From the Bookshelf of The Obscure Reading Group…

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Start date: February 1, 2022

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The Brothers Karamazov

* Reading Schedule for THE BROS. KARAMAZOV
By Ken · 1 post · 42 views

last updated Jan 07, 2022 01:19PM

Week #5: The Bros Karamazov, Pt 4 (Bk 12-Epilogue)
By Kathleen · 15 posts · 28 views

last updated Mar 30, 2022 06:06AM

What Members Thought

Oct 03, 2018 Cherisa B rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2022

Rating this book is sort of ridiculous. It stands by itself as one of the greatest books of the western canon. Set in a small city somewhere in czarist Russia in the mid-19th century, Dostoevsky uses the Karamazov family to wrestle with the nature of good and evil, passion and love, faith and doubt, religion and atheism, intellect and kindness.

Whether you can get through the 800 pages depends on your appetite for classic Russian sensibility, and I can understand that not everyone will be able t ...more

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Jan 30, 2022 Matthew Ted rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-list-2006-ed, 19th-century, lit-writ-russian, subject-philosophy, translated, read-2022, subject-religion

11th book of 2022.

“I dislike intensely The Brothers Karamazov and the ghastly Crime and Punishment rigmarole," so Nabokov once said. I disagree with him on the latter, I think it's a brilliant novel, and I don't intensely dislike this, but Nabokov's view has allowed me to feel slightly less alone.

3.5. Often called the 'greatest book ever written', it's hard not to go in with some high hopes. It's even harder having read Crime and Punishment and loved it. The problem was, I knew this was a diff 11th book of 2022.

“I dislike intensely The Brothers Karamazov and the ghastly Crime and Punishment rigmarole," so Nabokov once said. I disagree with him on the latter, I think it's a brilliant novel, and I don't intensely dislike this, but Nabokov's view has allowed me to feel slightly less alone.

3.5. Often called the 'greatest book ever written', it's hard not to go in with some high hopes. It's even harder having read Crime and Punishment and loved it. The problem was, I knew this was a different sort of novel, denser, longer, more overtly philosophical. Most of the time I could only read this in fairly short chunks, most of the time not even managing 50 pages a day, which I would, usually, easily read of a big novel. The 'plot', the murder mystery/courtroom drama as the blurb suggests is really a selling point, these two things don't come around until the final third of the novel. The first 2/3 of the novel is mostly giant tirades on morality, religion and the relationships between the characters, the brothers and various women in the story. Considering its reputation, I barely underlined anything though I found many bits interesting. The characters were all very good but at times I struggled to care about what they had to say. The last portion of the novel was good and putting the novel down I felt its collected power accumulating inside me which is always a good sign. Reading isn't always pleasant but can still reap wonderful rewards and feelings. I guess this is one of those books.

As far as the big Russian novels goes, this one falls in with Anna Karenina as being a great novel, having my respect, but ultimately being a little disappointing. For me the pinnacle so far remains to be War and Peace which completely bowled me over with its brilliance. I guess you could say I'm more Tolstoy than Dostoyevsky [1], but I'd also want to read more of both before saying anything final. Putting it aside I feel like the message of the book is a wonderful one and I will have to read it again when I'm older and wiser; in a way I'm glad I read it in my mid-twenties so when I can read it in my 30s or 40s I can (hopefully) think to myself, what an idiot I was in my twenties! And then know for certain how much wiser I've become, and maybe better, too.
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[1] In the choosing favourites game with natural pairs, Camus v. Sartre, Balzac v. Zola, Hemingway v. Fitzgerald, etc. ...more

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Oct 04, 2021 Sandy Salzinger rated it it was amazing

One of my all time favorite books…

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Dec 23, 2021 BarbaraW rated it liked it

Went in with high hopes. Came out relieved I stuck with this overrated, boring tome. Author goes off on very long psychological and religious tangents every few hundred pages just because he can. Regarding relationships between the characters: you’ll be amazed how silly it all is with everyone behaving badly. The end comes and after you say thank God you then realize absolutely nothing was resolved or wrapped up. Plus it said was YA book. My ass.

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