A review by lupetuple
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

4.0

It was really entertaining. I enjoyed it a lot. However, it had a lot of problems which bothered me too much, namely the misogyny which doesn't surprise me but it wasn't something I could overlook. The female characters aren't given much depth and their lives revolve around the men in the story. They aren't very likable and mostly portrayed as fickle and inconstant. I did really like the philosophical questions it raised, though. I especially thought it was clever of the defense to insist that Mitya did not kill his father because Fyodor did not fulfill the role a father should. I also think the famous chapter "The Grand Inquisitor" is very interesting. I think I will have to reread it and gather my thoughts about it sometime. The brothers are very complex and worthy of a lot of analysis, I think, so it's a shame that like I said, the female characters aren't given as much respect and only serve as plot devices and motivations for the men. Overall, I feel like it's on par with Crime and Punishment which I enjoyed many years ago, and better than The Idiot which I thought was average. I am likely to read more of his work too.