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The Brothers Karamazov
The award-winning translation of Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel.
When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons are changed irrevocably: Mitya is placed under suspicion, Ivan's mental tortures drive him to breakdown, Alyosha tries to heal the family's rifts, and there is always the shadow of their bastard half-brother, Smerdyakov.
When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons are changed irrevocably: Mitya is placed under suspicion, Ivan's mental tortures drive him to breakdown, Alyosha tries to heal the family's rifts, and there is always the shadow of their bastard half-brother, Smerdyakov.
Paperback, 796 pages
Published
June 14th 2002
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(first published 1878)
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Contrary to widespread rumor, this is a far from bleak book. While every character has his or her own misery, and it all takes place in a place called something like "cattle-roundup-ville", the moments of religious ecstasy and moral clarity are heartbreaking in their frequency - it's hard not to wish that one had such bizarre events going on around one in order to prompt such lofty oratory.
The story involves Ivan, Dmitri, Alyosha, and Smerdyakov, four brothers with a rich but notoriously lechero...more
The story involves Ivan, Dmitri, Alyosha, and Smerdyakov, four brothers with a rich but notoriously lechero...more

“I am big; it’s the pictures that got small”
In Considering the Lobster, David Foster Wallace observes that the “thing about Dostoevsky’s characters is that they are alive" (264). They are, in fact, larger than life, and Wallace goes on to bemoan the fact that so many “of the novelists of our own place and time look so thematically shallow and lightweight…in comparison to Gogol or Dostoevsky” (271). Like Norma Desmond, who feels the pictures have gotten small, Wallace sees contemporary novels lac...more

If you like your books to move in a linear fashion this book is not for you. It hops around and attention must be paid or you will find yourself flipping back a few pages to reestablish the thread of the story. I took this on a plane flight, crazy right? Not exactly the normal "light" reading I take on flights. It was a stroke of genius. I absolutely fell under the thrall of Dostoyevky's prose. (Thank you to my fellow travelers who didn't feel the need to chat with the guy who obviously is so f...more
Jul 29, 2012
Riku Sayuj
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Riku by:
english teacher in seventh grade!
On Romancing The Devil
The book is not about the murder or about who did it, those things were very apparent before half the book was completed, the narrator taking special pains to spoil all suspense for his readers at the very beginning (harkening back to the days of greek drama and Euripides - according to whom, the effect of a story, even awhodunnit, was no...more
Warning: This review might contain spoilers even outside the hidden 'spoiler alert' regions. I honestly am not capable of discriminating.
The book is not about the murder or about who did it, those things were very apparent before half the book was completed, the narrator taking special pains to spoil all suspense for his readers at the very beginning (harkening back to the days of greek drama and Euripides - according to whom, the effect of a story, even awhodunnit, was no...more
Um, okay, so I'm going to start off by saying, if you are, like me, in love with the brothers, love them from afar. Because as wonderful as they seem, being in a relationship with them would be awful, and you would cry a lot. Yes, even Alyosha, unless you are of course as noble and as kind as him yourself, which I just don’t see happening. On the other hand, if you just want to have some fun with them, by all means, I think it would be…awesome.
I found this cute picture on deviantArt that summari...more
I found this cute picture on deviantArt that summari...more
Note: This review was written on Nov 18th 2007, a week after my twenty-first birthday. Excuse the youthful clumsiness of my style.
Matters of Life and Death
Often I used stop people in the streets, shake them frantically on the shoulders and slap them on the face, shouting again and again: “Is there a God? Is there a God? For God’s sake, just tell me if there’s a God!”
You would be surprised at the results I gathered from this. One or two of them confirmed that there is indeed a God, and that his n...more
Matters of Life and Death
Often I used stop people in the streets, shake them frantically on the shoulders and slap them on the face, shouting again and again: “Is there a God? Is there a God? For God’s sake, just tell me if there’s a God!”
You would be surprised at the results I gathered from this. One or two of them confirmed that there is indeed a God, and that his n...more
Oh brother Karamazov, where art thou?
The split up of the family Karamazov affected me more than all the philosophizing and high-minded ethical discussion. But that's me. I'm more interested in seeing human nature played out rather than hearing a bunch of people sit around talking about how humans should act. Not since college, when I took so many philosophy classes I could've majored in it, has such debate held my attention. These days few writers can make me read through hundreds of pages of t...more
The split up of the family Karamazov affected me more than all the philosophizing and high-minded ethical discussion. But that's me. I'm more interested in seeing human nature played out rather than hearing a bunch of people sit around talking about how humans should act. Not since college, when I took so many philosophy classes I could've majored in it, has such debate held my attention. These days few writers can make me read through hundreds of pages of t...more
Basically, the Brothers Karamazov is one of my all-time favorite books, in large part because I read it with one of my all-time favorite philosophy professors. Although the book has a fairly compelling plot, to me it's ultimately the characters and thematic concerns underpinning the story that keep it near the top of my list, and that's where I'd like to put the focus of this review (in hopes of sharing some of the stuff my teacher pointed out that I never would have come up with on my own). Of...more
This is a review both of the book and the translation. See my review of Crime and Punishment for an explanation of why I don't entirely like this translation -- the authors sacrifice clarity and readability for technical accuracy in a way that tends to obscure the meaning. That said, though, it's a very good one, and I'd give it a four out of five. My pet peeve in most translations is the choice of the word "meek" instead of "gentle". These have utterly different connotations in modern English,...more
Dostoevsky's crowning achievement, although not my personal favourite amongst his impressive body of work. TBK has pretty much everything required of a five-star paper city: superb characterization, psychological depth and insight; intrigue, murder, and suspense; great daubs of humor, both madcap broadsides and satirical with a capital slice; that never-ending, cyclonical struggle between faith and reason; a sublimely Slavic melange of love, lust, deception, betrayal, violence, flight, revenge,...more
I think this was the most rewarding novel I have read so far. The
author demonstrates convincing insights into a thorough range of human
emotions. The novel reminds me that most of mankind is capable of
chaotic baseness and selfless dignity. Dostoyevesky's portrayal of
mankind is pessimistic and emphasizes our "underbelly", yet, he
romantically offers a redemption to our shared folly with characters
like Alexei that remind the good part of us to love and re-awaken our
dignity to live with honesty and g...more
author demonstrates convincing insights into a thorough range of human
emotions. The novel reminds me that most of mankind is capable of
chaotic baseness and selfless dignity. Dostoyevesky's portrayal of
mankind is pessimistic and emphasizes our "underbelly", yet, he
romantically offers a redemption to our shared folly with characters
like Alexei that remind the good part of us to love and re-awaken our
dignity to live with honesty and g...more
This novel would lead me to believe that all Russian women are virtual psychopaths and all Russian men muddled philosophers. But for all of its curious characterizations, The Brothers Karamazov is a masterfully written epic, and once I had plodded past the first 40 pages or so, I was enthralled. Fascinated by the brothers, anxious to know their destinies, and stimulated by the depth of the novel's religious speculations, I read on. As a story, Brothers Karamazov is good enough, but as a penetrat...more
لكل كاتب نتاجه الأدبي، عن هذا العمل أستطيع أن أقول أن دوستويفسكي وصل قمة وعظمة نتاجه الأدبي، كان هذا العمل يسبر أغوار الروح الإنسانية والمصاعب التي تلحق بالبشر والسفاسف التي يطلقونها فتحكم الحياة له على العدم. هذا العمل هو حكاية عن بيئة إجتماعية فوضوية ترابطت فيها الأفكار بالأخلاق والفلسفة والدين والقتل، كيف يعيش الإنسان من منطلق هذه الأفكار داخل فكرته الخاصة إذاً ؟ .. دوستويفسكي كان يسرد الأحداث على السطح، لم يكن مهتماً بالحدث أكثر من التفاصيل والمسببات و الأفكار، هذا ما جعلها بنظري طويلة، حيث...more
Aug 11, 2012
Roo78lm
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ك-تب-للتغيير,
favorites
كنت ممتلئة بالحماسة و بالكثير من الرغبة في أن أكتب بعد أن أفرغ من الرواية .. لم أتوقع حين أقلب الصفحة الأخيرة من الأحداث لأرى أن كل ما تبقى هو الهوامش و الحواش ستنتابني رعشة و رغبة حقيقة في البكاء و التحسر ! ، شعرت لحظتها كم كنت عجولة و متسرعة .. وأدركت حينها كم كانت هذه الرواية بكل كلمة من كلماتها .. بكل شخصية من شخصياتها ، بكل حدث من أحداثها دون إستثناء أو تمييز تعنيني طول الأيام المنصرمة التي قضيتها أقرأ الأجزاء الأربعة فيها . لم تكن هي تجربتي الأولى مع دوستويفيسكي .. والحمدالله أنها ليست الأ...more
Brothers Karamazov is an exceptionally tricky and intricate book. It's also an exceptional pain in the ass. I might have to create a new shelf for it called "I'd Have To Read It Again To Get It But I'd Rather Just Not Get It." Tristram Shandy can join it there. The first problem is when a speech is so long that it reminds you of Atlas Shrugged. The second problem is that when I finished it just now, the words that unconsciously escaped my mouth were, "Well, fuck you Karamazov."
Here's a game I ma...more
Here's a game I ma...more
Jun 25, 2012
Chiara Pagliochini
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
letteratura-russa
‘Vedete, noi siamo nature ampie, karamazoviane, capaci di mescolare insieme i più opposti contrari che immaginar si possa, e di ficcar lo sguardo, nello stesso istante, in entrambi gli abissi, nell’abisso al di sopra di noi, l’abisso degli ideali più alti, e nell’abisso al di sotto di noi, l’abisso della più bassa, della più fetida caduta morale. […] I due abissi, i due abissi, o signori, nello stesso identico momento: senza questo, noi siamo infelici e insoddisfatti, la nostra esistenza non è p...more
"And even if only one good memory remains with us in our hearts, that alone may serve some day for our salvation."
This will no doubt be the most difficult thing have I ever reviewed. There is so much that one gets when reading a Russian novel-or any good novel to be honest. But in this massive work you get it all. Lots of characters pop up, everyone has long names and are known my different names depending on who is speaking, when a person does anything they talk or "think" about it at great le...more
This will no doubt be the most difficult thing have I ever reviewed. There is so much that one gets when reading a Russian novel-or any good novel to be honest. But in this massive work you get it all. Lots of characters pop up, everyone has long names and are known my different names depending on who is speaking, when a person does anything they talk or "think" about it at great le...more
If there was still any doubt, let me confirm that this actually is the greatest book ever written. But be warned that you need to set aside a solid month to get through it. And it's not light reading--this is a dense work of philosophy disguised as a simple murder mystery. But it's well worth the effort. It tackles the fundamental question of human existence--how best to live one's life--in a truly engaging way. Dostoevsky created 3 brothers (Ivan, Alexei, and Dmitri) with opposite answers to th...more
Dec 21, 2007
Vanja Antonijevic
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
patient individuals, looking for a rewarding experience
Dostoevsky’s "Crime and Punishment" and "Notes from Underground" are his most popular and famous works. And deservedly so. Dostoevsky’s "Brothers Karamazov", on the other hand, is his most critically acclaimed work- regarded by many as the best novel ever written. And deservedly so.
While "Crime and Punishment" and "Notes from Underground" are shorter, easier to read, and more entertaining, Brothers Karamazov is Dostoevsky’s longest, but also best, most subtle, and complex work. It has a huge li...more
While "Crime and Punishment" and "Notes from Underground" are shorter, easier to read, and more entertaining, Brothers Karamazov is Dostoevsky’s longest, but also best, most subtle, and complex work. It has a huge li...more
Attenzione, la seguente recensione contiene sproloqui. Ci scusiamo in anticipo ma non possiamo farci niente. Buona continuazione.
In genere mi considero una bibliofila accanita, un’amante del libro come oggetto, oltre che, ovviamente, come strumento di conoscenza.
Il fatto è che io amo stare a guardare minuti interi la copertina prima di sollevarla e, finalmente, leggere. Quando entro in una libreria, non è detto che voglia comprare qualcosa –o meglio, voglio sempre farlo, ma non sempre lo faccio...more
In genere mi considero una bibliofila accanita, un’amante del libro come oggetto, oltre che, ovviamente, come strumento di conoscenza.
Il fatto è che io amo stare a guardare minuti interi la copertina prima di sollevarla e, finalmente, leggere. Quando entro in una libreria, non è detto che voglia comprare qualcosa –o meglio, voglio sempre farlo, ma non sempre lo faccio...more
Aug 29, 2007
Pietrus Block
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love."
"This is my last message to you: in sorrow seek happiness. Work, work unceasingly."
"He has done me no harm. But I played him a dirty trick, and ever since then I have hated him."
"It's the great mystery of human life that old grief pass...more
"This is my last message to you: in sorrow seek happiness. Work, work unceasingly."
"He has done me no harm. But I played him a dirty trick, and ever since then I have hated him."
"It's the great mystery of human life that old grief pass...more
Greatest novel I ever read. Characters, plot, underlying philosophical/spiritual struggle. It's simultaneously giant and its intensely personal. It's so universal and so Russian.
"Grand Inquisitor" chapter should be read annually, no monthly. It'll keep your synapses and priorities aligned.
Fyodor puts the fun back into suffering--something the Russians are good at. Alyosha is perhaps the most memorable character in literature. I'm still trying to resolve the questions he raises. Russians--the o...more
"Grand Inquisitor" chapter should be read annually, no monthly. It'll keep your synapses and priorities aligned.
Fyodor puts the fun back into suffering--something the Russians are good at. Alyosha is perhaps the most memorable character in literature. I'm still trying to resolve the questions he raises. Russians--the o...more
Tenía mucho tiempo con ganas de leer este libro, pero no me había animado. Supongo que me intimidaba por varias razones, su extensión, el hecho de ser un clásico de la literatura universal, y etceteras, entre ellos falta de tiempo y tranquilidad.
Qué maravilla, la verdad fué lo mejor que pude haber hecho.
Soy lectora todo terreno. Leo de todo porque quiero leerlo todo. Siempre me gana la curiosidad, y a veces esto me ha metido en más de un libro que me hace pasar bochornos.
Pero este libro tiene to...more
Qué maravilla, la verdad fué lo mejor que pude haber hecho.
Soy lectora todo terreno. Leo de todo porque quiero leerlo todo. Siempre me gana la curiosidad, y a veces esto me ha metido en más de un libro que me hace pasar bochornos.
Pero este libro tiene to...more
With Great Books, comment is an impertinence. But I like to hear of people’s encounters with them, and thought I’d attempt mine with the novel that has always been my number one.
For those new to him I’d like to say, Dostoyevsky isn’t difficult. I think there’s a rumour he is - as with other Greats who turn out to be more like ordinary novelists than we’d feared, except with the wisdom of the gods. The last hundred pages of Karamazov is a courtroom drama, and he has sensational plots, since he g...more
For those new to him I’d like to say, Dostoyevsky isn’t difficult. I think there’s a rumour he is - as with other Greats who turn out to be more like ordinary novelists than we’d feared, except with the wisdom of the gods. The last hundred pages of Karamazov is a courtroom drama, and he has sensational plots, since he g...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Rereading this one now, first time as a believer, and the whole story of the monk, Aloysha's friend and mentor, is riveting to me this time around. I've had a few times in my life when I felt the way it was described that the monk's brother felt before he died, that there's no need for any unhappiness ever, and life was meant to be a paradise, if only we saw it so. It was beautiful. Dostoyevsky's descriptions are more vivid than ever to me, and the feelings are more powerful. If other writers ar...more
Yes, it is long and it is demanding and it is partly tiresome, but just as with so many other challenging things here in life, in the end, it is worth it a hundered times over.
This book is so full of truths that you will find yourself sitting with your jaw on the ground, wondering how someone could see so right into your soul, understand everything that is happening there and then formulate it so well and precisely.
I especially like the parts about Zosima, because never before have I read anythi...more
This book is so full of truths that you will find yourself sitting with your jaw on the ground, wondering how someone could see so right into your soul, understand everything that is happening there and then formulate it so well and precisely.
I especially like the parts about Zosima, because never before have I read anythi...more
This was a very interesting book. I was expecting something more like Crime and Punishment, but it was quite different. I found it challenging to read, mostly because of the length of it and I thought that he reached his point long before the book ended. I really found this to be a spiritual discussion focusing on faith, morals, crime and class.
I found it very interesting to learn that Dostoyevsky's 3-year old son Alyosha died of epilepsy when he started writing this book. When I learned that af...more
I found it very interesting to learn that Dostoyevsky's 3-year old son Alyosha died of epilepsy when he started writing this book. When I learned that af...more
May 13, 2009
Meen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Meen by:
Madame actually gave me this copy.
4/13/09: Whew, done! Right up till the last night of reading (last night), I was teetering on five stars, but the damn prosecuter's speech just went on and on and on and was so freaking tedious it infuriated me. Also, the whole thing was a bit too preachy for this atheist to feel totally in love. But it was a wonderful read, and after about a third of the way in I was actually stopping doing other things to read it and looking forward to it while I was away from it, especially at the climax of t...more
Jan 28, 2008
Joshua
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone looking to expand what they thought they already knew
When I first finished The Brothers Karamazov , I felt a tinge of sadness wash over me since this was Dostoevsky's last novel. Now I'm not an idiot, I can guess that by being born on 1821 that he just might be dead by now. Still, whenever I read an author's last work I feel as if a weight is placed upon my shoulders. Most author's final novels are created after a lifetime of working and refining their technique, growing into the wizened sages that we all hold our favorite authors as being. That...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Greatest Novel Ever Written | 130 | 749 | 23 hours, 16 min ago | |
| Discovering Russi...: * The Brothers Karamazov: Books 8 to 12 + Epilogue - April 13- 05 | 11 | 34 | May 16, 2013 08:11pm | |
| Reading the Classics: The Brothers Karamazov: Book II | 38 | 134 | May 15, 2013 06:37am | |
| The best translator? | 6 | 56 | May 04, 2013 01:47pm | |
| Discovering Russi...: * The Brothers Karamazov: Books 6 & 7 - April 07-12 | 7 | 30 | Apr 13, 2013 10:35pm | |
| Discovering Russi...: * The Brothers Karamazov: Book 3 - March 26-31 | 3 | 20 | Apr 02, 2013 11:08pm | |
| Discovering Russi...: * The Brothers Karamazov - Book 1 - March 15-18 | 20 | 62 | Apr 02, 2013 10:23am |
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the human soul had a profound influence on the 20th century novel.
Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more
More about Fyodor Dostoyevsky...
Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more
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“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
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“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”
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Nov 27, 2012 04:55pm
Feb 25, 2013 07:21pm