The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky - 12 out of 10

 The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

12 out of 10

 

 

This is such a quintessential, fundamental Magnum opus that one has to be shy to write anything about it, except perhaps express feelings of awe and gratitude for the literary god that has given us this monumental chef d’oeuvre – and a few others along with it – and put something down so that the reader of these lines – probably the only one that should go through them would be the under signed, for the others must consult serious works, if they are looking to find more about the intricacies, some mysteries, insight maybe into the paramount Karamazov Brothers – could look later and trace the changes in his attitude towards it.

 

For instance, when this reader has first met the Brothers, as a teenager, he was sure that Fyodor Dostoevsky was an atheist and took the passage concerning the rich general, his many hounds – how many were there, fifty…incidentally, I used to have five (5) Russian hounds, because my spouse thought that she must, so that I had to accept the rather exaggerated notion - and the atrocity that takes place, when a small boy throws a stone and injures the favorite dog, the general unleashes the animals that tore the poor victim limb from limb as proof that God cannot exist and the author has just demonstrated it.

On the contrary, Fyodor Dostoevsky was not just a believer, but the chapter in question – and so much more in his astounding novels…the famous, fundamental Grand Inquisitor part comes to mind – refers to the issue of Free Will, as in god has allowed humans to decide if they want to be good or bad, if they wish to commit gruesome acts, or try to be as kind and generous as possible – perhaps applying the Golden Rule of Aristotle, which encourages us to avoid giving all that we have away and then be forced to stay with the family on the streets and similarly, pass the other extreme of absolute selfishness and frugality.

 

Alyosha is maybe the only pure, innocent, perfect hero of the book – inspired by the dead son of the writer apparently – and in the first few chapters we see him as predestined to become a monk, though there is also a chance that he would remain a lay figure, if the changing, moody love of the young girl that appears infatuated with him will be reciprocated, and also, if the character of the blameless, inspiring, role model does not change with time and becomes more like his father, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, or any of his other brothers…the fulminating, wasteful, ardent, rebellious, violent, passionate, unpredictable, loving but also hateful Dimitri aka Mitya, or the intelligent, thoughtful, skeptical, atheist, haunted, cerebral, analytical, but quite diabolical Ivan…or even Smerdyakov, though it is not absolutely sure that he is the fourth son of Fyodor Pavlovich, it is more than suggested…

This being such a massive masterpiece, in scope, physical size, spiritual magnificence, philosophical challenges, religious analysis and more, it is just a question of writing down here a few ‘personal highlights’ and even then, it is about what can be written in some minutes about the recollections that come forward at the present.

 

As our glorious, regretted professor of literature, Anton Chevorchian, has told us, a major chef d’oeuvre is also a detective story and in this one, father Karamazov is killed, with suspicion falling immediately on his elder son, Dimitri, since between them there had been a serious and rather long lasting feud, concerning thousands of rubles that the son is sure must be his, while the parent is determined to spend for his own pleasure – many, if not most would say that it is in fact debauchery and excess, drinking and immorality – and there is the added motive for murder that is the rivalry over the affection of Grushenka.

Given that nobody would read this far into this note, wondering if they should try and engage with the Karamazov Brothers and then be upset that there are spoilers here, we could say that Dimitri is not the murderer, albeit we can say that only on one, let us say superficial level, because otherwise, there is a sense that he still has to pay for coming against his parent so viciously and with so much hatred – granted, the older man is no angel, on the contrary, he plays a quite suitable villain, in that he has almost all the features of the vile, abject personage – and his general sinful attitude towards others, among them Katerina Ivanovna.

 

Love is one of the major themes, perhaps the most important one, in that Love of god is there with the romantic love that creates a complicated web of relationships, such as Katerina Ivanovna has loving Ivan, but maybe also longing for the sometimes loathsome Dimitri – she plays a crucial role in trying to have him face his shortcomings and decadence, when she gives him 3,000 rubles and tells him to send them to someone, but only when he feels he can, thus encouraging the wasteful heavy drinking, card playing gambler to appropriate the money and then confronting him and perhaps sending him to Siberia…

Grushenka has been in love with a Polish officer, but when this decaying, abject individual comes back, it is evident that he is so base, there is no possibility of any future together, she had encouraged Fyodor Pavlovich to hope that she may marry him – that would be for his money – has quite a fight with Katerina Ivanovna, because in fact, Grusha is aiming for the heart and soul of doomed Dimitri.

 

Therefore, we have here a perfect magnum opus, where the mystery of the guilty party or parties, those literally and  morally responsible for the death of the old Fyodor Pavlovich, is captivating and challenging, the feelings roused by the romantic combinations that may make one think of the soap operas of our days, but most overwhelming and rewarding is surely the philosophical and religious side of the Brothers Karamazov, where we contemplate the possible arrival of Jesus Christ and his rejection by the present day prophets of doom.

Indeed, in a world where we have ‘leaders’ like the very stable genius who still sits for a couple of weeks on top of the ‘most advanced democracy on the planet’ and many others like him, it is tempting to see the cohorts, multitudes of men and women that support those devils as fallen and lost, when they admire and worship such ‘Chosen’ satanic creatures and they still proclaim they are evangelicals…right, like the Grand Inquisitor…