Genre: Classic/Fiction
Series: Standalone
Page Count: 776
Publication Year: Originally published 1880, my version came out in 1992
Publisher: My version: Everyman's Library
Special Notes: Translated from Russian by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Audiobook version translated by Constance Garnett, narrated by Frederick Davidson.
Summary: A lot of unrelated stuff gets talked about. And some brothers have a bad relationship with their father and one of them decides to kill him.
Two things before I start the review, I’m a Christian and I read this book for “fun.”
This is a tough book to review. I’m not the intended audience so I can’t praise it but I don’t feel comfortable tearing it down. So many people think it’s the best book ever written, a literary masterpiece. Maybe it is. I must be too dumb to appreciate it. That’s fine by me. I don’t want to be one of those people who loves it or could debate it for ages. Perhaps if I’d spent significant time analyzing the themes, characters and “plot” I would come to a different conclusion. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I do not read fiction to pull apart its meaning.
If you have the complete opposite opinion to me, you’re probably thinking I just didn’t “get it.” I am perfectly willing to accept that as true. I will also say I don’t want to take the time to “get it” because it isn’t worth my time. I wouldn’t change my faith nor would I have a good time rereading any passages.
The best parts were when the main story made appearances throughout the book. The introduction of the main characters, Dmitri looking for Grushenka, and the trial are pretty much the only parts I remember as being genuinely good. And the part about Zosima’s early life showed how Dostoevsky was a good storyteller. He just didn’t know how to be cohesive. Passages and passages passed by that didn’t contribute to the story. Whole characters and chapters had nothing (obvious) to do with the story and could have been left out. Sometimes I’d read a whole paragraph and instantly forget what it said. I can’t justify how such little story could take up nearly 800 pages. I like my fictional books to have a story. It doesn’t need a defined beginning, middle and end, it just needs to move toward its goal at a steady pace.
Dostoevsky took an excruciating time to get his point across. I’m sure his story, message, themes and whatnot, could easily have fit into a novel half as long. That’s my main issue with this book: it’s too long. Expounding on a thought doesn’t always make you look smarter. Sometimes it takes the zing out and leaves people unsure of what you’re saying. I don’t appreciate books of any genre wasting my time with plotless paragraphs of sludge.
The characters had their moments. I don’t have a favorite brother or even a favorite character. I don’t know if this is a part of Russian culture, but EVERYONE excessively expressed their emotions. Men and women wept, screamed, shouted, kissed, blushed, and fainted constantly. No conversation happened in a calm manner. The women were especially bad. Hysteria was not uncommon and they sure knew how to be hysteric. (Side note: what was up with Liza? The last conversation with her had her saying some disturbing things.) It’s hard to like people when they can’t get ahold of themselves.
I liked that bits of humor cropped-up occasionally (like when the dad and what’s-his-face went to Zosima).
As for character development, I didn’t see much. I guess Alyosha changed the most but I didn’t care. Ivan said some things I agreed with, like if someone doesn’t believe in God, they have to create their own.
The inclusion of a narrator was cool. Kinda like he went around interviewing everyone after the events. I wonder if it was Dostoevsky inserting himself into the story or if it was just some random dude.
The audiobook narrator also did a good job.
As for the Grand Inquisitor…I couldn’t care less about that chapter. Ivan took forever to say whatever it was he was saying. My eyes glazed over for most of it. I think he was criticizing Jesus, which is not cool. Maybe to some people it’s profound and amazing, but it bored me to tears.
I can kinda see why it’s a classic. Of course, in its current form it would never get published today. And if I hadn’t switched to the audiobook halfway through I never would have finished it. But there were moments when I enjoyed myself. It didn’t have the spiritual impact on me that he was probably going for, but I wasn’t expecting it to. I don’t completely regret reading it, so there’s that. The moral lesson I took away was: don’t date the same girl as your dad/son, ‘cause it’ll end in someone dying.
A note on the ending: SPOILERS AHEAD I sat through that whole book and never even found out if Dmitri escaped. What devilry is that? I don’t know if Alyosha married Liza either. Or if Ivan died of his brain fever thing. Instead there’s this funeral for that pointless kid and a bunch of other kids skipping around Alyosha shouting “Huzzah!” like they’re at a joust. What kind of dumb ending is that? I know Dostoevsky had planned on doing a sequel and died before he could do it, but he could have wrapped-up at least one of those things. I guess it’s the equivalent of a nineteenth-century cliffhanger. If I’d known that’s how it ended, I’m not sure I would’ve bothered finishing it.
Check out my rating here.
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