Ratings178
Average rating4.4
Dostoevsky's last novel is considered his masterpiece and tells the story of a family and the appetites and struggles that lead to patricide. With rich character development and understanding of humanity, Dostoevsky comes across as a force of nature.
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2,277 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
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3 primary booksThe Brothers Karamazov is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 1878 with contributions by James Lamar Roberts, Gary Carey, and 4 others.
Reviews with the most likes.
My wife wanted to name our son Aliocha and “made me” read this. By the end of the first hundred pages I was convinced. Absolutely loved it (particularly the devil scene, oh how I love Ivan!).
Excellent story told of fratricide in Czarist Russia.
Do you spend a lot of time thinking about God, morality, and the right way to live? If so, this is a book for you. I am not one of those people, but I do like to check the classics off my list, so here I am. The book tells the story of the titular siblings and their father, using them to examine various approaches to existence. The father, Fyodor, is a grotesque old man who badly mistreated both of his wives and completely neglected his children. He's spent his life amassing money, chasing women, and drinking. His latest obsession is a young woman called Grushenka, who he knows doesn't love him but hopes to entice into marriage with his money. His rival for her affections is his oldest son, Dmitri (also called Mitya). Dmitri is in some ways a chip off the old block in that he is a hardcore party boy, but he has zero money management skills and also is not complete trash as a human. He's desperate to get money to make a play for Grushenka before she takes up with his father but is already 3,000 rubles in the hole because he stole that amount from his fiancee, Katerina. Katerina loves Dmitri no more than he loves her. Rather, she loves the middle brother, Ivan. Ivan is highly intelligent and rational, rejecting the religious faith that drives the youngest brother, Alexei (almost always referred to as Alyosha). Alyosha is, when the story begins, a novice at a monastery and devoted to an Elder in the Orthodox church. The characters are richly drawn, with Alyosha the obvious hero but all three of them are interesting in their own ways. The plot is both sprawling and simple: tension builds, followed by a murder about halfway through, and then a trial. It's unwieldy and constantly wanders off down little theosophical side paths. I liked it much better than the first Dostoyevsky novel I tried (Crime & Punishment), but I don't know that I'd say that means I liked it in a global sense. There were things that I found compelling, primarily in terms of character development. The trial at the end is propulsive and very engaging. But ultimately there was just way more religion than I'm looking for in the sorts of stories I enjoy.
