The Brothers Karamazov (Giant Thrifts)
The Brothers Karamazov (Giant Thrifts) Review
My three key criteria for great fiction candidates are that they must be deep intellectually, stunning in character development, and beautifully written. This book puts the argument against the existence of god due to evil, and the appeal of worldliness, as well as I’ve ever seen, then epitomizes it, and then does pretty well trying to develop an answer. The Magic Mountain, Dr. Faustus by Mann, Sartre, and Faust epitomize but don’t argue [well]; Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is powerful and catchy and does argue, but her characters are mostly one-dimensional and her philosophical antithesis is so extreme that her opponents end up being straw men–they cannot be defended seriously.
Dostoyevsky’s characters are archetypes, but with multiple dimensions and realism, who engage in real conversation and resultant temptation, though not as deeply as Bakhtin claims. Dostoyevsky gives a rounded description before each main character appears, but the character, in dialogue, then bursts into reality. The writing is complex and yet gripping–I could not put it down, except to rest. It seems to wander but is constantly building.
I’ve come back to my Constance Garnett translation again and again. I’ve only read pieces of one or two others [and I cannot read Russian], but Garnett is very skillful and consistent at expressing [seemingly] Dostoyevsky’s vision of the Russian soul. That soul does contain, regrettably, anti-semitism, anti-catholicism, nationalism, and anti-modernism, but they [all but the last, which he is arguing forcefully against] obnoxiously mar the book but don’t, I feel, mar its amazing argument or structure. Compared with the fine books on many Top 10 100 lists, this one is a sun competing with floodlights.
The Brothers Karamazov (Giant Thrifts) Feature
- ISBN13: 9780486437910
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
The Brothers Karamazov (Giant Thrifts) Overview
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