The Karamazov Brothers - BookWyrm

1012 pages

English language

Published July 21, 2008 by Oxford University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-19-953637-5
OCLC Number:: 223948572

(2 reviews)

Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel, The Karamazov Brothers (1880) is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate. The dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons - the atheist intellectual Ivan, the hot-blooded Dmitry, and the saintly novice Alyosha - are all at some level involved.

Bound up with this intense family drama is Dostoevsky's exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, the question of human freedom, the collective nature of guilt, the disatrous consequences of rationalism. The novel is also richly comic: the Russian Orthodox Church, the legal system, and even the authors most cherished causes and beliefs are presented with a note of irreverence, so that orthodoxy, and radicalism, sanity and madness, love and hatred, right and wrong are no longer mutually exclusive. Rebecca West considered it "the allegory for the world's maturity", but with children to the fore. …

Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel, The Karamazov Brothers (1880) is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate. The dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons - the atheist intellectual Ivan, the hot-blooded Dmitry, and the saintly novice Alyosha - are all at some level involved.

Bound up with this intense family drama is Dostoevsky's exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, the question of human freedom, the collective nature of guilt, the disatrous consequences of rationalism. The novel is also richly comic: the Russian Orthodox Church, the legal system, and even the authors most cherished causes and beliefs are presented with a note of irreverence, so that orthodoxy, and radicalism, sanity and madness, love and hatred, right and wrong are no longer mutually exclusive. Rebecca West considered it "the allegory for the world's maturity", but with children to the fore. This new translation does full justice to Doestoevsky's genius, particularly in the use of the spoken word, which ranges over every mode of human expression.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. Source: global.oup.com/academic/product/the-karamazov-brothers-9780199536375

112 editions

possm@bookwyrm.tilde.zone reviewed Les frères Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Truly an experience

5 stars

Content warning I mention some aspects of the ending

Reading this novel moved many things in me - emotionally, intellectually, etc. It was an incredible experience.

Some superficial thoughts: The antisemitism. Maybe I found it particularly striking because I just finished a book about antisemitism, but wtf is with the constantly recurring, seemingly random antisemitism that adds nothing to the characterization or story? On a similar note, man does Dostoevsky not like women. I remember "The Idiot" was similar in this regard. Of course all 19th century novels contain sexism, but there are degrees. I wish Ivan had gotten more "screen time". Feels a bit like he had the big philosophical dialogue, then disappeared into the background, and only came back in time to go insane at the end. I would have liked more of him. The two other brothers were great. I guess more Smerdiakov would have been nice too. And it would have been nice if the author hated Smerdiakov less. A more sympathetic characterization of him would have improved the story a bit I think. I enjoyed the "schoolboys" side story a lot. I didn't enjoy the trial at the end and had to force myself through it. The epilogue on the other hand was totally amazing and made me cry. I liked all the monastery stuff.

That's all the unqualified thoughts I want to share about The Brothers Karamazov here. Reading this book was truly an experience, these past weeks it overshadowed my life. Next time I read it I'll probably go for a German or English translation, or maybe a different French one. I'd like to know how different the translations make the text.

Dɪɢɪᴛᴀʟɪs Pᴜʀᴘᴜʀᴇᴀ reviewed The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Review of 'The Brothers Karamazov' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

No doubt it's Dostoevskij Masterpiece. The whole essence of the human being in a single piece of writing

Subjects

Fathers and sons -- Fiction
Brothers -- Fiction
Russia -- Social life and customs -- 1533-1917 -- Fiction