The Brothers Karamazov

On Sunday night I completed a marathon, no I did not run 26.2 miles, in fact I hardly moved at all.

What I did do was finish The Brothers Karamazov. Brothers K is the final novel of Fyodor Dovstoevsky and it is a masterpiece. It’s also a 700+ page behemoth of a book that took me a solid three weeks to get through. It was a commitment but only once (when I had around 60 pages left) did I ever dream of putting it down (and I’m happy I pushed through and finished it) it was simply wonderful.

Contained within the voluminous pages of this book is the story of not just the four brothers of Pavel Karamazov, not just the intrigue of the mystery of the murder of their father but also the story of an entire country. It’s about the soul of Russia and also the soul of all men. Dovstoevsky is a philosopher and a poet; he goes on in length about what makes a man a man, what makes men good and holy, and evil and base. He struggles with g-d and man’s relationship to the creator; he struggles with the desires both good and evil of all people.

I cannot hope to translate the beauty of the experience of reading this book. But only urge readers to not be intimidated by it and to pick up the wonderful translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky and be prepared to go to battle with this book. If you dare to rise to the challenge you will not be disappointed, you will finish and think and think and think about the ideas contained within it. It will transform you and you will be better for the experience.

I’ll leave you with a quote: "First of all and before all be kind, then honest, and then - let us never forget one another...dear friends, do not be afraid of life! How good life is when you do something good and rightful!" - Alyosha Karamazov