The Brothers Karamazov

Rating:
Summary: Every superlative you can think of...
Review: Read this one. It starts out as a simple murder mystery, then evolves into the greatest novel of all time, written by the greatest novelist of all time. Superb!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Novel Ever Written
Review: When I first picked up a copy of The Brothers Karamazov, I could not wait to start it. I did not get through the first 100 pages. The second time, I didn't make it much further. But the third time I was totally comitted to finishing it, and I have found it to be the most rewarding experience of my 17 years of life. The characters are beautifully written, the dialogue is perfect, and the intensity makes it a gripping and powerful read. The story is huge and complex with virtually a subplot for every character to add to the main plot. I have read more Dostoevsky after reading this and he has never failed in making the same emotions I felt reading this novel rise again. A beautiful, stunning, and captivating masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: beside atlas shrugged, this is the greatest book ever written. it grips you from the moment you pick it up. although i adore dostoevsky's other works, this is quite obviously his masterpiece. completely invigorating!

Rating:
Summary: A uniquely compelling story with wonderful characters.
Review:     Dostoevsky's perennial classic about a bizarre family of four brothers in pre-revolutionary Russia. Dostoevsky originally intended it as a book about children and their world, but it evolved into one of the most expansive books in Russian literature. It deals with nearly every aspect of pre-revolutionary Russian life: the courts, churches, social life, and most of all the attitudes and quirks of her people. Although it is filled with memorable adult characters, including perhaps the most obnoxious personage in literature in the person of Fyodor Karamazov, the children in the book are so well developed one can enter their peculiar world and be transported. Wonderful reading!

Rating:
Summary: Moving and psychologically brilliant once again!
Review: This is yet another masterpiece produced by the literary genius Dostoyevsky. At it's most basic form it could simply be looked upon as a murder mystery, yet the reader will be probed into psychological and philosophical insights through the characters in the novel. It is indeed a literary atomic bomb, as a reviewer mentioned before, but I give it an 8 only because it can not compare to the brilliance that is Crime and Punishment.

Rating:
Summary: The Grandest Book Ever
Review: You must read this book, even if you only read the selection called "The Grand Inquisitor" (Book V, part 5). This may answer some of those questions you have about life, religion, and the state of human existence.

Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Classic--A MUST READ
Review: Dostoyevsky is one of Russia's finest, and he proves it in BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. This novel explores several layers of human emotion, courage, fear, and desire, giving the characters identifiable personalities. The author treats each character differently, and so makes this a read not to be missed. The denoument will make you wish you had read this novel sooner, and also make you think about your own life and the consequences of not only your actions, but more importantly your thoughts. THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV is a must read for anyone who wants to consider themselves well-read in World literature. Also up to par with this novel are Turgenev's FATHERS AND SONS, and Aksakov's A RUSSIAN GENTLEMAN. Both are extraordinary books. Another great from Dostoyevsky is NOTES FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD.

Rating:
Summary: Take great care in choosing your translator.
Review: If you like reading books that make you think about things like why we are here on Earth, is there a God, and if so how could he let things be the way they are, then you may enjoy reading this book. *If you pick up just any copy, you may get a poor translation which is a crime against Dostoyevsky. I read a "Penguin Classics" version translated by David Magarshackin 1958. While I think he did a good job, he seemed to use a lot of the same descriptions over and over again. I think that a more modern translation may be better.

Rating:
Summary: a glorious masterpiece
Review: This book is one of those rare treasures of literature. It is a masterful study of a time and a place and of people and their society down to the most seemingly insignificant detail. Of course, this may sound daunting, boring, horribly intimidating (936 pages in this edition, in fact), but you can strip all the psychology and thematics and anti-socialist rhetoric and simply focus on the plot. It is one of the most exciting books ever written, a deep, dark probing of awful, selfish, greedy people and how they all try to screw each other out of something each one holds dear to themselves just so they can prove that they are the superior. Written as almost seperate psychological case studies mixed in with courtroom drama and theological debate, the book, even more than 100 years since its publication, still has the power to shock, to make you think, to make you possibly even reconsider some of your own most fervently held beliefs. And if that isn't your bag, you can always enjoy some wonderful cruelty, some dazzling evil and some down right hilarious atomizing of specific cultural stereotypes while you shudder and sympathize with the ultimate hopeless tragedy of all these character's lives. If you've always thought you've wanted to read at least one of the great Russian novels, ignore Tolstoi (although great, rather tedious at times) and cruise right into Dostoyevsky, sailing right to the end of his life with this, his final and greatest book.--Lance Polin

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Novel Ever Written
Review: I foolishly put off reading The Brothers K for most of my adult life, because I didn't have the time to tackle a work of this length. Big Mistake!!! While age and maturity probably enhanced my understanding of some of the themes in this book, no person of any age who considers him- or herself a reader of quality literature should miss out on this experience. In short, this is the greatest novel ever written by anyone, in any era, in any language. And that includes Ulysees, Don Quixote, Moby Dick, War and Peace, The Trial, and any other book in or out of the "Canon." The Brothers K was Dostoevski's last work, and his previous great works (Crime & Punishment and The Idiot -- incredible accomplishments in their own right), pale by comparison. This book is one of the most remarkable achievements of human creativity. DO NOT MISS IT.