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The Brothers Karamazov
Three brothers, one terrible dad, three completely different ways of coping. Which Karamazov are you? 🕯️
Who it's for
The novel gives readers from difficult families a mirror in which three brothers respond to the same neglectful father in three ways: Dmitri with passion and rage, Ivan with intellect and cold detachment, Alyosha with patient love.
Feelings it meets
What it is
The Brothers Karamazov is Fyodor Dostoevsky's final novel, serialized in The Russian Messenger from 1879 to 1880. It follows the dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his sons: the impulsive Dmitri, the skeptical intellectual Ivan, and the novice monk Alyosha, along with the servant Smerdyakov, rumored to be Fyodor's illegitimate son.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US in Constance Garnett's translation, free on Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks; Pevear & Volokhonsky is in copyright, in print and in libraries (Libby/Hoopla); unabridged au.
Before you start
Heads up: A suicide and cruelty to children.
Age: Ages 16+
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Part 1, Chapter 1 (tr. Constance Garnett)
