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The Brothers Karamazov: A Modern Library Book (No. 151)
I recently read a book so amazing, so well-written, and so memorable that I simply must tell you about it. It's The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. After reading another of Dostoyevsky's novels, Crime and Punishment, a while ago, and thoroughly loving it, I had to get this one, for I had heard it was his best work. And I can't disagree. To sum up the premise quickly, the novel takes place in Russia circa 1890, and tells the story of four brothers who become involved in the murder of their own father. That is the most basic summary of the plot I can give; but it doesn't even begin to give you an idea of the territory covered in this massive, sprawling novel. (Over 700 pages of great literature.) There are other things going on besides this murder, and eventually the novel is about so much more than this.This novel has possibly some of the best characterization I've ever seen for any book, period. This is not an exaggeration. First, the four brothers are each given their own distinct personality and background (even though they are brothers they come from different pasts) and become some of the most developed, recognizable, and memorable characters I've ever encountered. In addition, the father is one of the most pathetic, funny, and evil characters in literature. But even then, Dostoyevsky does not stop. There are probably ten or fifteen secondary characters that appear a lot, and even more third-tier figures that don't have much time in the book but are still memorable. This is because whenever a new character is introduced, the author devotes at least a couple of full, developed passages telling the reader about the person, and reveals even more through the many conversations and speeches people have. Remarkably, there are never any repetetive characters. Dostoyevsky manages to create a new, unique, living, breathing person out of every character.This is also one of the most thematically inclusive books I've ever read, one with such depth. Thanks to the incredible characters and well thought-out plot, the novel discusses a whole range of themes. Dostoyevsky must have been a philosopher or psychologist just as much as he was a writer. Through his characters he expounds on the idea that people have the uncanny ability to harbor opposite and contrasting values within themselves at the same time. Good and evil exist side by side in the hearts of men. Dostoyevsky also shows us that some people are never happy because they don't want to be, and that this fact makes them happy. As long as they are unhappy in their own way, they remain happy, even if they know it's not to their advantage.Dostoyevsky was so ahead of his time with this novel- his deep knowledge of humanity is so evident. Years before Freud, he develops the idea of punishment as a way to alleviate guilt and love as a way to cure shame, or as he puts it, "self-laceration." He was probably one of the very first to fully implement into his characters the concept of the split personality. At one point, one of the characters has a conversation with his alter-ego, fully aware that he doesn't exist. It's so impressive, it really puts some modern stuff into perspective.Death, love, forgiveness, immortality, religion, God, the Devil, all of these things are more than briefly touched upon in the course of this narrative. At one point, a character remarks, "I don't know whether God created Man or Man created God, but if the Devil exists, he was created in Man's image." In one chapter, Christ comes back to earth and is challenged and shunned by the religious community. The Devil himself even appears as a person to discuss philosophy and religion with one of the characters. When he's asked, "How are you able to take on human form?" the Devil replies, "Nothing human is beyond me." Powerful, chilling moments like these fill the book.There are so many moments of pure, unfiltered humanity in this novel, it's as if the author's whole life is bleeding through in the pages. When he creates an evil character, we believe in him, and when he creates the opposite- a truly pure figure- we believe in him, as well. In fact, this book has one of the most believably good characters of all stories. Dostoyevsky plunges the depths of man's soul, and what he brings up is sometimes scary, sometimes beautiful. If there are any stories out there that can come close to showing us the meaning of life, The Brothers Karamazov is one of them.
The Brothers Karamazov: A Modern Library Book (No. 151)
Anyone interested in the central question facing mankind will find `The Brothers Karamazov' an essential guide. That question--on man's capacity for responsibility and the proper role of the state and religion--is posed throughout the story in dialogue and events, and is framed neatly in a 20-page section where Ivan presents a poem titled `The Grand Inquisitor' to his brother Alyosha. The chapter that bears that title (Book V, Chapter V) is a masterpiece in itself and should be studied for its narrative technique alone. But the ideas it presents are so immense, so mind-blowing and inspirational, that literary criticism is not sufficient.Indeed, `The Brothers Karamazov' should not be classed merely as a novel--it is a book of philosophy, theology, psychology, and sociology as well that ranks with the greatest documents in those disciplines. There is a fictitious plot, of course, and the characters in the story are some of the most interesting in all of literature, so it is rightly praised as a novel. But the modern reader looking for a plot of twists and romantic intrigues is bound to disappointment. Dostoevsky does not stir up drama through the placement of unexpected developments or improbable character traits. Instead, he relies on the inherent needs and wants of all men to make vivid his story.The amount of dialogue may be shocking (tedious) to one accustomed to the modern show-don't-tell policy in storytelling. Today, novelists and screenwriters let a character's actions speak for them--it is quicker and provides a much more convincing impression. It also limits the kind of ideas that are posed in the story to simple, prosaic ones like `she likes him' or `he wants to defeat him.' By contrast, Dostoevsky allows the characters to speak for themselves, which creates a much longer and subtler exposition, but also frees the ideas to be vast and monumental.What is the fundamental nature of socialism? What are the uses of the church in finding purpose? In finding salvation? Why is there suffering? What is the meaning of death? Read the brothers' dialogues and contemplate.Dostoevsky's own philosophy is seen in the protagonist, Alyosha. This is so despite the fact that the author ably covers every perspective on every topic presented in the book, and one can hardly find a positive assertion throughout. If there is one, it rests in the overall effect of the words and actions, a concept Dostoevsky articulated in a personal correspondence--it is that "Man is a mystery; if you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out, then do not say that you have wasted your time."A word about the translations: The title of Book IV has been translated differently in every version I have seen (other chapter titles are also inconsistent, but Book IV is seemingly the most difficult to agree on). The original Russian is `Nadryvy,' which literally translates to `Ruptures,' though no translations I have seen use `Ruptures.' The word is used throughout the book to convey the motif of `pressures' or `strained conditions about to break.' The various options I have seen for this title are `Lacerations' (Garnett), `Strains' (Pevear & Volkhonsky), `Torment' (MacAndrew), `Crises' (Avsey), and `Crack-Ups' (McDuff). Given this is a central theme, the potential reader might look into which translation he prefers before buying. Apropos, the Princess Alexandra Kropotkin print version bears the Garnett translation, as does the Frederick Davidson audio recording.
The Brothers Karamazov: A Modern Library Book (No. 151)
My three criteria for Great Book candidates are that they must be deep intellectually, stunning in character development, and beautifully written. This book is unequaled in all three ways. It states the argument against the existence of God based on evil, and the appeal of worldliness, as well as I've ever seen, then epitomizes those ideas in characters and plot, and then does pretty well developing counterarguments on all those levels. The Magic Mountain and Dr. Faustus by Thomas Mann, lots of Sartre and Camus, and actually quite a few other novels, personify but don't particularly argue ideas [very well, at least]; Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, on the other hand, is powerful and catchy and does argue, but her favored characters are mostly one-dimensional facets of her philosophy, which is so extreme that her envisioned opponents end up being straw men. The accuracy of her images of opposed views cannot be defended seriously.Dostoyevsky's characters are archetypes, but with multiple dimensions and realism, who engage in real conversation and resultant temptations to waver [though not as deeply as Bakhtin claims]. Dostoyevsky gives a rounded description before each main character appears, but then the character, in dialogue, bursts into a colorful reality.The writing is complex and yet gripping--reading it in high school was pretty hard, but then picking it up in college, I could not put it down, except to rest. It sometimes seems to wander but is constantly building, and its digressions turn out to be amazing constructions.I've come back to my Constance Garnett translation again and again. I've only read pieces of one or two others [and I cannot read Russian], but Garnett seems as skillful and consistent as any in expressing [seemingly] Dostoyevsky's views and vision of the Russian soul. That soul does contain, regrettably, anti-semitism, anti-catholicism, nationalism, and anti-modernism, and Dostoyevsky transmitted them all. But, except for the anti-modernism, which he argues forcefully, these views obnoxiously mar the book but aren't essential to its amazing argument or structure. Compared with the fine books on many 10 or 100 best lists, this one is a sun competing with floodlights.
The Brothers Karamazov: A Modern Library Book (No. 151)
"Love to throw yourself on the earth and kiss it! Kiss the earth and love it with an unceasing, consuming love. Love all men, love everything! Water the earth with the tears of your joy and love those tears. Don't be ashamed of your ecstasy, prize it."Thus ended the paragraph that saved my life from Book VI of Constance Garnett's translation of The Brothers Karamazov. Read unintentionally in tandem with the fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony it wreaked upon me a transvaluation of all values. This also happened to some of my students at Shimer College where I teach both the Constance Garnett and the Pevear/Volokhonsky translations. I urge my students who love the book to read BOTH translations. Constance Garnett's poetic grasp of Dostoyevsky's language (with occasionally antiquated twists of phrase) assumes the worldview of the nineteenth century, which is the century in which Dostoyevsky wrote. Her first translation appeared in about 1912.She lovingly captures the cadences of Father Zosima's voice. This wise elder's words are at the heart of this book. I have never understood why his chapter, "The Russian Monk" has not been excerpted and widely read as "The Grand Inquisitor" which precedes it. Poverty, injustice, cruelty, and the suffering of innocents can only be transformed by love--and beauty. This book, a murder mystery interwoven with four love-triangles, exploring dysfunctional families, the nature of God, erotic lacerations, forgiveness, the devil, and the Russian soul can give you the equipment you need to cope with life's agonies, to go through suffering and into joy.Hurrah for Karamazov!
The Brothers Karamazov: A Modern Library Book (No. 151)
Fyodor Dostoevsky believed that the Russian people were specially marked by God to endure great suffering in order to prepare them to show the truths of Christ's religion to humanity. He did not accept the notions of material progress and scientific rationalism that were coming out of the "Enlightened" West and felt that such ideas would lead only to spiritual bankruptness and immorality. Dostoevsky articulated these viewpoints and sought to project his vision of what the Russian national identity should be in his masterpiece, "The Brothers Karamazov".As Dostoevsky himself revealed in the story, the three legitimate sons of Fyodor Pavlovich each represented different aspects of the Russian identity:1. Dmitriy Fyodorovich was the uncontrollable and irrational brother who could commit acts of senseless violence and engage in extreme debauchery, but despite all of that, aspired to goodness and felt remorse at all of the bad things he had done.2. Ivan Fyodorovich was the educated brother who espoused the rationalism and cynicism of the West and who claimed to have renounced God. Despite that, he still had not lost his "Russian-ness" and he himself did not believe in what he preached and still had troubling doubts about the existence of God.3. Alexei Fyodorovich (Alyosha) was the devout brother who aspired to live in a monastery under the guidance of his spiritual father figure, Father Zossima. Alyosha represented all that was beautiful and holy about the Russian Orthodox faith.Each of these three brothers underwent a crisis in faith that was brought about by the death of their father, either directly or indirectly (as in the case of Alyosha). In each situation, each brother finally came to terms with the suffering that had been placed upon them and accepted responsibility for their actions, or indeed, for all men's actions.I thought Dostoevsky's description of this painful process of spiritual transformation brought on by suffering and anguish was mesmerizing, because I was able to relate to it in some small way. Indeed, considering the responses of many of the other customer reviewers here, I would say that my reaction was not unusual.I would suggest that reading "The Brothers Karamazov" could actually lead you to reevaluate your life principles and manner of relating to people (at least it did for me). I wil not go so far to say that this book changed my life (as some reviewers here have claimed), but at least it made me think, and for that reason this book is wonderful. It's funny how such a transcendent book as this, which has something to say to everybody, was originally written as propaganda for Russian nationalism.
The Brothers Karamazov: A Modern Library Book (No. 151)
Mark Twain once said that a classic is a book that no oneever reads. Unfortunately, the Brothers Karamozov may be aclassic of those proportions. Many are intimidated by thebulk of an 800-1000 page book when they see the oversizedspine on the shelf and neglect to meet some of the mostinteresting characters to ever be captured on paper.The Brothers Karamozov is possibly one of the most over-analyzedRussian novels (with the possible exception of War and Peace)since it was written in the 19th century, and yet, at itsheart it has some of the most interesting plots and charactersin any language. Consider for a moment three brothers--one apious, bright divinity student, one an intellectual, brazencapitalist, and one a dirty illegimate half wit. Now throwin an ogre of a father, and you can imagine what the dinnerconversation might be like. Do yourself a favor and forgetthe symbolism, the types and anti-types, etc. and get to knowthese people. Also, forget that you were supposed tohave read this book in college and just pick it up foryourself. Dostoevsky's mastery of mood and setting makeits popularity among scholars understandable. Yet its serializedplot-line and suspense-filled action will more than satisfyany Stephen King reader or soap opera fanatic.