The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Release Date:  1880 / 985

First Line: Aleksey Fyodorovich Karamazov was the third son of a landowner in our district, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, so noted in his time (and even now still recollected among us) for his tragic and fishy death, which occurred just thirteen years ago and which I shall report in its proper context.

Synopsis: Sorry!  Can’t read the synopsis until I finish the entire book…  But so far it is about a man, Fyodor Karamazov, and his three sons by two women.  The first quarter has focused on character development and the conflict of two of the brothers involvement with the same woman, and one brother’s love of a woman for whom his father seems to have great affection, too.  More to come…

Review: As I mentioned on Wednesday, I’ve been asked to tackle The Brothers Karamazov… and I’m loving it!   But, in the spirit of full-disclosure, when I received the request my first thought was, “Good God!”  (Ironic since the order was for a series of kits entitled “Christian Classics.”  My second thought was, “By WHEN?”  Fortunately, the kit is not needed until Labor Day (whew) and even more importantly, I’m simply loving the novel.

I read 50 pages a day (Mon - Fri), which takes me about 2 hours since I am taking notes, listing characters, developing discussion questions, etc.  But those 2 hours fly by.  Dost. is able to create a unique, 3-dimensional character who we actually care about within a few sentences.  Honestly, I haven’t figured out how yet, but I’m working on it.

He also sets up the reader with a framework that is both extremely helpful and compelling — explaining a bit about who these brothers are, why we may or may not care about them as much as he (the author and then the narrator) does, and then provides “teasers” to keep us reading. 

Now, the names are a challenge because each character has three formal names and then at least one nickname (sometimes two), but I simply focus on either initials or glance back at my notes and before long it was very easy to distinguish between the brothers, their irrascible father, and the various other cousins, uncles, etc.

My only reservation so far is that Dostoyevsky occasionally goes on philosophical tangents — like on the separation between church and state — which are very interesting and thought-provoking, but do slow the narrative pace a bit.  The characters are so compelling, I find myself becoming impatient with the tangents… wanting to get back to the meat of the story.

Otherwise, so far so good!

My “pleasure reading” this weekend has been Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer, which is simply delightful!  The plot device is a condo, rented by Ike and his dog Herbie, in NYC — rent-controlled and lease-less through a handshake deal with a man who unfortunately dies. 

His son, seeing a great real estate opportunity, immediately puts the building on the market.  Initially Ike refuses to leave and therefore comes into contact with a couple who would like to buy his home. 

Now, as mostly interesting as this story is, the characters are the true gem of this novel.  I am only half-way finished, but whenever I put the novel down I think about the characters and look forward to my next visit on Ellington Boulevard.  By the way, it did take me about 25-30 pages to become hooked — so if you give it a go, wait until you meet Rebecca before deciding whether or not to continue.

I’ll include a more formal review when I finish it…  Happy Sunday!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

You may like these posts, too!

• BTT: The Veracity of Reviewing
• Review and Free Giveaway: Forever Lily
• Sunday Salon: The Revenge of the Rinellis
• Sunday Salon: Absalom, Absalom!
• The Sunday Salon: The Book Thief
• Review: The Other Side of the Horizon and The Million Dollar Therapist
• Fall Reading List, part one…
• Sunday Salon: there is no me without you
• Review: Man of the House
• Sunday Salon: In Defense of Food