I feel like this novel has changed my life, but I also feel like I may be being over-sensitive/over-emotional in my reaction to it.
So much about the novel affected me very deeply, on a human level in particular the subplots of the captain and his son, and on a philosophical level too.
The combination of reading it and at the same time in my life watching the Seventh Seal have got me contemplating life and God objectively, but what the brothers K and the character Alyosha instilled in me was a very deep love for humanity and awareness of others' suffering.
Do you think Dostoevsky intended the novel to have that effect? Have others reacted in a similarly strong way? I cant work out if its part of the genius of the novel as written, or if it is more my own experience an the point in my life when I read it that it touched me so profoundly?