The Brothers Karamazov in The Obscure Reading Group

Jan 05, 2015 Kenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, long-haul-reads, россия

“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.”
The Brothers Karamazov ~~~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

This was my introduction to Russian Literature at the age of 14. I remember buying this at a flea market one weekend for $0.50 ~~ in hardback, & feeling very adult since I would be readin ...more

255 likes · Like · see review

Oct 14, 2021 Alan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, origin-russian

I have always been an optimist (!). I must have been 12 when a family friend gave me a $50 gift card for a bookstore close to my house. Imagine that. $50, all for me, books. So obviously the first thing I did was run to the store and blow a good chunk of that money on two books: One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Brothers Karamazov. I am now 25. In the 13 years that have passed since then, I have “tried” to read The Brothers Karamazov 4 times. The first 3 times ended up 50 pages in. I had the ...more

129 likes · Like · see review

Feb 01, 2022 Laysee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: five-star-books

“Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath…” – Ephesians 6:4

I greeted the prospect of reading The Brothers Karamazov with trepidation. It is the book of choice by the Obscure Reading Group and part of me wanted to join in the discussion, which I know will be rewarding. The reluctant part of me fretted about not having sufficient time to read this tome and whether I am ready for this classic, Dostoevsky’s last work that has been hailed as his masterpiece.

A new year has dawned and on the wings “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath…” – Ephesians 6:4

I greeted the prospect of reading The Brothers Karamazov with trepidation. It is the book of choice by the Obscure Reading Group and part of me wanted to join in the discussion, which I know will be rewarding. The reluctant part of me fretted about not having sufficient time to read this tome and whether I am ready for this classic, Dostoevsky’s last work that has been hailed as his masterpiece.

A new year has dawned and on the wings of courage borne of new beginnings, I decided to make the acquaintance of the three Russian brothers. What a meeting that was! For an entire month in January right up to the eve of the lunar new year (when I heard the tiger roar), I was steeped in an intricate philosophical treatise that examined good and evil, the abyss of human depravity, hope, and redemption. The propensity to wrongdoing was matched by a knowing surrender to all that was vile and violent. This complex examination of the human condition was accomplished via a story of three brothers and their father’s murder. The tale was sordid and ugly, and there were days I fled and read a lighter work to catch my breath. Yet, I cannot help but recognize the enormity of the conflict between the flesh and the spirit that Dostoevsky painstakingly and brilliantly brought to awareness.

Right from the start, there was a sense of impending doom. Blood would be shed. The characters, both major and minor, were skillfully developed. They came across as real people percolating evil and justifying their evil to themselves. The patriarch, Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, is a mean, lascivious, self-serving debauchee who mistreats his children. Dimtri (Mitya), abandoned as a child and cheated of his birth right, is irascible, impulsive, self-loathing, passionate and lives by his senses. Ivan, an atheist and the intellectual in the family, scorns faith and believes he is the law unto himself. Alexey (Alyosha), the youngest son is like a lamb living amongst a pack of wolves. A novice monk under the tutelage of Father Zassimov (a name I still cannot remember: Mimossa, samosa, Assimov – dreadful) is the voice of conscience. Dostoevsky seemed to have represented in this set of brothers: the senses, the intellect, and the soul. The Karamazov family saga, bitter feud, parricide, and trial of the murderer were carefully staged. It picked up pace in the last two parts and then I read on rather feverishly.

Of interest to me is this idea of hatred and murder. Dostoevsky suggests that hatred is murder in itself. With it, guilt is inevitable. As the unnamed narrator, the author evidently had some words of wisdom and a compassionate worldview strewn throughout this massive work. Here is a quote by Father Zassimov:

“for love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed and in the sight of all... But active love is labor and fortitude, and for some people too, perhaps, a complete science.”

It has not been easy to read The Brothers Karamazov but I am glad I did. Published in 1879, its insight into human nature continues to hold true today. ...more

116 likes · Like · see review

Feb 26, 2022 Ken rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: world-literature, finished-in-2022

Second reading, different translator, eleven years apart. Oddly, I remembered little from the first reading. I cannot deny it is a first-rate work of imagination, that it is huge in its ambitions, that it encapsulates so many of Dostoevsky's opinions and philosophies and religious thoughts.

That said, I also feel more so than in the past that Tolstoy is his superior. Tolstoy's characters seem more realistic to me. I was struck more this time than last that the Karamazov world was overly melodrama ...more

49 likes · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2019 Sue rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, russia, literary-fiction, classics, 19th-century, read-2019

Third time was the charm with The Brothers Karamazov. And what a charm it has been. Doing a slow read with a couple of friends has proven to be the perfect way for accomplishing this goal of learning about the family Karamazov and the murder that I had heard would inevitably happen. But there is so much more here.

to be continued...

25 likes · Like · see review

Jul 06, 2009 Ken rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics-newly-read, finished-in-2009

Whew! Talk about a gauntlet running! But what seemed like a huge mess of a book clearly had a structure and a design. I'm sure the religious symbolism is much greater than I noticed, but I did notice the preeminence of the number three -- three brothers, three chapters for each one in Part I, Book One,; "The Confessions of an Ardent Heart" in three parts in Part I, Book Three, "The Three Torments" in Part III, Book Nine; the three meetings with Smerdyakov (he of the devilish squinting LEFT eye) Whew! Talk about a gauntlet running! But what seemed like a huge mess of a book clearly had a structure and a design. I'm sure the religious symbolism is much greater than I noticed, but I did notice the preeminence of the number three -- three brothers, three chapters for each one in Part I, Book One,; "The Confessions of an Ardent Heart" in three parts in Part I, Book Three, "The Three Torments" in Part III, Book Nine; the three meetings with Smerdyakov (he of the devilish squinting LEFT eye) in Part IV, Book Eleven; and so forth. Dostoevsky wasn't subtle when it came to the Trinity.

The Ilyushenka funeral at the end was a bit sentimental for my tastes, but it gave Alexei a soapbox (in the form of a coffin) to stand on for his final sermon to the boys. It reminded somewhat of Tiny Tim ("God bless us, everyone!") and somewhat of Robin Williams rallying the boys in Dead Poets Society ("Carpe diem, boys, carpe diem!").

I also grew tired of the repeated retellings of the crime, especially when it came to the prosecutor's final speech. What fascinated me, however, was Ippolit's (prosecutor's) thoughts on present-day society in 19th-century Russia. People were too liberal, too God-less, he said. People lived vicariously, loved sensationalism and to feast their eyes and ears on other people's misery. People only carried about money and material goods and satisfaction of their own sensual needs. Hmn. Sounds damn near like speeches at the last Republican Convention. The times, they aren't a changin', I guess.

I'm always glad to fill a Swiss hole in my classical reading resume and summer is the time to do it. Last year it was Dead Souls, a book Dostoevsky admired, and this year it is The Brothers Karamazov. I enjoyed it. It ran the gamut, from near-Biblical raptures and serious philosophical and religious thoughts to the equivalent of a 19th-century Jerry Springer show (I'm sure Jerry would be salivating to sign the likes of Dmitri K. and his little strumpet, Grushenka).

A bit like after giving blood or having gone to church, finishing it. You know. That noble feeling. And you want to do GOOD, a la Alyoshka, after reading it. I think, then, I'll go to the freezer for a Good Humor bar. For starters, I mean! ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2022 Cindy Newton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, classic-lit-russian, b-n-classic

I don't know where to even start with this review. This book has been reviewed by so many and so much more eloquently than I could ever hope to achieve. This is my second Dostoevsky and I found it compelling. The fraught family relationships, the tangled love relationships, the philosophical religious debates, the mysterious patriarchal murder, and the tense jury trial--all provide a spellbinding read. Other than the jury's verdict, we never get a definitive answer on who actually committed the ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2022 Danielle rated it it was amazing

Legit the best thing I've ever read. It's almost flawless, although the 3 chapters of prosecuting attorney resummarizing everything that happened in the novel was a bit of a slog. It was well-crafted and had everything except sane women. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2009 Carol rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read-booklist

This is by far one of the best classics I have read. It has everything in it. You can laugh and cry . There is romance and intrigue along with a nifty murder. If you ignore the 19th century phrases you would think you were reading a modern novel.

If I had to chose a few books to take on a deserted island I think this would be one of them. A nice study of the inconsistency of man and his mind. Dostoyevsky had human nature down pat. For a man who did not study psychology he certainly knew as much ...more

1 like · Like · see review