Dostoyevsky, Fyodor- The Brothers Karamazov; Relaxed Buddy Read: Starts January 18, 2015

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

This topic is open for discussion of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.



Book Synopsis:
The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes the lives of his sons irrevocably; Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family’s rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother Smerdyakov. As the ensuing investigation and trial reveal the true identity of the murderer, Dostoyevsky’s dark masterwork evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil blur, and everyone’s faith in humanity is tested.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

Characters (at the start of the novel)



Father:
Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov - The wealthy patriarch of the Karamazov dynasty, the father of Alyosha, Dmitri, and Ivan

Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov - (Alyosha, Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Alyoshechka, Alxeichick, Lyosha, Lyoshenka) The protagonist, the third son of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, and the younger brother of Dmitri and Ivan

Dmitri Fyodorovich Karamazov - (Mitka, Mitya, Mitenka, Mitri Fyodorovich) The oldest son of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov

Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov - (Vanya, Vanka, Vanechka) The second son of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, and the middle brother between Dmitri and Alyosha

Pyotr Alexandrovich Miusov (Miusov)- A wealthy landowner, the cousin of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov’s first wife, and briefly the guardian of the young Dmitri.

Zosima - The wise elder at the monastery who acts as Alyosha’s mentor and teacher

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

Reserved

[Margaret]

count me in :) book in hand and ready

[Amanda]

Margaret wrote: "count me in :) book in hand and ready"

I figured you'd jump in on this one :D.

I'm going to do this one too.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I'll try and get this one

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

Here's hoping I can make it!

[Christine]

Ooo, I would love to join in this one! I hope I'm able to squeeze this one in.

[Nancy]

I'll hopefully join this one too!

[Margaret]

looks like it is going to be a Brothers Karamazov party! going to be fun :)

[Lilac]

I'd love to read this!

[Justin]

Crime and Punishment is one of my favorites of all time. I would love to read along.

[Sarah]

Classics usually take me awhile to get through, sometimes I read them over long periods while I read other books, I hope these books go by quickly for me.

[[deleted user]]

This is my favorite book of all time. I'm rereading it because I can't bear to not be a part of this.

I don't know how to even get this across. ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK. That is the hardest thing a big reader has ever had to pick, and I'm picking it. This is the one.

[Nancy]

Taryn wrote: "This is my favorite book of all time. I'm rereading it because I can't bear to not be a part of this.

I don't know how to even get this across. ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK. That is the hardest thing a ..."

Wow, Taryn. That is a huge thing to say. I can't wait to read it now!

[Justin]

Alright, Taryn, you have seriously hyped this thing up for me. I've only read Crime and Punishment, and it's definitely in my top five. I'm excited to get to this one and see how it compares.

[Sarah]

Taryn - have you read Les Miserables - that is my all time favorite - but then again these will be my first Dostoyevsky's. My brother loves him.

[[deleted user]]

If you are fans of existentialism...oh man, you'll love it. I read this book when I was way too young to read it, and even then I knew it was special. When I reread it the second time, I couldn't even handle it. I told all my friends about it (they all hated it LOL) and I even wrote some college entry essays on it. My concentration for my English major was American lit, specifically Faulkner, but Russian lit has always had a special place in my heart. Maybe as we go along, I can put some of that in here lol I don't want to give away any spoilers though. Can't wait until January! (My birthday month too!)

[[deleted user]]

Sarah wrote: "Taryn - have you read Les Miserables - that is my all time favorite - but then again these will be my first Dostoyevsky's. My brother loves him."

I have. I really liked it, but to be honest I wouldn't probably read it again.

[Justin]

One of my favorites, too, Sarah, and the musical is awesome as well. The Count of Monte Cristo is up there for me, too.

[[deleted user]]

Justin wrote: "One of my favorites, too, Sarah, and the musical is awesome as well. The Count of Monte Cristo is up there for me, too."

I love, love, love anything by Dumas. I am currently reading The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later. The Three Musketeers saga has been slow going but only because I never want it to end. He has such a great writing style.

[Sarah]

Taryn wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Taryn - have you read Les Miserables - that is my all time favorite - but then again these will be my first Dostoyevsky's. My brother loves him."

I have. I really liked it, but to be..."

I don't tend to read books twice. But I know there is a lot I miss in books like these. Please add any insights you have during discussion. A literary study would be so worthwhile on books like these.

[Sarah]

Justin wrote: "One of my favorites, too, Sarah, and the musical is awesome as well. The Count of Monte Cristo is up there for me, too."

Me too - love The Count.

[[deleted user]]

Sarah wrote: "Taryn wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Taryn - have you read Les Miserables - that is my all time favorite - but then again these will be my first Dostoyevsky's. My brother loves him."

I have. I really liked..."

Honestly, I know I miss a lot too. That's why these buddy reads are so great! We can all pick up on things others or we might have missed. Seriously so excited (if you can't tell lol)

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

lol
love your enthusiasm Taryn :D

[Amanda]

Taryn wrote: "My concentration for my English major was American lit, specifically Faulkner, but Russian lit has always had a special place in my heart."

I love Faulkner. I read/listened to half of The Sound and the Fury but had to return it to the library before I could finish it. I just finished As I Lay Dying last week and really loved it. He has such a way with words.

[Amanda]

Sarah wrote: "Taryn - have you read Les Miserables - that is my all time favorite - but then again these will be my first Dostoyevsky's. My brother loves him."

I loved Les Miserables!
The scene where (view spoiler)[ Javert threw himself into the canal(?) after discovering that he was wrong about Jean Valjean/human nature (hide spoiler)] is imprinted in my mind. It's a very powerful book.

[Sarah]

Yes, full of so many profound insights into love, war, classism, politics and simply the human condition.

[[deleted user]]

Amanda wrote: "Taryn wrote: "My concentration for my English major was American lit, specifically Faulkner, but Russian lit has always had a special place in my heart."

I love Faulkner. I read/listened to half ..."

I love him too. It's so great to hear from someone else who likes his writing. I'm usually against a bunch of people who loathe him lol My favorite book of his is Absalom, Absalom. But of course you have to read The Sound and the Fury first to get the whole effect. But yay for Faulkner!!!! I liked As I Lay Dying, but I don't know if it's one of my favorites. I love his short stories too.

[Margaret]

Taryn wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Taryn wrote: "My concentration for my English major was American lit, specifically Faulkner, but Russian lit has always had a special place in my heart."

I love Faulkner. I read/li..."

I am reading As I lay Dying right now and I have read The Sound and the Fury this year. Absalom, Absalom is on my list next, lol if I can fit it in with all my BRs! I agree, I love Faulkner and it irritates me when I see reviewers say negative things against his writing.

[SandyC]

I'd like to try to squeeze this in. This is one of those books that I was supposed to read for a Russian lit class but never finished.

Your talk of Faulkner brings back memories! I took a Faulkner/Hemingway seminar in grad school. I loved Hemingway, but Faulkner, not so much. I did love The Sound and the Fury though. That book haunted me. Perhaps I should give him a another try. I still have all the books from that class on my bookshelf, and that was 18 years ago!

[Margaret]

I would, I think that Faulkner is more complex than Hemingway and As I lay Dying is definitely more complex than The Sound and the Fury. Deep! lol

[Tonya]

Is this read still starting this month? I am on the app and may have lost my way on the comments.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Yes, good point. Have we decided on a date? I need to check when I can get this

[Margaret]

I personally will be starting by the 18th once I am done with a book for a mini-challenge.

[Sarah]

I wanted to get to it... But I am still trying to finish Crime and Punishment

[Srividya]

I will try and start this one by the 20th of this month but I am so lagging behind in my BRs that I really want to finish those first! Okay I know I keep saying the same thing but believe me its true!! I honestly don't know what I do with my time!:( :(

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Looks like I'll be closer to the end of Jan. I'll change the start date to the 18th and then everyone can join when possible

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

The page counts for this book vary widely between editions so we have checked the word count which is 364,153. This means that you can let your captains know they can use the "page overrride" tab on the spreadsheet to count this as a book of more than 901 pages (if you are reading an edition with less than this)

[Margaret]

Starting this today! I am going to read an introduction in the book beforehand which I think is important with a book of this stature. I want to get the "behind the scenes" story on this one before starting.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Cool. I started the audio last night and finished Part 1, Book 1. (so about 5% on my kindle).
I absolutely love the beginning. I had no idea this book would have so much humour! I think I'm really going to enjoy it. Still need to get my head around all those Russian names though :)

[Margaret]

Karen wrote: "Cool. I started the audio last night and finished Part 1, Book 1. (so about 5% on my kindle).
I absolutely love the beginning. I had no idea this book would have so much humour! I think I'm really ..."

I know what you mean about the names....I am thinking of doing some flash cards with the names, who they are and how to pronounce them. I struggled with this same thing from reading Crime and Punishment so I thought I would take an aggressive approach this time! I have read Part 1 Book 1 and have read up to Chapter 3. I plan to hit it once I can sit and read more. I love the beginning!

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Good idea. I've highlighted them in my kindle when they come up so I can reference them later. It also helps to see them on print so when I'm listening I know who they mean (for example, I kept thinking he was calling Fyodor "Theodore"!)

[Margaret]

Karen wrote: "Good idea. I've highlighted them in my kindle when they come up so I can reference them later. It also helps to see them on print so when I'm listening I know who they mean (for example, I kept thi..."

I remember when I was listening to C & P and I just couldn't wrap my brain around the names. I then decided to read and listen at the same time and that helped with seeing the names in print, I agree. :) which translation are you going with? I am reading the Pevear/Volokhonsky one. With C & P I read the Garnet translation. So, this time I want to change it up and because Volokhonsky was born and raised in Russia. There is such a controversy over the translations, it can get mind boggling, I prefer not to get stuck in it. :)

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I am reading the same translation as you. I agree it can be hard to know which one to choose! This one was available on audio and from project Gutenberg on kindle which is why I went with it :)

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

I put some of those initial characters into message 2 as I found a site with their nicknames listed. I only posted those I recognised so as not to get into spoilers!!

-Karen

[[deleted user]]

There are so many ways to add little familiar pet words onto names, especially for Alexei.....I just remembered that Alexei and Alyosha were the main ones and adding "k" is sort of like just a pet name thing.

[Srividya]

Karen - I should have known it! You say you'll start late only to finish it before the rest of us even begin! Lol!

And here I thought I had only Margaret to catch up with.. Sigh now you too! :P

Starting it tonight itself, given that there are too many racers here! ;)

[Margaret]

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "I put some of those initial characters into message 2 as I found a site with their nicknames listed. I only posted those I recognised so as not to get into spoilers!!

-Karen"

Thank you! Guess I didn't notice that....

[Srividya]

I started this last night, as promised. Didn't get very far but did read the introduction, author's note and the list of nicknames and names of characters! Am not sure whether I should be intrigued or intimidated after reading this part. I did start a few pages of the first chapter, which was quite intriguing in its own way but I fell asleep promptly. Lol!

Hmm I will go with intrigued as I want to know whether the book really delivers all that was promised in the introduction. But I have to say that the characters and their various nicknames is intimidating at present, hopefully I shall get used to it over a period of time.