I would have to say Dmitri as I found him the most human of the brothers. I thought that Alexey and Ivan were more like black and white representations of the believer and the atheist that Dostoevsky wanted to use to display his ideas on the consequences of the decline of religion. That's not to say I didn't believe in them as characters, just that Dmitri, with his obvious failings, flaws and passions spoke to me more strongly.
"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live."
Originally Posted by Brad Coelho
Ivan is my favourite character too, I think he is the most interesting brother.
Last edited by samah; 04-25-2011 at 04:04 AM.
My friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I wear—a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings and thee from my negligence.I would not have thee believe in what I say nor trust in what I do—for my words are naught but thy own thoughts in sound and my deeds thy own hopes in action.
Khalil Gibran
Ivan - the guy that thinks too much -- that usually gets one into trouble, unfortunately.
Hi
Alyosha is my favorite one. He is sensible and loves the world.
Dmitry is my second favorite, he believes in God and loves the world, but he is too emotional and extremely care about the honour. Nevertheless he is a lovely guy I like him.
Ivan is the last to my favor. He is kind of very conceited and eccentric person.
I became fond of none of them. They all can't make up their minds to save their lives and least little thing throws them off stride. About halfway through the book I realized I was reading a soap opera-but a VERY well written one. Ivan to me was the thinker who can't make up his mind what he really believes and is afraid to have a feeling. Alyosha is so full of compassion it strangles any positive actions in the birthing. Good for messages-IF he doesn't get sidetracked but that's about it. Dmitri I liked simply because he's willing to admit he's a jerk and stand the consequences and actually tries to the right thing however late in the day.
I am only a fourth through the novel, but Ivan's quiet demeanor and intelligence makes him my favourite.
"History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake"-Stephen Dedalus
All four brothers are interesting studies of the human soul.
I prefer the authentic and impulsive Dimitri. He is not a fool but he has a simpler personality than his brothers.
Next comes Aliocha, who is almost a saint.
The intelligent, manipulative and tormented Ivan maybe is a dostoievskian version of the devil.
The abject Smerdiakov is a more degraded one.
Last edited by Danik 2016; 05-07-2016 at 10:12 AM.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
Alyosha. I don't think he is too good to be true. I just think he is genuinely a good man. They do exist. It is quite hard to make them interesting and believable, but I thought Dostoevsky pulled it off.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
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