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A review by richardrbecker
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4.0
Expect to live with The Brothers Karamazov for longer than most books. It takes time to read, with the action broken up by long, dense passages and the occasional fable. But that is not surprising, given that the principal conflict — faith and doubt — is philosophical.
One important distinction is that Dostoevsky is more comfortable addressing doubt — the kind kindled by rational skepticism more than modern denial. By which, I mean that those characters who line up with doubt tend to reject God as opposed to a modern atheist who denies the existence of God (but not necessarily society's adopted conventional notions of morality). It's a heady distinction, but one that needs to be made. So even though I might side with the author in believing faith can enrich our lives, I'm less certain that doubt predisposes someone to adopt a coldness toward humankind.
Faith and doubt are not the only themes Dostoevsky tackles. He explores free will as a blessing for some and a curse for others. He defines moral responsibility as mutual responsibility, especially as human causation links sinners with the sinless. He suggests true suffering leads to self-knowledge and redemption. And it takes a long time to do it within the rich tapestry of this story.
The Brothers Karamazov is the story of three brothers and their father. The father, Fyodor, is a crude, self-interested man who intends to keep his eldest son Dmitri's inheritance to himself. The younger brothers from Fyodor's second marriage are brought in to help settle the dispute. Ivan becomes directly involved because he is seen as an intellectual. Alyosha becomes indirectly involved when the two men also agree to seek the advice of his mentor, an elder priest, Zosima. To compound the dispute, the father and son are also interested in the same woman.
The story is told by an unnamed narrator, which several Russian authors favor as a mechanism for storytelling. The tone is comedic at times, despite the string of tragic events, and prone to additional exposition. At times, some readers may wish the whole of the novel was tighter (especially the first half), but something would likely be lost if it was. It's a crime novel, romantic tragedy, and spiritual exploration with the feel of historical fiction simply because it was a contemporary tale written 140 years ago.
One important distinction is that Dostoevsky is more comfortable addressing doubt — the kind kindled by rational skepticism more than modern denial. By which, I mean that those characters who line up with doubt tend to reject God as opposed to a modern atheist who denies the existence of God (but not necessarily society's adopted conventional notions of morality). It's a heady distinction, but one that needs to be made. So even though I might side with the author in believing faith can enrich our lives, I'm less certain that doubt predisposes someone to adopt a coldness toward humankind.
Faith and doubt are not the only themes Dostoevsky tackles. He explores free will as a blessing for some and a curse for others. He defines moral responsibility as mutual responsibility, especially as human causation links sinners with the sinless. He suggests true suffering leads to self-knowledge and redemption. And it takes a long time to do it within the rich tapestry of this story.
The Brothers Karamazov is the story of three brothers and their father. The father, Fyodor, is a crude, self-interested man who intends to keep his eldest son Dmitri's inheritance to himself. The younger brothers from Fyodor's second marriage are brought in to help settle the dispute. Ivan becomes directly involved because he is seen as an intellectual. Alyosha becomes indirectly involved when the two men also agree to seek the advice of his mentor, an elder priest, Zosima. To compound the dispute, the father and son are also interested in the same woman.
The story is told by an unnamed narrator, which several Russian authors favor as a mechanism for storytelling. The tone is comedic at times, despite the string of tragic events, and prone to additional exposition. At times, some readers may wish the whole of the novel was tighter (especially the first half), but something would likely be lost if it was. It's a crime novel, romantic tragedy, and spiritual exploration with the feel of historical fiction simply because it was a contemporary tale written 140 years ago.