Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

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The Brothers Karamazov
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The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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It is interesting to note the progression of ideas and complexity from Notes from the Underground through C & P to TBK. He just kept getting better and better.



If you've got Anna Karenina on the shelf, go for it. Although Kim's suggestion of something short is worthwhile. I loved Crime and Punishment and War and Peace, but they both take a serious chunk of time to finish.
I would like to read Brothers Karamazov. I'm glad so many of you speak highly of it here.

Here's another thought: Although My Antonia was written by an American author, it has a strong Russian flavor to it and might be a gentle introduction for you. It's a phenomenally written book by Willa Cather, as you probably know already. One of my favorites.

Crime and Punishment is next on the list for me, I think...


I've haven't made it to Anna Karenina yet but am currently immersed in War & Peace, which I'm enjoying far more than I thought I would.
I'm also nearly finished with Gogol's Dead Souls, in fact just a few minutes ago I read the passage that Dostoevsky refers to in The Brothers K when talking about Gogol's metaphor for Russia as a speeding carriage. Having read Dostoevsky's interpretation first it was nice to have the primary source under my belt now. I feel like I understand that part of Brothers K a lot better now than I did originally.

Yes, yes! I am still reading it; but already I agree that such rich depth of subject matter was not matched in Crime and Punishment. Still, C and P often gets the higher critical acclaim, though not from me!
I read it years ago when I was going though an odd "lets-read-only-Russian-authors" phase. I like it, but I thought that Crime and Punishment was much better. I don't know why, but C&P had more sticking power in my mind.