The Karamazov Brothers - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Advantages: see op
Disadvantages: see op

...introduce it. « The Karamazov » gathers a rising family drama of 3 brothers (Dimitri, burning and wild; Ivan, intellectual, idealist and intransigent; and Alexei, monk, devoted and naive) and of course the father, a horrible character that deserves only what occurs to him, because he forsakes his children and lives only in the vice and the lust. He is a cheap man and reluctant being. His sons somewhat disturbed by a sinister youth are very interdependent ...
...desires, their feelings. This explains the delirious, exuberant and extravagant atmosphere of the book. « The brothers » start by exchanging their thirst for living. They proclaim their love for life, more than for the sense of life, their love without logic, purely and simply love. And then comes the moment to treat " eternal questions ", one of them being God. And the book goes on and on. Some admit the central topic is the parricide. For others, ... Read review

Advantages: Too many to list
Disadvantages: Time consuming (is this really a disadvantage?)

The Brothers Karamazov is Dostoevski's magnum opus. It weighs in at a hefty two volumes, not quite of Tolstoyian size, but certainly in the same ball park. Many will opt for Crime and Punishment or The Idiot - generally regarded as more manageable, but to overlook Karamazov is to miss out on one of the finest works in the Russian literary canon. The novel concerns the fortunes of three brothers - Dmitry, Ivan and Aloysha, and their varying relationships ...
...Large sections of the book are devoted to the characterisation of each brother - beautifully worked to the extent that the characters and their emotional responses remain with you for years after reading - and the lines of each of their stories are interweaved throughout. We are presented with the interaction of very different character types - archetypal sibling relationships. A family saga, centring around sibling / father rivalries and patricide ... Read review

Advantages: sustained genius; philosophical profundity; splendid characterization
Disadvantages: the ending could have come a little sooner

The greatest myth about this book is that it is not as accessible as Dostoyevsky's shorter works. The Brothers Karamazov is, on the whole, very readable; it is only the sheer size of the work that fosters the delusion that readers would be well-advised to chose a different book. The plot, which is summarized elsewhere, is simple, the themes profound. The range of characters is impressive, but not too great (as it is, arguably, in Tolstoy's War and ...
...whom is wholly different from the others. But as so often with Dostoyevsky, the characters are interesting not only in themselves but because they embody or reflect on greater ideas. Ivan Karamazov, for instance offers some particularly trenchant criticism of optimistic religious views. In fact, those readers who are interested in questions pertaining to God will find in this book one of the most powerful indictments of the concept of wholly benevolent ... Read review