan was conspicuously absent in Part III, but his return in Part IV is quite profound. His narrative is pivotal to the overall plot, so I won’t reveal much. Ivan’s story is heartbreaking and I really felt for him as a character. He’s tormented by things he’s previously thought and said and this brings to mind questions of guilt and redemption. To what extent can a person be guilty of something and can they be redeemed from these thoughts or actions? But what abut free will? Can a person be responsible for something that someone else chooses to act on?

We then get to Mitya’s trial. Dostoyevsky does an fantastic job creating the court scene. We get long passages of the witnesses’ testimonies,  the procurator’s statements against Miyta and the defense attorney’s arguments for his client. These scenes actually reminded me the court scene in To Kill a Mockingbird - the defense’s pleas to the jury to do the right thing brought Atticus Finch to mind. There are strong overtones of justice and forgiveness. What happens to society if it’s justice system fails? 

In these court scenes, psychology is mentioned quite a bit, as the procurator uses psychology to support the claim that Mitya is guilty of murder. I found this really intriguing - starting in 1879, psychology begins to be seen as a scientific field. The Brothers Karamazov was published in 1880, so we can see how this may begin to carry more weight in judicial proceedings. 

The theme of fatherhood also comes back to the forefront. Mitya’s defense attorney makes the point that parents, in this case fathers, must take responsibility for how they raise their children. At the beginning of the novel, Dostoyevsky takes time to paint the character of Fyodor Karamazov to show how his lack go good parenting impacted the lives of his sons. 

“Any why, why depict my client as unfeeling, an egotist, a monster? …  but who is to blame for his fate, who is to blame that with good inclinations, with a noble, feeling heart he received such a preposterous upbringing?”

Lastly, the ending of the novel is interesting and I don’t want to give anything away. I had to really think about how Dostoyevsky decided to conclude this novel and realize that he gives the reader enough context throughout the whole of this work to figure out the rest. Ah, I appreciate an author who shows more than they tell. 

 I don’t think I need to belabor the point that think The Brothers Karamazov is excellent and intelligent. This is the type of novel I enjoyed interacting with the most - a work that makes me think, as I become invested in the lives of the characters. 

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My favorite genre is historical fiction - I’ve been drawn to it ever since I was a little girl. What I find most intriguing about that genre is how it allows me to “go back in time” to a completely different period with customs that may be the exact opposite of my current time period. 

However, there are many who don’t like historical fiction because it’s not always accurate, and as person who majored in history, I guess I get that. Granted, when I personally want accuracy, I’m not going to resort to a piece of fiction to fulfill that need. It also depends on what a person is expecting a work of historical fiction to achieve and within the genre, there are different narratives. 

For example,  Outlander by, Diana Gabaldon is actually categorized as sci-fi, but the main character goes back in time to Scotland, in the 1740s, right before the last Jacobite rebellion. The reader is entirely engrossed in this political atmosphere, yet Gabaldon has created her own world, in which her particular narrative can thrive. Yes, she uses a lot of the historical climate at the time to shape the narrative, but this is the land of Outlander and it’s not going to be the most accurate and it operates on its own set of rules. It’s supposed to have an air of fantasy. 

Then there are historical fiction narratives like Ross Poldark by, Winston Graham that take place in the past, and the reader is entirely engrossed in the world of mainly fictional characters, with a few notable historical persons and events, but it’s mainly about the life of the characters within this setting. There is no mystical realism, the reader is completely transplanted back in time to a world that is entirely believable. These are the type of historical novels that I’d define as “cozy,” in which the life just seems to take place and I find them to be the most relatable. 

Lastly, are the novels in which the author takes a specific person in history and then shapes a narrative around that person. Even if the author does a lot of research, there will be gaps and this allows the author to out their own spin on that historical figure and the world around them, especially in instances where the historical figure is quite obscure, like Anya Seton’s Katherine. Not much is known about Katherine; we mainly know that she was the mistress of the Duke of Lancaster and because of their affair and eventual marriage, they are descendants of the Tudor line. Seton was able to make this story her own because she didn’t have that much material to work with. Alison Weir’s The 6 Wives of Henry VIII fictional series and Mary Renault’s trilogy about Alexander the Great are known for the amount to research and accurate detail that has gone into their novels and they hd access to a lot sources. I really enjoy novels like these because it’s interesting to see what the author fabricated for the purpose of fiction. 

When I’m reading a piece of historical fiction, I don’t mind if there are inaccuracies - again, this is a work of fiction. There are exceptions in which there are details that were so blatantly off that it’s was jarring, but other than that, I’m pretty laid back. For me, it’s just enjoyable and fun to become engrossed in another world. 

Do you like historical fiction and do you expect it to be accurate? If you don’t like historical fiction, what’s your favorite genre? 

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This week marks one year since I was told to start working from home - March 17th, to be exact. It doesn’t feel like it’s been a year, but here we are. It was a bizarre time - the beginning of The Pestilence that Shall not be Named. My job sent us home and each week, kept pushing the time back for us to return to offices. I’m still at home, granted, I go in once a week to spice things up.

Oddly, I reflect on last spring with a bit of nostalgia. Even with all the uncertainty and  entire world navigating this situation, there was a level of calm that permeated my life, in the midst of chaos. Due to working from home, I started getting more sleep because I didn’t have to rush out of the house each morning. Ballet was cancelled, and even though I missed it terribly (sometimes almost to the point tears…), I was able to use that time to read more and catch up on my knitting. My sister and I started having these long, intense and deep conversations that we rarely had before because there was literally no one else around. 

In my picture, I have the top items that come to my mind from March - June 2020.  

• Knitting - As I just stated, I was able to catch up on and finish some knitting projects that I fell grossly behind on. 

• Elizabeth Taylor - During those early months, I relentlessly scoured the internet for Virago’s gorgeous editions of Elizabeth Taylor’s novels. I was able to score them all, minus one (which I’m still having a difficult time finding). Searching for these cheery covers was actually rather calming. They are difficult to find in the States, but thanks fo Canada, I was able to get them shipped to me!

• Ballet - I missed ballet the most during that time. I felt a little confused without it - ballet is one of my favorite things in life and I started as an adult. To have it suddenly taken away, after pining after and admiring it for years was jarring. However, thanks to Youtube, I diligently followed online classes to help maintain and even gain some technique. I now fondly remember going to my room with my laptop after work almost everyday and following along to the best of my ability without a barre and accidentally kicking furniture. 

• Music - For me, the beginning of this time period sounds like Swan Lake  and I’m still listening to it, at least twice a week. It has become my favorite piece of music. I now know Swan Lake inside and out. Getting lost in the genius that is Tchaikovsky and this 2.5 hour work of art has been so calming. Then, I started listening to different symphonies play Swam Lake and then chose my top 3. There is nothing quite like good music to soothe the soul. 

So here we are, one year later, with a bit of light showing at the end of a very long tunnel. This past year was rough, but there is always a positive take away. What’s your silver lining? 

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It seems that over the past year, I’ve seen more commentary about the Classics in literature being “problematic.” Some individuals and/or groups have even gone so far as to “cancel” works of literature that have been revered for decades, if not hundreds of years. 

I was a history major and studied some of the most gruesome periods in human history, from the ancient Greeks to genocides in the 20th century. There were some topics discussed in my classes that were extremely uncomfortable. It’s impossible to study the American Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement without seeing, and reading content that is indicative of those times periods. If one wants a thorough understanding of something, you’ve got to get down and dirty with it and leave no stone unturned. 

Now, if you’re reading a book and it really doesn’t sit well with you, then you can choose not to read it. However, that shouldn’t necessarily prevent others from having access to a text. Also, it is a privilege to have easy, unrestricted access to books. There are people across the world who would do anything to have access to books and read what they want to read, when they want to read it, without being penalized for it. We get so comfortable in our own lives, that we forget there are still people who are prohibited from learning how to read! Yes, we may have things we are greatly concerned about in our own countries, but sometimes we need a little bit of perspective. 

With all that said, I’ll leave you with two quotes from fictional works that talk about what happens to a society when content is censored and books banned. 

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been re-written, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except and endless present in which the Party is always right.” - 1984, George Orwell (1949)

“Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You’d find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthful recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more ‘literary’ you are. … Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often.” - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (1951). 

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Part III gets more into the plot, with the murder of the brothers’ father, Fyodor, but I don’t want to give too much away. However, it’s not a spoiler that Dmitry is the principle suspect. 

From the outset of the novel, Dmitry is the volatile, spontaneous, reckless brother. His rage and outbursts, at first, can make him easy to dislike. However, what I like about this part of the narrative is that we get to spend more time with him and realize that he, like is other brothers, is rather complex. 

Even thought Mitya is rash and quite changeable, he’s actually quite honest. He says what he thinks, often to his detriment. Regardless of if I agree with how he goes about things, I respect the fact that he is honest - what you see is what you get. To me, he also comes across as a rather sensitive man. There are some really great passages of him, while he is being interrogated about the murder of his father, that are genuine and heartfelt. 

“After all, I have, as it were, torn my soul in half before you, and you have taken advantage of it and are rummaging with your fingers in both halves along the torn place … O, God!” 

Dmitry definitely wears his heart on his sleeve and Dostoyevsky makes the torment that he feels about being suspected as the murderer of his father palpable. 

“He felt intolerably embarrassed: everyone was dressed except he, and it was a strange thing - without his clothes on he himself felt guilty before them, and, above all, was himself almost ready to agree that he had suddenly become inferior to all of them and that now they had a perfect right to treat him with contempt … His unendurable shame made him even more uncouth, even intentionally so.” 

This passage in particular, in which Mitya was forced to undress as his clothes were inspected, brought to mind how humiliation is used as a tactic to degrade others. Standing there naked amongst men who were also his colleagues, diminished his sense of self-worth and so he became even more defensive as a way to counter the manipulation that was being used to against him. Unfortunately, his behavior would only prove the point that he has the temperament to commit murder. 

White lies are very common in human nature and yet, in Mitya’s case the outcome is monumental. This was one question in the book that made me go, “Hmmm.” How often do we do things, without even thinking about them and then they turn out to have bigger repercussions than we could have fathomed?

I feel like I’m repeating myself for the umpteenth time, but The Brothers Karamazov really is a fantastic novel. Yes it’s massive, but that’s part of the fun. Dostoyevsky even injects a little humor about the length. I’m in the midst of Part IV and it already feels a little bitter sweet. I want to know the ending but I don’t want to leave Alyosha yet. I just adore him. 

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My reading plans for this month are pretty much the same from February. I’m starting to care less if I can get through a specified list of books each month for multiple reasons. Mainly, because I don’t spend all of my free time reading. There are days in which I barely pick up a book at all. I work full-time and sometimes after a work day I don’t have the mental capacity to read. I also have ballet classes, items on commission that I need to knit (I’m always behind on my custom orders and the list keeps growing. A good problem to have…), and other random but meaningful activities I want to give my time to. I also could care less about reading a huge number of books each month because quantity doesn’t always equal quantity. If you’re able to do that than, great, but it’s not feasible for my life. 

I was able to get through 3-5 books each month last year because of shut downs. I had no ballet classes to go to (no one had anywhere to go…)so I’d spend that time reading. Life has picked up a bit over the past few months and something had to give. 

Moving forward, each month I’ll just be posting what I’m currently reading and what I’ll be able to realistically read each month and if those books keep rolling over to the next month and the month after that, then so be it. If I’m able to squeeze in another then, great! Lastly, not every book is a sprint; some books demand that you to read them slowly and to savor them. I’m in the mood for slow burners. I’ve also started taking more time writing book notes for everything that I read, which adds to the time. I often have to look up supplement articles or look up things in other books to enrich the reading process. I’m playing around with the idea of publishing those notes online so people can access them, should they want to read a book and want some companion notes  and other texts to reference. I haven’t committed to this idea yet - again, I’m turning it over in my head. 

Rolling over from last month and what I hope finish this month are: 

• The Brothers Karamazov - Only Part IV to go!
• Lolita
• Hamlet 
• Hamnet 

What are you reading this month? 

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