Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Los hermanos Karamázov

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Los hermanos Karamázov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

18 reviews

startjpw23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is about the three Karamazov brothers, their father, and people they interact with. One of the other characters might be a fourth brother. That is never definitively revealed. The book is set around the year 1860 in Russia. There are a couple of women who the two oldest brothers have, or desire to have, romantic relationships with. Their father also desires a romantic relationship with one of the women. Jealously between the father, and Dimitri, the oldest brother about the woman, is a big driver of the story. Another driver of the story is political, religious, and social changes taking place in Russia at that time. Around halfway through the book, there is a leadup to a crime. At this point, and the aftermath of the crime, I found the book a page turner. Toward the end, the story dragged. The book is a very long book. The version I read was 845 pages long. And the pages were very densely packed with words. With the exception of the youngest brother, Alyosha, I didn't find any of the main characters particularly likable. Because of this, I really didn't care that much about what happened to them. The book was beautifully written and translated. A lot of words were used for not all that much happening. I did enjoy book. I am glad I read it. Reading it didn't make me want to read any other classic Russian books any time soon.

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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was definitely worth the while, even if it took me a long while.

It's very slow paced, and sometimes you might think to yourself «Okay, but how does this affect the plot.» Fair point, definitely, but to me personally, such scenes meant everything in the parallel situations of these characters and for Dostoyevsky to explore some of his philosophy, which I think he has the right to with such reflections. Also, as my dad so rightfully reminded me, this book was written in a period where people had the time to read. Not meaning that they weren't as busy as we are now, but simply that their attention spans had not been abused such as ours have due to various categories of modern entertainment.
There is no shame in this, but it's important to note that if you're wanting to read this. I, too, found it boring at times, because no, I genuinely could not care less about Father Zosima.

And on the note of characters I couldn't care less about, we have Alyosha. Yes, I see Dostoyevsky praising and loving him, but I found him pretty whiny, actually. He was about as relevant as an emotional support animal, to be quite honest. That is until the epilogue, where I appreciated his part of the whole journey.

My favourite character was Mitya, though Ivan stands as a close second, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it is because I found them sexy. Not only because I found them sexy, but it was undeniably a factor in there somewhere, and I am young and gay, so who can blame me. Still, they were both fantastically written characters, both with depth and interesting plot lines.

Yes, my review has been mostly about the characters and what I thought of them, but they are the plot after all. However, I want to add finally that I noticed how the synopsis of the book leads with the murder of Fyodor Pavlovich, when that doesn't «come up» until a good... 500 pages in? A bit odd, but I suppose that was what brought the entire piece to a conclusion.

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suneaters's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A pivotal case study in family dynamics and the manifestations of parental failures upon children in adulthood, all culminating in the bitter but ultimately satisfying truth of who killed the Karamazov patriarch. Daddy Issues™️. Alyosha best boy confirmed.

In all seriousness, it’s a powerful exploration of family trauma, greed, guilt, and faith with a satirical overtone—don’t let anyone say Dostoevsky was gloomy! He posits important questions to the reader.

Can your daddy issues make your a murderer? Is that really the devil? Can you try to make your family come together before

your bastard half-brother kills your father because he mistakenly thought your other brother wanted him to and your other other brother is set up as the fall guy?

I liked how it ends without resolving everything.

We don't know if they're going to help Mitya escape and we don't know if Ivan will end up with Katerina after all or if Grushenka will decide she loves Mitya after all. We end with the funeral of a young boy called Ilyusha who fell ill at some point after seeing Dmitri beat up his military captain father instead of with some grand conclusion on the story of Ivan, Aleksy, Dmitri, and Smerdyakov. We don't know if Marfa and Grigory have been spoken to by Ivan or Alyosha after Smerdyakov confessed to Ivan.

The religious overtones are also very interesting. Alyosha is considered this pure being, so much so that Rakitin spends basically the entire novel trying to shake his faith whether by poking fun at elder Zosima's decaying corpse or trying to introduce him to Grushenka. Alyosha is clearly the author's thought of what people should be like with his innate goodness and love of mankind. He resolves any doubts he has with his simple faith and his belief in the goodness of mankind. He does good and tries to help bring his family together after. He isn't naive or innocent and while his brother sees suffering as a reason for atheism or a cruel God, Alyosha sees it as a resolve to try to put goodness out into the world.

Ivan is religiously and spiritually conflicted. He oscillates between a belief in a Machiavellian being and atheism. This turmoil from his own cold sophistication and eventual overthinking skepticism eventually leads to

his vivid hallucination of the Devil and his spiral into madness.

Mitya tries desperately to overcome his own jealous and angry nature to become a better man.

His and Ivan's optimistic endings can be seen as authorial optimism for the outlook of mankind overall.

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gracchian's review against another edition

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dark inspiring tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Brothers Karamazov is the classic; it needs no explanation. Within it, Dostoevsky applies the full might of his messianic, Christian, psychological brilliance at the peak of his ability. This is the book that prompted legions of readers to approach him in life and exclaim how deeply his work moved them, how much the one book changed them. Eastern and Catholic priests alike will often find this book creeping upon their shelves, though even atheists tend to celebrate the achievements contained within all the same. It has been said that this book contains the strongest arguments both on behalf and against Christianity. I would add that it contains the strongest arguments against and for virtue as an end pursuit in itself, embodied by the empowering, inspiring 'milksop' Alyosha Karamazov.

You will become well-acquainted with the cast of characters imagined by Dostoevsky. You will hate almost all of them, but this hate will be followed by pity, and, in the end, you will rest somewhere in the nest Dostoevsky has built for you—a space above the dizzying drama of the tragedy, wherein you hold no grudges, pity all, and wish only to see that love expressed by all. You will be betrayed and wronged by the characters in this book, and you will forgive them even as they betray you. You will learn what it is that Dostoevsky is trying to portray in Alyosha, or in the monastic Zossima, and you'll be offered a seat at their divinely virtuous table. The book truly brings you into it, and becomes a lived transformation for the reader who attentively follows it—and, it must be said, it is very difficult indeed to not attentively follow Karamazov when it gets going.

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