Just finished this. Incredible read. Never been taught so much from a book in my life...I actually feel changed for the better. Shed tears in Alyosha's final speech to Kolya and the schoolboys...I can't praise this book enough. I have been deeply moved. So many beautiful notions within it's pages. Gives me hope for humanity...The details of the book are too complex to begin delving into, but I thought I'd make this thread and see if any discussion arose.
I particularly liked brother Ivan's descent to madness and the criticism/praise of religion, Alyosha's virtuous nature, the elder Zosima's wise talks, the schoolboy Kolya's cunning, Mitya's voluptuous passions, the ponderous nature of the book in general...Arghh, too much to begin, so I will stop.
Was my first time reading Dostoyevsky but definently not the last.
Long live the Karamazov! And the ability to contemplate both abysses at once!
Comments
And then the Idiot.
Enjoy.
I've always liked Tolstoy and Dostoevsky .I like Tolstoy a little more but that may be due to his lifestyle/politics rather than any literary reasons.
The strange part is I bought both those books in the last month, in that order, prior to reading your post.