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Title: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky ISBN: 0-374-52837-3 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 14 June, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.54 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Spiritual Masterpiece
Comment: The Brothers Karamazov is a great work of literary fiction full of Orthodox themes. In fact the character of Fr. Zosima was partly based on Elder Ambrose of Optina. The central thesis of the work is namely that "Without God, everything is allowable and only chaos can ensue. It is only with God that man can truly find peace and joy". Excellent writing, excellent story, excellent characterizations. Excellent book. If you haven't read it yet I strongly suggest that you pick up this fine translation.
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant but hard work!
Comment: Let me start by saying, this is not an easy read. The first half of this very lengthy novel is pretty slow moving in places. The pace does pick up after this point so stick with it because this novel is masterly.
As with Dostoyevsky's other brilliant novel, "Crime and Punishment", "The Brothers Karamazov" is an incisive journey into the psychology of crime. But this is by no means the totality of the work. The span of this novel is immense covering topics as different as the fragility and security of the family, organized religion, the Russian class system, Russia's place in the world in the 19th century and just about anything else you could think of!
The novel primarily focusses on three brothers - Dmitri, Ivan and Alexei Karamazov, the sons of a lethario and self-proclaimed "buffoon", Fyodor. All three have been abandoned by their father at an early age but, for various reasons, all come together for a short period of time. Alexei, the youngest and least like his father, has found religion and joined a monastery. This provides a pivotal focus for much of the first half of the novel which, to some extents, is a doctrine about organized religion Russian style. This, I will admit, got a little tiring; the ideas may well have had relevance when Dostoyevsky was writing but seem to have lost their allure right now.
In particular we see the relationship between Alexei and the "Elder" Zosima who's homilies run for a full 50 pages worth of the novel. This side of the novel also has little influence on the main plot and, in my humble opinion, could be completely cut without detriment.
The focus on the relationship between the brothers and their father is, however, brilliant. Dmitri and his father end up falling in love with the same woman - Grushenka - a woman of rather dubious reputation. Dmitri, meanwhile, is also in love with a more upper class woman, Katerina who is also in a relationship with Ivan.
This double love triangle not only provides wonderful material for the insights into love, lust and jealousy, it also provides the background for the key event of the novel - the murder of Fyodor. The suspicion immediately falls on the eldest son, Dmitri, and much of the novel focusses on this and a subsequent trial.
This part of the novel which, is much the greatest, can be recommended without reservation. Yes it is a long, very long book but the range and depth of ideas, feelings and thoughts are quite remarkable. Set a couple of weeks aside and read this book.
Rating: 3
Summary: Make sure to check different translations
Comment: I read all the hype about Pevear's translation and decided to see for myself, reading large sections of the book and comparing sentence for sentence. Honestly, I liked the old Garnett translation better. The Pevear gets the style and tone a lot better, reads smoother, but on sections with deep emotional or religious signifigance seemed to miss the point, choosing phrasings and word substitutions that are confusing and hard to relate to. The style you can always reconstruct, but to read this book and not get a clear picture of the deep spiritual despair of some of the characters would be too bad.
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Title: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett ISBN: 0553211757 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 June, 1984 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Anna Karenina by Mona Simpson, Leo Tolstoy ISBN: 067978330X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Idiot (Oxford World's Classics) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Alan Myers, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky ISBN: 0192834118 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: The Idiot by Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky ISBN: 0375702245 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 08 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky ISBN: 0375411224 Publisher: Unknown Publisher - Being Researched Pub. Date: 24 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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