The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes, the lives of his sons irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts; and the shadowy figures of their bastard half-brother Smerdyakov.
As the ensuing investigation and trial reveal the true identity of the murderer, Dostoyevsky's dark masterwork evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil blur, and everyone's faith in humanity is tested.
This powerful translation of 'The Brothers Karamazov' features an introduction highlighting Dostoyevsky's recurrent themes of guilt and salvation, with a new chronology and further reading.
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A dysfunctional family: a murder, a mystery, an investigation. A 19th century Russian whodunit. But also, a whydunit, or a whydoanything. Some books become mirrors looking into mirrors, an abyss on either side, to use a Karamazovian expression. Dostoevsky is inventing the Western modern, posing questions and formulating ironies that remain both fresh and deliciously unresolved today. - Jeremy (QBD)
Guest, 04/03/2019
