The Brothers Karamazov: Part 4/Finished.

As I said in a previous post, I am reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky with a group of other bloggers. It is being hosted by Dolce Bellezza, who is also providing links to all of our thoughts. We'll be posting every Thursday in April about each part we read that previous week (4 parts in the book). You can read my review of the first part here. And my review of the second part is here. And the third part, which I finished last week, can be found here.

I am really quite proud of myself for finishing this novel. I almost gave up during Part 2, since I was so bored of the endless discussion, but I ended up pushing on and thoroughly enjoying the rest of the novel. After Part 2, the novel pushes forward with a lot of intensity. And I am going to talk quite openly about what happens, so if you don't want spoilers, stop reading.


One of my favorite parts of the entire novel was at the beginning of Part 4, where Kolya eventually goes and visits Ilyushka with the dog. The scenes with the two boys, watched by Alyosha (one of the brothers) are touching. It is almost as if Kolya is forgiving Ilyushka for what he did to the dog. And since Kolya seems to be a boy that is in power, his forgiveness means everything to Ilyushka and his family.

So of course, I was sad when Ilyushka dies rather than gets better, but it does serve as a great foil to the other central family in the novel-the Karamazovs.

The Karamazov family is dysfunctional from the beginning and shows how circumstances and choice can bring you to where you end up. Father Karamazov, Fyodor, did not even raise his own sons, so he cannot claim to have any real influence on their growing up and the actions they then take as adults. They have seen the darker side of life through him and his actions towards them.

Whereas in Ilyushka's home, his father seems to care deeply for him, and Ilyushka's "bad" actions are only a result of his love for his father, not like the Karamazov's hatred of theirs.

Both of the families shows the opposite sides of life. Even with money, the Karamazov brothers are unhappy and vengeful, whereas in Ilyushka's home, love seems to triumph over all of the difficulty.

The only thing that bothers me about the end of the novel is that we are never definitely told who murdered Fyodor. We simply must accept the circumstances and assume.

Overall, I loved the novel. I think Dostoevsky created a piece that plays a lot on opposites and foils. Each of the characters fits a role and shows how choice and circumstance put them where they are, and sometimes, not even a result of their own circumstance. While I am not a pro at Russian literature, I would say that this novel really is a showpiece of Russia. It highlights village life and the Russian way of thinking about family, honor, and religion. For that, I am grateful, since I only know Soviet Russian history.

In all, a beautiful novel and one that I know I will read over again. It was not nearly as daunting as I thought it would be and the translation was wonderful.


Now I only have 1 Dostoevsky novel left on my list for this project (The Idiot), but I think I am going to save it for a bit. And perhaps now that I have some courage, I may give that other Russian heavyweight a chance-Tolstoy.

Sunday Salon: April 25, 2010.

It is really hard to believe that April is almost over! Where is time going these days?

I had a pretty good week in terms of reading. I am still in the middle of the three books at left. While I did my post for The Count of Monte Cristo and the Classics Circuit on Friday, I still have a little left to finish. It is a phenomenal novel and I think i just bit off a little more than I could chew doing it along with a few other things.

I am also still working on the second collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories. They have fallen by the wayside in the last week as I have been chipping away at the two big novels, but I really want to get through them by the end of the month.

The Brothers Karamazov has been a pleasant surprise and my last post over the 4th part and my feelings about the book as a whole will be posted on Thursday. I will be glad to wrap up all of these books. I find it hard to concentrate on so many different books at once. My mind is going all different directions as I read them! At least with reading the short stories I can settle in with one story in one quick sitting and not be bothered.

I did really enjoy the read-along and would love to do more of them in the future. It makes reading the harder books a little easier, since I almost feel like I have to get posts up to meet my commitment. Odd, isn't it? I did join a Paradise Lost read-along with Rebecca Reads. Paradise Lost is another title that intimidates me, so I hope to get through it unscathed. Speaking if intimidating titles, what books scare you off??

Goals for this week are to finish the three books I have in progress: The Brothers Karamazov, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

Happy Reading!

The Brothers Karamazov: Part 3.

As I said in a previous post, I am reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky with a group of other bloggers. It is being hosted by Dolce Bellezza, who is also providing links to all of our thoughts. We'll be posting every Thursday in April about each part we read that previous week (4 parts in the book). You can read my review of the first part here. And my review of the second part is here.

Well then. I complained that there was no action in the second part and that I was almost bored to death, so I guess I got what i was asking for in the third part.

It begins with the death of Alyosha's elder, Zosimov, and then leads on a frantic pace through the actions of Mitya (Dmitri). Worried about paying back Katerina, Mitya is searching for anyone to give him 3000 roubles to pay her back. He turns to friends and acquaintances in the town to see if anyone will give him the money he desperately needs.

Of course, all this comes back as evidence, as his father, Fyodor, is found murdered in his bedroom and the servant Grigory found wounded in the head. By the time authorities have caught up with Mitya, he is in another town, spending a mysterious 3000 roubles and worried about the injury he inflicted on the old servant in company with Grushenka. As they begin to question him, Mitya confesses to harming the servant, but only expresses surprise at hearing of his father's death.

There are many clues leading them to believe that Mitya is in fact the killer of his father. His father had placed 3000 roubles in an envelope under his pillow, which the police found empty. Fyodor's head was also found bashed in like Grigory's. The other people surrounding the house were either incapacitated or out of town. Everything seems to point to Mitya as the killer.

However, I know that I am questioning whether he did, in fact, murder his father. The swarmy Smerdykov, who was supposedly having multiple epileptic fits, was in the next building. Ivan disappeared out of town (or did he). There are also the two women in the story. While I doubt Grushenka had time to off the old man in the middle of running away with her lovers, it still might be possible. Also, Katerina is no where to be found in the narrative, so why couldn't she be the killer as well?

I suppose I will only know once I finish the fourth part this coming week.

Happy Reading everyone!

Life Gets in the Way.

Well then. I missed blogging like crazy this past week, and reading.

Again, I am so sorry that I went missing for a little bit, but I had some other obligations that took up a lot of time this past week. It takes a LONG time to fill out multiple online applications, but they are finally finished and we are waiting to see what happens. I barely had time to check my e-mail, let alone get posts up!

But, I have a big back-log of posts ready and waiting to go up (I am behind about 6/7 books from what I am currently reading), but they'll gradually go up as they always do. And I had been doing so well and had caught up so I was only 1 book behind. What can I say, life gets in the way sometimes.

Anyway, you can look forward to some great things in the near future. I have another The Brothers Karamazov post coming up on Thursday, as well as being the home of the Classics Circuit on Friday. Both should be wonderful.

Since I didn't do my Sunday Salon post, I'll just let you know that I haven't done a whole lot of reading in the last week. Even though I only had a small chunk of Persuasion left after the read-a-thon, I didn't finish it until Sunday. I have also been working my way through The Count of Monte Cristo for Friday's post, but I highly doubt I will also get through The Three Musketeers by then as well, like I had planned. Oh well, life happens.

So look for new posts that will start going up tomorrow!

I look forward to catching up on all of your wonderful posts!

The Brothers Karamazov: Part 2.

As I said in a previous post, I am reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky with a group of other bloggers. It is being hosted by Dolce Bellezza, who is also providing links to all of our thoughts. We'll be posting every Thursday in April about each part we read that previous week (4 parts in the book). You can read my review of the first part here.

While I really enjoyed the lively feeling of the first part of the novel, it seems to have taken a turn in the second part. Alyosha is waiting for the death of his Elder and his family life seems to be crumbling.

The second part is set up into 3 more books: Strains, Pro and Contra, and The Russian Monk. Where the second part begins with Alyosha trying to make amends and essentially being the errand boy for his family, the novel takes a different turn into a lot of religious and philosophical talk. It also focuses a lot on the life of the Elder, Zosima.

I had a hard time concentrating once it got to that point. As a general rule, I avoid anything that seems to be overly philosophical because I personally cannot stand reading that when I am in the middle of the story, so it was hard to concentrate and keep going. I am an action kind of a girl and I found that the novel seemed to slow down once it hit that mid-point.

However, I am still loving the novel as a whole and I am curious to see what happens next (and I don't honestly know. I don't know the story at all).

It opens with Alyosha running the errands he promised his family the day before. His father is still home nursing his bruised and battered head (fault of Dmitri). Ivan is trying to play up to Katerina, and Dmitri seems to be missing (temporarily). We learn in the beginning that Zosima is on his death-bed and that Dmitri seems to have embarrassed and hurt a man in town sometime before the novel begins. Alyosha finds this out first hand as he is hit with rocks from the man's son.

I just have to say that the part with the man and his son really touched me when I read it. It struck me more than anything else I have read so far in the novel for its honesty and beauty. The son's pride and honor for his father are inspiring, and not something I have ever seen in my life.

Anyway, I really wanted to focus on a few parts I found interesting. The beginning of this second part opened with Zosima lying sick in bed. I really do love Zosima's character. He is well-developed and I enjoy the scenes with him in it. At the very beginning of part 2, Zosima is on his death-bed and seems to be rambling to the people gathered around him. I enjoyed this passage,

"Let each of you keep close company with his heart, let each of you confess to himself untiringly. Do not be afraid of your sin, even when you perceieve it, provided you are repentant, but do not place conditions on God. Again I say, do not be proud. Do not be proud before the lowly, do not be proud before the great either. And do not hate those who reject you, disgrace you, revile you, and slander you. Do not hate atheists, teachers of evil, materialists, not even those among them who are wicked, nor those who are good, for many of them are good, especially in our time," (164).

I love that passage. It speaks true in all aspects of life and I love that it preaches in a way that we can all understand.

It heavily contrasts with Ivan (Alyosha's brother) and the conversation they have later on. Here is what Ivan has to say,

“I must make an admission,” Ivan began. “I never could understand how it’s possible to love one’s neighbors. In my opinion, it is precisely one’s neighbors that one cannot possible love," (236)

"It’s still possible to love one’s neighbor abstractly, and even occasionally from a distance, but hardly ever up close,” (237).

These two statements are a direct contrast to what Zosima was saying at the beginning. Ivan seems to be that gloomy sort of fellow who is there solely to fulfill that role of contrast, but I like him anyway.

Anyway, the second part leaves us with no knowledge of where Dmitri is. All of the women seem to be losing their minds, or at least prone to crying and being silly. Ivan is gone on a trip for his father. Alyosha is still serving the role of trying to fix the mess, given his position. Their father, Fyodor, is worried that if Grushenka does become his lover something will happen to him. The servant, Smerdyakov, is worried to leave Fyodor alone, and suspense is building. I have a feeling I know what will happen next, but I'll wait until I get to that next glorious part!

Sunday Salon: April 11, 2010.

My eyes are still feeling a little heavy after reading so much yesterday, but let's give this post a go!

Things are going to get a little crazy around here this week, and I doubt I will get much of anything done before Tuesday. On Tuesday Matt and me are heading up to Michigan State for their annual Teacher Recruitment Fair. Every year school districts from around the country and Michigan go to meet with new grads, and old alums like me, and see if jobs can be found! The last two years I focused solely on talking with Michigan schools, since we didn't want to move. This year, however, we have both come to the realization that Michigan is floundering and there aren't very many teaching jobs.

We researched all the the out of state districts and have a list of our top districts (mainly in Colorado). Our only criteria was that there was a university or college within driving distance!

Anyway, Tuesday should be an exciting day and I hope that I come home with good news...and a job contract!

After all the excitement of Tuesday, I do have some grand reading plans!

• Finish Persuasion by Jane Austen: In all reality, I should finish this today, since I only have 60 or so pages left. It will make good bedtime reading tonight.
• Read/Finish The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas for the Classics Circuit. I keep putting these off and I need to finish them both!
• Read/Finish Part 2 of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I read another 100 pages yesterday in the read-a-thon, but I still have a chunk to go before Thursday's post.

Well, with all of that being said, I am going to go make breakfast and eat before I leave for work!

Happy Reading!

The Brothers Karamazov: Part 1

On Sunday, I mentioned I was taking part in a read-along of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov with a group of other bloggers. It is being hosted by Dolce Bellezza, who is also providing links to all of our thoughts. We'll be posting every Thursday in April about each part we read that previous week (4 parts in the book).

This is my second experience reading Dostoevsky. I read Crime and Punishment back in September as my second book. I thought it would be good to get it out of the way and I managed to survive pretty easily.

However, when it came down to reading any more big Russian heavyweights, I seem to be panicking. I haven't even thought of the huge Tolstoy volumes, so when this opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance.

When I started reading last week, I had a crappy edition of the book. Now, I have nothing wrong with purchasing inexpensive editions of most of the classics. For the most part, if the title was originally written in English, no matter what price you pay the quality is nearly the same. You just might get different introductions and notes. However, for translated works it is completely different. So, imagine how frustrated I was when I didn't find any of the passion in this as I did when I read Crime and Punishment. I ended up towing my Borders coupon and my Borders rewards to the store to get a new, better copy. I ended up purchasing the Pevear and Volokhonsky edition, which has a great reputation, and I am not disappointed. I have learned my lesson: Sometimes it is better to pay a little more.

On to the book.

I love Dostoevsky's humor in writing. I find that it really comes alive in this book. The narrator seems to just know everything about anything Karamazov, which I find entirely humorous. While exploring the history of this somewhat dysfunctional family, the narrator still manages to make it all seem very real and human.

Dostoevsky begins the novel by explaining the history of the family, starting with the father, Fyodor Pavlovich. He is described as a seedy fellow, who married twice. Both wives died after leaving him male children. His first wife gave him a son, Dmitri (Mitya), who eventually turns into a ruffian. His second wife bore him two sons; Ivan and Alexei (Alyosha). Ivan is kind of a surly fellow, atheist and seemingly well-learned. Alyosha is devoutly religious and we find him in adulthood living at the monestary.

Each of the three boys are distinctly different. Mitya seems to be a womanizer of sorts and is caught between two women-Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka. While he is engaged to Katerina, he would rather be with Grushenka. Unfortunately for him, his father also has the hots for Grushenka. In addition, it seems that Ivan is in love with Katerina (and you thought Stephenie Meyer's love triangles were ridiculous).

Poor little Alyosha is caught in the middle of this mess. As the youngest son, it seems he is also the only one who has some semblance of right and wrong and of morality. We get to see who he is learning from partway through this first part when the family turns to the Elder at the monastery for help resolving a dispute.

I have to say, the monastery scenes were by far my favorite. Dostoevsky manages to combine religion and politics in a way that is truly Russian. I especially loved how he developed the worshipers in their own way. Each was given a back story so that I could connect with them.

So far, I am loving this book as much as I loved Crime and Punishment. While at first the names scared me, they have become so familar I don't even notice any more. Each character is so fully developed and unique that I don't need to focus on the names, but on what they are saying.

I am looking forward to seeing how Dostoevsky works all of this out, and to see what happens to Alyosha.

I want to leave you with some of my favorite passages. This one is actually taken from Dostoevsky's introduction to his work,

"In fact, I am even glad that my novel broke itself into two stories "while preserving the essential unity of the whole": having acquainted himself with the first story, the reader can decide for himself whether it is worth his while to begin the second. Of course, no one is bound by anything; he can also drop the book after two pages of the first story and never pick it up again. But still there are readers of such delicacy that they will certainly want to read to the very end so as to make no mistake in their impartial judgment," (4).

Here the Elder is giving Fyodor some advice;

"Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others," (44).

When Mitya is telling Alyosha about the mess he is in, he gives his reasoning for doing so;

"I've already told it to an angel in heaven, but I must also tell it to an angel on earth. You are the angel on earth. You will listen, you will judge, and you will forgive...And that is what I need, that someone higher forgive me," (105).

Until next week, happy reading Dostoevsky!