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Having read both The Idiot and Crime and Punishment, I felt it was time to finally read this daunting looking i.e. rather large book, which I had bought cheaply at a book shop. It tells the story of three brothers: Dmitri, Ivan and Aleksey. The brothers are brought together when Dmitri returns to his father as a soldier to request money he believes is rightfully his. They decided to meet with Zosima who works in a monastery where Alyosha (Aleksey) is placed. From here the book explores philosophy, religion and politics and each of the brothers explores a different perspective. Another brother is added to the mix, when we discover that Pavel Smerdyakov was likely fathered by Fyodor. Pavel shares Ivan's atheist beliefs and appears to look up to him throughout the book.
The book also explores the responsibility of the different brothers towards each other and towards a more general good. This leads to the further analysis oh each character's philosophy and is guided by the early words of the Elder Zosima as well as the frenzied actions of Dmitri as he chases the woman he loves, Grushenka. Ivan's philosophy is forced to change from the complete rejection of morals with no God that he preaches at the beginning of the book. This is just one of many examples of the way different philosophies are explored in the book.
Like any great Russian novel, this one is full of extravagance. It contains well thought out characters and plot lines that keeps the reader guessing throughout the book. Dostoyevsky also lets the characters speak for themselves rather than explaining their actions or movements which aids the telling of the story.
I cannot do this book justice and I recommend it to all for its wonder and its amazingness and because it looks at important social issues in a unique way.
I have a love for Russian novels. So melodramatic, so ridiculous, so awesome and so weird. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's books I have read and my favourite so far mainly due to the fact that it has a wider plotline and more interesting characters.
The characters in this book are memorable and startling. Beginning with the Prince himself, the principal character of the book who is said to resemble Christ and who is very child-like due to being closed off from society until the beginning of this book. Nastasya, a woman he chases throughout the book is a woman who continually defies people's opinions and denigrates herself further and further throughout the book is an excellent example of the ultimate in self-loathing, while Aglaya who the Prince befriends detests the expectations set by her parents and her family; she, most of any of the characters teaches the Prince about human nature and the confusing world of high society. Many other characters also surround the Prince in what becomes his first experience of society, of love and of people in general and what to expect.
The discovery in this book is that people do not know how to cope with such an innocent, child-like man who does not know how to read between the lines of a hierarchical social order. While people at first seem friendly, they are forever confounding him with their actions and behaviours which often seem contrary to common sense. The main criticism I have of this book is how long it goes on although this is also what is so magical about it. Dostoyevsky had a unique gift with prose and with prying into his characters' minds so that we build up not a physical picture but a psychological one of each character and each discussion.
Would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the magic that is Russian novels (and I personally enjoyed it more than Crime and Punishment).
There are few things in the world that compare to a Russian novel. Although this book was a marathon to read (despite its small appearance), it was well worth the read. It tells the story of Raskolnikov, a young student who commits a murder out of desperation and more or less feels guilty, sick and paranoid about it for the rest of the book.
This is the first of Dostoyevsky's books that I've read and the main thing that struck me was the intricate makings of all the characters he described which built up not so much a picture as an innate psychological description of many of the characters. It also offers an interesting description of the concept of an "extraordinary man" and uses Napoleon as an example - this is a person who can breach the moral standards of society in the pursuit of a great thing. Although the philosophy of this doesn't quite work in my reading of it, it was an interesting aside if not plea to be found to be still a human being.
One of the more interesting characters was Sonia who becomes a deep friend of Raskolnikov's. She is a prostitute driven to her profession by a need to help her family. There were also some interesting asides to what constitutes a crime such as Svidrigailov who dreams of pursuing small children. The uncertainty and darkness of this entire book will leave the reader thinking long after the last page is turned.
