The Brothers Karamazov

[sulawesigirl4]

Quite possibly the best book I've ever read. Well actually, I'm only halfway through it so far, but I'm blown away by Dostoevsky's writing. Anyone else have thoughts on this novel?

 

[brettig]

only that i need to read it

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Yes you do need to read it. NOW! Then we can have discussions about it.

 

[Salome]

is it about 2, 3 or even more brothers?

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Well it's actually about 4 brothers, but only 3 of them are legitimate. Their father is a worthless piece of shite who drinks and still chases after women half his age, etc. The three main characters, the 3 brothers, each have distinct personalities...Ivan is a cynic and agnostic, Alyosha is spiritual and loving, Dmitri is impetuous and sensual. The illegitimate half-brother Smerdyakov is slimy and secretive. The main plot is that Dmitri and his father are both in love with the same woman and when she runs off with another man entirely, the elder Karamazov is murdered and Dmitri is taken to trial for it. That's about as far as I am in the book, but I know that the second half deals with the trial and the motivations that each brother had to kill their father...and ultimately how they are all responsible, even if they didn't do the actual deed. It's a wonderfully written book and I'm really amazed by Dostoevsky's ability to write such complete characters.

Anyways, I'd highly recommend it. There is a movie version of it as well, something from the 50s, I believe, starring Yul Brynner as Ivan Karamazov.

 

[foray]

The idea came from Dostoyevsky's own experience of being 'saved' from death (he was pardoned by the Prince). That book is on my Must Read list... but it has to wait after 1984

, Oscar and Lucinda, The Great Gatsby...

so many books so little time!!!

foray

 

[popsadie]

awesome...i'm 3/4 through that book...I loved the idiot, notes underground and crime and punishment....

 

[brettig]

Originally posted by foray:
1984
foray

!!!

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Too many great books...too little time.

betty, get reading already!

 

[foray]

hey uh because of this thread I have picked up my Great Gatsby AND gotten past the first page. yee-haw

yarof

 

[Lilly]

Originally posted by foray:
hey uh because of this thread I have picked up my Great Gatsby AND gotten past the first page. yee-haw

yarof

Great Gatsby! I jest re-read that for lit....not fun at all. Nick friggin Carraway...BAH!
1984 was a good year...'cos I was born then! Hooray for being born! But the book I have yet to read.
As for Brothers...I have yet to read that one. But I have read Crime and Punishment which is supposed to be a thousand times better. I loved it.

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Every question possesses a power that does not lie in the answer.

 

[Madstamm]

finished part one. I have a very old german verison in gothic print, the second part is not to be found as of yet. I was motivated to read this book by a friend, who wrote his psychology dissertation on the characters of ivan, dimitrj and alexej..

IMHO:
this book is no mere novel... much more so it is dostojevski's personal notebook on questions and answers regarding living the christian ideal. to read it is to work with it, a quick read is an impossibility, too heavy is the content. the plot in itself becomes secondary; man's bestial fight to hold onto, respectively give up his "rights" of self-determined destiny is the central aspect of the book and is revealed through characters.. through extremes(staretz, elder kamamasoff), and different ways of approaching the extremes (3 brothers)...

certainly this piece of art has been and will be criticized many different ways, depending on where the reader is at in her life. if you enjoy literature, this is highly suggested reading. if you are interested even in the least in what this world really is about, and possibly in the meaning of some of u2's lyrics, the brothers karamasoff is a MUST. piercing and questioning, insightful and revealing.

Bono, on his own life:

..."And I must be an acrobat / To talk like this / And act like that"...

Quote from the book

 

[Bono's shades]

I tried to read my older sister's copy of The Brothers Karamazov when I was in junior high. I was fascinated by the characters, but I kind of gave up on it halfway through. I guess it was too complex of a book for my age level. I guess I should give it another try. I'm sure I would understand it a lot better now that I'm older.

 

[foray]

Sula, Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) is a fine, fine novel. I highly recommend it.

foray

 

[elizabeth]

i read "notes from the underground" my first year in college and i remember being "taken in" by the narrator and then furious at him for falling for his little schemes.

i know i think dostovesky is a brilliant writer.

i have yet to tackle anna or the brothers, but i hope to plow into them soon. all my books waiting to be read are packed away currently! i was only allowed to leave out the three i am reading...

1. Far Applachia
2. The Bride of Innisfallen
3. naked lunch

i know they are not by deep thinking russians, but they are all certainly very entertaining.

I also recently finished All Quiet on the Western Front. Anyone here read that? That was an amazing book...follow it up with a viewing of Enemy at the Gates and you got yerself a conversion ceremony to anti-war passivism.

BTW- i saw ralph fiennes and cate blanchett in the film version of Oscar and Lucinda. Very good! so sad.....

 

[Bono's shades]

BTW- i saw ralph fiennes and cate blanchett in the film version of Oscar and Lucinda. Very good! so sad.....

I love that movie! Have you read the book too?

 

[elizabeth]

I love that movie! Have you read the book too?

no---*embarassed chuckle*--- didnt know it was one! i should check it out!

 

[Bono's shades]

The book is also very good, except the ending is almost TOO sad and depressing. I like the way the movie ended much better than the book. But there were also parts about the book I liked better than the movie. OK, I'll quit right there so I don't spoil the whole book for you.

 

[foray]

My favourite part is when Oscar and Lucinda play cards with each other for the first time and he goes on about how Christianity itself is a gamble.

We bet that there is a God. We bet our life on it. We calculate the odds, the return, that we shall sit with the saints in paradise... We must gamble every instant of our allotted span. We must stake everything on the unprovable fact of His existence.

foray

 

[elizabeth]

well i did it! i went out last weekend and bought both anna karenina AND the brothers karamazov!

i can't believe i am so easily swayed by the opinions of my peers!


but i truly look forward to reading them both...thanks for egging me on...

 

[famous rungi]

That's wonderful, elizabeth. Anna Karenina's my favourite and my next Tolstoy is gonna be War And Peace. One of the most delightful passages from Anna is when Levin proposes to Kitty, as it is how Tolstoy himself proposed to his wife-to-be.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

haven't been in here in a while. so good to see that people are interested in good literature. Unfortunately with my recent push to finish my degree, all my free time reading has been put on hold, but I look forward to finishing the Brothers K on my train journeys in Europe this fall. And then hopefully I shall read Anna.

Oh and "War and Peace" is a definite good-read. I recommend it.

 

[elizabeth]

progress has been slow, as i have spent my past two weeks working lots and moving into my new house...but i plan to spend some time by the pool reading this weekend...

any other good recommendations?

 

[Blacksword]

Anyone still reading the Brothers K I read it a couple years ago and I'd love to discuss it with anyone. The Grand Inquisitor story of Ivan's was just fantastic as was Ivan's fever vision of the devil.

 

[foray]

i just bought my copy of brothers k

foray

 

[Blacksword]

I hipe you have a good work ethic