The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical work set in 19th century Russia. It enters deeply into ethical debates about God, free will and morality. Presenting a spiritual drama of the moral struggles which concern faith, doubt, and reason, it is set in a Russia which has just begun to modernize. The tone is existential long before existentialism became fashionable in the twentieth century.
Dostoyevsky’s novel of 1880 is so profound it’s hard to summarise. The briefest outline would be that it concerns the murder of Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, a corrupt, loutish landowner, and the aftermath for his sons: the passionate Dmitri, the coldly intellectual Ivan, the spiritual Alexey, and the bastard Smerdyakov.
Dostoevsky does not write from a singular, monologic authorial voice. Instead, The Brothers Karamazov is a symphony of independent, fully realized voices. For example, the author gives the rationalist, Ivan, arguments that are just as brilliant, persuasive, and terrifyingly valid as those given to the spiritual anchor of the book, Father Zosima. Characters are not manipulated like puppets to prove a point; rather they are fully expressed as competing worldviews to battle on equal footing. All this is interwoven with a fast-paced true crime trial and a sensational inheritance dispute.
Many consider The Brothers Karamazov to be Dostoyevsky’s (Fyodor Dostoevsky – Wikipedia) greatest achievement. Take a deep breath. Take a year to read it, but do read it.
For further reading, and to set the life and work of Dostoyevsky in context go to The Cambridge Companion to Dostoevskii (2002) edited by W.J. Leatherbarrow (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cambridge-Companion-Dostoevskii-Companions-Literature/dp/0521652537/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1389218833&sr=8-1-fkmr2)
For the philosophical aspects of this author try Scanlan, James Patrick (2002) Dostoevsky the Thinker (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dostoevsky-Thinker-James-P-Scanlan/dp/0801439949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389219876&sr=8-1&keywords=scanlan+dostoyevsky+thinker)
For a recent life reach for Frank, Joseph (2009). Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dostoevsky-A-Writer-His-Time/dp/0691128197/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389219435&sr=8-2&keywords=frank+dostoyevsky) This, at a mere 984 pages! is the single volume abridged version of Frank’s monumental 5 volume biography. A work for the devotee surely – but that is something you may become.
Adapted for the screen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051435/?ref_=sr_1) by Julius J. Epstein in 1958. Features Yul Brynner as Dmitri Karamazov. Available on DVD (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brothers-Karamazov-Region-Import-NTSC/dp/B0066E6TR2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373263802&sr=8-1&keywords=brothers+karamazov+dvd)
Check if The Brothers Karamazov is in stock at your local library by consulting the online catalogue here Home | South Lanarkshire Libraries (sllclibrary.co.uk)
First published 1880
1056 pages in the Penguin Classics paperback edition.
ISBN 978-0140449242
Fyodor Dostoyevsky