Being an admirer of Russian literature, and Dostoevsky in particular, it's my turn to read Karamazov. I've read about 300 pages by now, and I must confess that so far I'm a little disappointed. If Crime and Punishment seemed to me a captivating masterpiece, of perfect complexity and balance, on the other hand Karamazov.., which is Dostoevsky's last book and considered by most his Magnum Opus, has a melodramatic and absurd style, the heroes seem to be making a storm in a teacup, because they have too much free time to go astray. It makes you think of a russian soap opera. I'm trying to maintain my patience to reach the climax, to see what else happens. I'm writing this because I'm curious to know your perspective on this book. All the best!
I’ve read it a few times, and in my experience, the first half of that book takes about three times longer to read than the second half. It’s all setup for the time being, bear with it.
I am currently about 250 pages in and this post is so helpful! Every character seems so hysterical and not lifelike.
Yes, keep pushing on.
I was also disappointed by TBK for reasons that might be similar to what you mean when you say characters with too much free time. My impression was that he set up all of these dolls to puppet the various forms of philosophical thought of his era and then made them explain themselves to each other ad nauseum. It was the length and excess of these dialogues that started to make my eyes roll. It's not that I didn't find the characters or their psychologies interesting, it was that I kept thinking to myself that this felt like a serialized writer who got paid based on volume/chapters so the more his polyphony of voices kept talking the better for the chronically in debt Doestoevsky and his bank account. TBK is a great novel, but IMO it would be greater if it were half the length. It felt self indulgent and philosophically maximalist with all of its over-explanations. I personally don't like when things are over-explained to me so this reduced my evaluation of this novel as a whole. When someone says this is their favorite Doestoevsky or their favorite novel of all time I can only assume that they have an appreciation for maximalism and over-explanations that I don't share.
It actually was published as a serial in the Russian Messenger between 1879 and 1880, then as a complete work starting in 1880. This was very common for all literary works of that time period. It probably did lead to a bit more exposition than was necessary. To connect with this work, I think it helps a lot to be familiar with the history, politics, and religion of D's time, and the problems he was wrangling with and genuinely like that kind of dark, deeply Russian way of thinking and processing the world. At the time of writing, old Russia was being confronted with a tectonic shift in the face of modernist thought in philosophy, politics, and culture. D did not react well to it, and that is reflected heavily in all his writing. BK is just a slow, methodical read that must be savored. I liked it because I'm fascinated by that period and Russian literature and history in general, but to each his own, of course.
lol I listened to the audiobook, so I was very aware of how long these monologues are when spoken aloud. Some of them are an hour long! And the listener is just sitting there patiently the whole time?
I've read virtually everything he's written. Yes, I consider BK his magnum opus, although it is his most difficult read. The story puts on display the entire gamut of D's thoughts on life, philosophy, religion, and politics. My favorite section is the Grand Inquisitor story and I will often just read that section alone. I began it 20 years ago and gave up in the first third. Then revisited it ten years ago and read it all the way through and thoroughly enjoyed it. The thing that helped me the most was that on that second read, I kept a file and summarized each chapter as I completed it. This pushed the complicated plot line and character analysis into my longer-term memory so I could more easily keep track of the themes and the plot design. It also allowed me quick access prior chapters to refresh my memory if I got confused. I've begun using this technique on other long and complicated works of fiction and non-fiction since and it's been remarkably helpful. I used it on David Copperfield which I'd always steered away from due to length, and it worked very well for that as well. I've read BK again since and, of course, after the first read, it's no big deal and you can really enjoy it because you already know the basic plot outline and understand the motivations of the characters.
All this being said, Crime and Punishment is my favorite just from a fairly concise, consistently interesting, and deeply meaningful story. I've read that half a dozen times over the years and it never disappoints.
I think The Double is his strongest work.
I think you might try to get into the spirit of it! I like to think of reading as like a dance. The writer is the male, so he leads, and my contribution as the female (and the reader) is to be responsive and open. With TBK, you are dancing a tango: big, dramatic movements, lots of passion. serious faces. Don't be on the sidelines watching it going, "That's absurd!" Let him lead you and see if that helps!
I don't know why you're getting the downvotes for a poetic and perfectly appropriate metaphor. Probably because they are misunderstanding and think you are suggesting a woman should be submissive to a male. I took it to mean that you are only assigning the roles in the dance to the leader (author) and follower (reader), which are traditionally assigned to male and female, respectively. D has something to tell the reader. The reader can be patient and listen and, as you say, follow his lead, or they can resist and try to wrest control of the narrative from him, criticizing the pace and the deeply personal flourishes he incorporates into his dance. The first time I read BK, I did resist his lead. I couldn't figure out all the complicated steps and became frustrated. But then the next time, I just abandoned myself to the music, and followed, and then as the waltz progressed, I understood it's nature and the beauty of it.
I think it is. Still my favorite climax in all literature