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Title: The Brothers Karamazov (Vintage Classics) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky ISBN: 0-679-72925-9 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 03 September, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.61 (33 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: It slowly changed my life. It's still haunting me.
Comment: I think I am going to read this wonderful book again. There is so much life and passion in it, that reading it again will definitely enrich my soul even further.
I want to tell you how this novel changed my life. It was recommended to me by a Russian Orthodox priest who considered it the best source of Russian Orthodox spirituality in literature. So I read it. I read it because at the time I was striving to become a true Orthodox Christian myself. The result, however, turned out the opposite: I lost any faith I ever had in the truth of the Church and all its dogmas. This book gave me an idea that if there is God, it is certainly not what we are taught He is.
I think that in this work Dostoevsky reached the very height of what I would call "a war with oneself". He created this unforgettable contrast between what he wanted to believe (and, indeed believed at times) and what he actually was going through in his spiritual search, which were probably indescribable spiritual torments of doubt. I now have this indelible image of Ivan confiding in Alesha, arguing with Satan and, at last, denying God himself in his search for the truth. It was he, who stirred my whole being and it was Dostoevsky himself speaking through Ivan with the most profound sincerety and desperation.
On the opposite, Dostoevsky introduces Alyosha, who didn't doubt, but just loved and believed. This young man, according to Dostoevsky's plan, is a prototype of Jesus Christ himself, a man in whom the truth is open within, a man through whom one can truly feel God's love. It is a fascinating character, although, Dostoevsky depicts him in the light of Christian Orthodoxy, as an example of TRUE spirituality, as opposed to any other spirituality. Nevertheless, if we were to take liberties in the interpretation of the work, put the dogmas aside and look at Alyosha as a human being, then we could boldly say, that this young man IS the embodiment of love, truth and godliness. I really would want to at least resemble such a person!
And in the midst of this spiritual struggle, there is murder, treachery, repentance, love and comedy, which bring the characters out into your own life. I just love this book! I love the brothers, even though they are so different! There are so many things to love "The Brothers Karamazov" for, but it is for this brave, but nevertheless desperate challenge to our faith, and at the same time, a great example of living it, that I praise this book so highly. It is truly as rich, thought-provoking and awe-inspiring as life itself.
P.S. I highly recommend the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. It is the most correct and true to the spirit of the book translation available. By the way, they also translated "Crime and Punishment", "The Demons", "Notes from the Underground" and lots more, so I recommend those as well. And if you really would like to get the feel of how Dostoevsky DID NOT write, try the translation by Constance Garnett! It is outdated and, frankly, in some places she took liberties at what to leave and what to take out. I read "The Brothers Karamazov" in Russian and English, going line-by-line sometimes and discovering those literary atrocities all along the text.
Rating: 5
Summary: Three Brothers, Three Choices
Comment: This book by Dostoyevsky can be read in many ways. It can be read as a murder-mystery-with-gripping-courtroom-drama. It can be read as a 19th century polemic on the struggle for the Russian soul (there was such a struggle). It can be read as an essay on doubt versus faith. However one chooses to read such a book, the most important thing to know is that it has been written with passion, understanding and yearning. The ultimate question, as with any great undertaking of man, is: how shall we live our lives?
At two opposite poles stand two brothers: Alyosha and Ivan. Alyosha is the pure-of-heart believer, the disciple of Christ, the affectionate lover of all humanity, the guide of youth, the suffering monk, the bright and burning truth-seeker. Ivan is the dark, secretive, disbelieving, man-as-God, with a vicious conscience that exists seemingly against everything in his own nature. In the middle is the third brother Mitya, who acts, while his brothers stand apart from his actions. They comment on his action, they inform the route Mitya takes, but they are ultimately outside of Mitya, who is a passionate and perhaps misguided man with two poles to choose from. His apparently dark actions are brightened by his loving heart and purity of soul. Where does this all point, this life of unsolved questions, this life of enigmatic brotherhood?
Enough. The book, while comfortable with dark questions such as "How will man live without God?" is also written with great humor and vitality -- with gusto for life overall. Living is a joyous experience, Dostoyevsky tells us. Read this book and remember it when you are planning your next career move. Their flaws aside, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky vibrate with life and help their readers to forget the innummerable idiotic questions that their lives offer up on a daily basis. Return to your soul under the guidance of these Russians, and be rewarded with your own renewed vitality.
Rating: 2
Summary: Where are the WMD?
Comment: It was a boring book, and I couldn't finish it.
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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: 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 Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov ISBN: 0679760806 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 19 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Indelible Ink : 22 Prominent Christian Leaders Discuss the Books That Shape Their Faith by Scott Larsen ISBN: 1578565545 Publisher: WaterBrook Press Pub. Date: 17 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Demons by Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky ISBN: 0679734511 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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