Whew! Brothers Karamazov finally finished!

books are important. a dying art. please, please, let me know that there are still people out there that read more than just magazines.

Moderators: Batman, Zero, John Madden, Bob Ross, General Zod, Richard Simmons

Post Reply
User avatar
JON
sloth
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:10 pm

Whew! Brothers Karamazov finally finished!

Post by JON »

Whew, that was a tough read. Rewarding, but very tough, as a lot of the heavy classics are. It isn't a book you take up lightly, but it has been name dropped so many times (including once in a book I read while reading this one- Slaughterhouse Five) I figured I must be missing out on something. It's funny how you imagine things when you read books. I tried to imagine the setting as best I could, the best model I had for Russia in the 1860's was the south from Gone with the Wind! Ha! Just imagine the characters in the snow and wearing a lot of coats and hats!

Anyway, the characters are pretty amazingly drawn, and although they are meant to be poles apart they are never one dimensional, and you can see so much of yourself and those you know in all of them. Which, quite frankly, caused me no shortage of anxiety.

The book is ostensibly about a parricide, but really deals with heavy religious themes. I wish I had a copy to carry around to flash in the face of those who wish to proselytize. I could just wave it around and say: "herein are arguments convincingly for and against the existence of God greater than you could come up with, so why are you bothering?"

Anyway, it was really an eye-opener.
KISS MY ASS! kISS MY ASS! I'M THE BIGGEST HATER!!!
User avatar
Sleazer
megatron
Posts: 1107
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:51 pm

Re: Whew! Brothers Karamazov finally finished!

Post by Sleazer »

i will drink to thAT, :DRINK TO TJHAT:
User avatar
vynsane
master of the universe
Posts: 6193
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 11:16 pm
Location: in my quiet place, punch-dancing out my rage
Contact:

Re: Whew! Brothers Karamazov finally finished!

Post by vynsane »

i've read "the grand inquisitor" chapter as part of an existential theory class in college, but that's all i've read of it. it's on the list, but there are a lot of things above it.
Life is short. STUNT IT!
User avatar
JON
sloth
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:10 pm

Re: Whew! Brothers Karamazov finally finished!

Post by JON »

for those of you joining us late, "The Grand Inquisitor" is a chapter in the book in which Ivan, an atheist, tells a story to his younger brother, Alexey, a novice monk and all-around stand-up dude with whom you would want watch a ballgame.

After a conversation in which Ivan explains to Alexey that he is an atheist because he cannot reconcile the existence of God with the suffering of children (of which he gives harrowing examples), he continues with a poem he wrote.

In the story, Jesus condescends to appear again on earth, at which time the church authorities (the Inquisitor)arrest him and plan to burn him as a heretic. The Inquisitor tells Jesus that he gave humanity free will, humanity cannot handle it, the church mission is to step in and do man's thinking for him, hence, Jesus cannot be suffered to walk the earth again. The argument Ivan gives against the existence of God is sound and Alexey cannot say anything in response.

Vyn, the following chapters in the book go into the life of Alexey's mentor at the monastery, Zossima (which are very dramatic and interesting, in spite of it being the life of a monk). These chapters present the life and redemption of Zossima as a counterweight to the arguments of Ivan, and they are just as effective. It's worth reading, but it is definitely not something I could get through fast.
KISS MY ASS! kISS MY ASS! I'M THE BIGGEST HATER!!!
Post Reply