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.
- Dostoyevsky speaks quite a bit about the Russian people and Russian identity. Why is nationalist/patriotism important? Why is preserving a national identity important?
- 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?
- Dostoyevsky blatantly denounces socialism. Do you find his arguments convincing and why or why not?
- 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?
- 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?
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