![]() ![]() ![]() The importance of The Brothers Karamazov lies in 1) its reflection of late 19th century provincial Russia and its position in that time period 2) its influence on the 20th century (including Freud, D.H. He hits the reader over the head with his positions and his allegories. He didn’t write sentences as beautifully as Turgenev or Tolstoy. Hard to get through at first reading better the second time around (with a bit of speed reading through parts) when one knows what to expect and has the whole of its importance in hand. This is a book best read in chapters, like a Dickensian serial, with the mindset of a long winter. Primed on literature of the last 50-100 years, the contemporary reader is hard pressed to wade through elaborate detail, occasional plot holes, characters who are too representative to be relatable (female characters receive short shrift) and an ending that leaves the fate of its characters up in the air. Dostoyevsky’s final work, his manifesto, can be a slog. ![]()
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