July/Dostoevsky Reading: 'The Brothers Karamazov'

[Scheherazade]

In July, we reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, who said:

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Book Club Procedures

[genoveva]

Amazing! I will look forward to reading this thread!

[bazarov]

And when will the discusion start?

[Pensive]

I am looking forward to get my hands on it!!!

[papayahed]

I bought the book yesterday, my first impression is that it is quite large and has small print. People - I'm still trying to finish Godot!!!

[Ryduce]

Yeh I'm having alot of trouble finishing books over the summer.Between a job,working out,and music it's like I don't have any time.Then whenever I do get the time my friend shows up.I didn't finish Lolita or Love in the Time of Cholera,but I can't bring myself to put down Brothers.It's just too good.

[genoveva]

I've got both my copies, and *all* my notes from the class I took! Will I be tempted to read it again???????

[literaturerocks]

i just bought it today and the version i bought is over 1000 pages long so..it might take a week or two but if its reallly really good which ive heard it is... then it should only take a week maybe less...but first i must finish 1984..which is starting off quite weird actually..this whole negative utopia ...well enough on that ..LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THE BROTHERS!!

[Asa Adams]

Started it today, but i am tired. It will sap alot out of me...darn you Baz!!!

[crazy baby]

I am gonna get my copy from the liibrary as soon as possible.

[bhekti]

It's my third time reading it. And I don't mind at all!

[Scheherazade]

I have started reading it; however, it is going very slow for me.

Find it interesting that all the people who come to get the Elder's blessings are women. Why do you think? Women are more devoted believers? They are more gullible to believe in such? Men are too proud to seek help even from a man of God?

[MikeK]

I've never quite thought about that. I suppose it's probably just a touch of realism - you know, old ladies likely to be the most devout and likely to make such a pilgrimage. I'm no expert on 19th century Russian life, but it's probably something Dostoevsky may have noticed. (He, as with Tolstoy, went on a pilgrimage to a monastery himself. Maybe that's something that he noticed when he did.) I really don't mean to be dismissive, but I don't think the fact that they're women is crucially important.

I would say however, that it's definitely one of my favorite chapters of the book. It's a vitally important early chapter that introduces many of the themes and topics that will be brought up more in-depth later in the novel. If, after finishing the novel, you were to go back and read this chapter again, it would completely open up and reveal so much about some of the major themes of the novel. So I'd advise everyone reading this chapter - "Women of Faith" - to read it very attentively (Not that you wouldn't anyway).

[MikeK]

Interesting note about the "Women of Faith" chapter, for those of you who have a copy that doesn't include this note; one of the ladies comes and tells Father Zosima about her little son, Alexei, who was almost three-years-old and died. Just before beginning The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's own three-year-old son Alexei died, prompting Dostoevsky to visit a monastery.

[superunknown]

Going for 50 pages a day, should be finished in 3 weeks since my edition is approximately 768 pages. We do get 2 months to read this, right? It is over 750.