The Brothers Karamazov (Modern Library) Hardcover – January 23, 1996

One hardly needs to praise this acclaimed novel. But after my third reading I am in awe. The novel works in two entirely different ways, which are nevertheless intertwined. On one hand it is a great story. On the other hand it is a profound meditation. (Interestingly I recently watched two film versions -- the American/Hollywood (1958) and the Russian (1969) -- that divide on just this point. Both are excellent movies, I feel, but the American one works strictly as a great romance and crime drama, while the Russian one is truer to the philosophical concerns.)The reason Dostoevsky had for writing this novel, besides his continual need to support himself and his family, and his passion for writing, was to convey the idea that (what he considered) the innate faith of the Russian people in God, immortality, and Christ is essential to living morally. (In “real life” Dostoevsky was fanatical about this, to the point of viewing Russian Orthodoxy – the tsar included -- as key to the salvation of the whole world. He might very well have been a Putin supporter, despite his otherwise agapic and socialist leanings.)This idea is embodied by Alyosha Karamazov, one of the brothers and a Christ-like figure of universal loving, and also his spiritual mentor, Father Zosima. The idea is also embodied in the brother Ivan (and his own acolyte, the brother Smerdyakov), albeit in its negative manifestation, since he accepts the implication – that without God, everything is permissible, including crime – but, opposite to Alyosha, rejects God.The fourth brother, Dmitri, embodies the idea as well, but in his case – perhaps the most typically human -- God “wins” but always with a struggle. With Alyosha godliness is simply natural. Ivan also struggles, but in him God’s victory is only intermittent because Ivan’s reason and compassion find the evil in the world to be in absolute conflict with the conception of a good and all-powerful God. (Smerdyakov is the extreme God-rejector, Alyosha’s pure opposite.) Thus faith alone (and even contrary to reason), as Alyosha possesses with passion (but also Dmitri, if only by Russian instinct), could give God a clear victory.Dostoevsky does not shy away from this implication. That is one thing that makes this novel great: It challenges the believer so effectively that many readers will side with Ivan’s impassioned argument for atheism. And also for this reason, the story (and character) aspect of the novel is crucial; indeed, Dostoevsky believed that it was the answer to Ivan’s argument, which otherwise could not be defeated by rational argument.The reader will have to judge how successfully the events and characters of the novel refute atheism. I myself think that Dostoevsky’s position doesn’t make sense even in its own terms. Consider that for everything to be “permitted,” there would still need to be an authority that permits; but if God does not exist, who would there be to permit anything? So crime would not be permitted, no more than it would be prohibited if there were no God (according to the theodic logic).Be that as it may, the story and characters stand on their own merits, it seems to me. And here again the novel is a great one. As an aspiring novelist myself, I am in awe of the many amazing personalities and ingenious intricacies of plot that Dostoevsky introduces in this mammoth book. How he was able to maintain the cohesion despite facing publishing deadlines for installments, usual for his day, is beyond my comprehension. (He failed to do this in previous novels. This one was his greatest and final triumph. He died shortly after completion … with a second volume tantalizingly forming in his mind.)

Great novel from a great author exploring and explaining the complexities of the human condition. The insights Dostoevsky had back then are as relevant if not more so now.

What the hell kind of ending was that?!Dostoyevsky, I love you, I really do...and I loved The Brothers Karamazov; but the ending, the ending...how depressing.I expected so much more. The story was interesting; yes, it was long winded at times, but it was very interesting. I thought I would read about Mitya's escape from prison. Or, read about how he was actually guilty...or actually not guilty. Instead, I read about a poor elementary school boys passing.Dostoyevsky. I understand that this was your last novel. Your "swan song" so to speak, and i understand that you were facing your mortality so the novel was very philisophilical, but to end it like that. With PANCAKES! PANCAKES, DOSTOYEVSKY! PANCAKES!My dear, Dostoyevsky. I do not want to break up with you over an ending of a book. I implore you, if I ever meet you in the heavens, to tell me if Mitya was actually the murderer of his father or not. But, I guess, that is what you want. To leave your readers hanging by a thread FOREVER. What power you must have. How you must be laughing at all of us!Just you wait! I will seek you out in the heavens and ask you all my questions. You are not free!

This is one of my favorite books. I prize it primarily because of the characters Alyosha and Father Zossima, both of whom are profoundly good. It is very difficult to write about good people. As another famous Russian novelist famously pointed out, it is the bad characters and families that have the interesting lives. This book is made interesting by the introduction of numerous villains who engage and entice the reader, and who confuse and torment the good Alyosha.The most famous passage in the book, and indeed one of the most famous in all literature, is called The Grand Inquisitor. It is important to note, however, that that portrait of evil is a fiction created by one of the characters in the book. Alyosha and Zossima, on the other hand, are "real" characters -- at least within the framework of the book. We are perhaps not meant to trust the narrative in the Grand Inquisitor, while we are meant to trust Zossima and Alyosha.This book is important because of the wisdom of its author. Dostoevsky perhaps never mastered the art of living a good life, but he did master the art of portraying goodness and evil in fiction. For most of my life Zossima and Alyosha have stood in my mind (either consciously or unconsciously) as beacons of light in a dark world, and the other characters, to varying degrees, have represented the numerous temptations and missteps that plague most of our lives. As such, the book is not so much a novel, as a spiritual guide.Dostoevsky was one of the first authors to deeply understand the modern mind, and I'm not at all sure that anything written since the appearance of this book has fully supplanted it portrayal of the pitfalls of passion, materialism and pride. A good deal of suffering could be avoided if more people could understand how acts of spiritual discipline can help us realize the simple message of love and compassion found in this book.