A review by fowadijaz
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Very good book, if a bit long. The explanation of each person's motives were so believable, the hurt one felt for some of the characters so painful, that the book seemed to be about real people. The helplessness of Snegirev as he threw away Alyosha's offered money, so that he could be able to face his son with pride and show that he could not be bought... 

the business with the older brother Dmitry (mitya) took up too much of the book ultimately since it was not given a satisfactory finish, since he was found guilty anyway, but maybe that was the intention of the author, to show that no matter how eloquent the defendants speech was, mitya would not be released. And furthermore, he wasn't even guiltless of the crime since he did harbour ill will, it just so happened that he did everything save the crime itself. Ivan however, was also relatable in that he felt that he was responsible since he left the town as smerdyakov instructed. That was actually so relatable it was scary.