The Brothers Karamazov

***The Brothers Karamazov*** () is a Russian novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky said, "I'd die happy if I could finish this final [last] novel, for I would have expressed myself completely." It was written in 1879 to 1880 in Russia, mostly in St. Petersburg. It was published in 1879 to 1880 in a series. It is his most  and deep novel, and most people think it is Dostoevsky’s greatest. Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is a very careless father and woman-lover. Dmitry comes to hate him because his father loves the same woman as he does, Grushenka, and because of this, he often  that he will kill his father. Albert Einstein, and Pope Benedict XVI thought it was the greatest book in all literature.

## Background 
Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in 1821, the son of an army doctor. While he was away at the Academy of Engineers, his father died -   by his own servants. Though  disagree whether Dostoevsky's father was really murdered or not, Dostoevsky  believed that his father had been murdered, and it is even possible that he felt feelings of guilt for it, as if he had been the one who had killed his father. Young Dostoevsky began to become  with the Petrashevsky Circle - a group of political  groups by young people in St Petersburg who did not like the rule of Emperor Nicholas I. Because of this, Dostoevsky was arrested and held for eight months in the prisons of the Fortress of St Peter and St Paul.

Dostoevsky’s four years in prison camp greatly  his book and his life.

## Summary 
### Book I: The History of a Family 
When he was young, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov was a  and  man who liked money and women too much. From his first wife, Adelaida, he had one son, Dmitry Karamazov. From his second wife, Sophia, he had Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov. Karamazov does not care about his sons, and they are all brought up by friends and relatives. Dmitry, who is a soldier, comes back when he is twenty-eight years old to take an  his mother had left to him. Karamazov wants the inheritance for himself, and they get angry and fight with each other. Cold,  Ivan is called to stop their fight, and the ,  Alyosha, who also lives at the town, comes to help. Alyosha studies in a monastery with the Elder Zosima. Dmitry and Fyodor agree that maybe Elder Zosima can help stop their fight, and Alyosha, though feeling worried about the meeting, says he will  it.

### Book II: An Unfortunate Gathering 
Fyodor Karamazov is vulgar,  and  at the meeting, and tries to make everybody angry and uncomfortable with his talk and stories. Alyosha is very sad and . The Elder Zosima, however, is calm, polite, and even kind to him even when Karamazov is mocking (making fun of) him, telling him to be  with himself.

Dmitry arrives late, and the meeting soon becomes a big fight between father and son. They are not only angry at each other because of money: they are both in love with Grushenka, a beautiful woman living in the town. While they are fighting, the Elder Zosima suddenly bows down to Dmitry, saying, “Forgive me!” Dmitry is very , and later Zosima explains to Alyosha that he knows Dmitry is going to have very much suffering. In the middle of their fight, the elder also goes out to give  to lots of people, including Mrs. Khokhlakov, whose  daughter, Lise, keeps on laughing at the  Alyosha. He also comforts a woman whose three-year-old-son has died. This is probably an echo of Dostoevsky’s sadness about his dead son.

### Book III: The Sensualists 
Four years ago, Fyodor Karamazov became a father to a fourth son, Smerdyakov. Smerdyakov’s mother was a retarded and mute (unable to speak) woman called “Stinking Lizaveta.” He influences the schoolboys and teaches them what Zosima taught him.

### Dmitry (Mitya) Fyodorovich Karamazov 
Also called: Dmitri, Mitka, Mitenka, Mitri Fyodorovich

He is described as “unruly as a boy and as a young man…irresponsible (not responsible), violent, passionate (with strong emotions), unruly, impatient…” He has Alyosha’s good heart, but his father’s sensuality. He is usually controlled by his strong emotions, like when he runs madly after Grushenka even after he had engaged with, and sincerely even loved, Katerina. He is a symbol of humans and their struggle between good and evil (bad), and more especially the bodily part of mankind. The prosecutor in the book says, "...Dmitry Karamazov represents Russia directly, as it is today...she is all there, our old mother Russia; we can smell her! Oh, like him, we are such a...sincere people; we are an amazing mixture of good and evil; we love enlightenment and Schiller, but we also love to rage and storm in   and to tear out the beards of our drunken drinking companions." He becomes a better and stronger man in the end, and this shows the writer’s belief in hope for humankind. Ivan has both a strong sense of , like Alyosha, and is unhappy at the suffering of children; He hangs himself later.

Smerdyakov is almost Ivan's "double" at times; when Alyosha asks him politely if he knows where Dmitry is, he replies coldly, "It's not as if I were his keeper" (p.&nbsp;269).
* **Katerina Ospovna Khokhlakov (Madame Khokhlakov)**
A rich lady in the town, a friend of the Karamazovs and Katerina. She is a bit selfish and shallow, and worries very much about her daughter, Lise. She unknowingly parodies what Elder Zosima seriously says about people being unable to judge each other, saying cheerfully about Dmitry,

: "Let them acquit [Mitya]—that's so humane (kind), and would show what a blessing reformed (changed) law courts are...And if he is acquitted, make him come straight from the law courts to dinner with me, and I'll have a party of friends, and we'll drink to the reformed law courts. I don't believe he'd be dangerous; besides, I'll invite a great many friends, so that he could always be led out if he did anything. And then he might be made a justice of the peace or something in another town, for those who have been in trouble themselves make the best judges. And, besides, who isn't suffering...nowadays?" (p.&nbsp;703) When Fyodor Karamazov asks, “Is there a God or not?” Ivan says, “No, there is no God.” Fyodor turns to Alyosha: “Alyosha, does God ?” Alyosha firmly answers, “God does exist.” Dostoevsky writes in his book that a life of faith is higher, better, purer, and happier than a life of doubt, cold, hurting, and confusing. Zosima and Alyosha love humans and are a symbol of faith, while Dostoevsky shows that he thinks that  is bad Zosima says that people should forgive each other freely, because people's sins are so connected with each other that everybody has some  for each other, like when Dmitry, without thinking much about it, grabs Captain Snegriev's beard and pulls him, leading finally to Ilyusha's death. Although the narrator is sometimes allowed to be , he also talks of himself as "I", says things that are not directly related to the plot, in a style that some people have criticized. It is possible that this writing style is because of the way Dostoevsky's books were written: in the day, he would hurriedly write down ideas in his notebook, and at night, his wife, Anna Snitkina Grigoryevna, who was a , would have them copied neatly out:

## Influence and reception 
The critical reception of The Brothers Karamazov has been quite special and strong. Dostoevsky published his books in a series of journals, and every one made people argue about it and think very much about it. Sigmund Freud called it “the most magnificent novel ever written.” Franz Kafka was greatly influenced by Dostoevsky’s works.

Critic Robin Feuer Miller wrote that *The Brothers Karamazov* was Dostoevsky's "...last and arguably greatest novel."

Virginia Woolf said, "Alone among writers Dostoevsky has the power of reconstructing(making again) those most swift(quick) and complicated states of mind.... This is the exact opposite of the method(way) adopted(used), perforce(for instance), by most of our novelists. They reproduce all the external(outside) appearances-tricks of manner, landscape, dress, and the effect of the hero upon his friends-but very rarely, and only for an instant,  to the  of thought which rages within his own mind. But the whole  of a book by Dostoevsky is made out of such material.... We have to get rid of the old tune which runs so persistently (continues) in our ears and to realize how little of our  is expressed in that old tune."

On 7 June, 1880, on the night before his famous "Pushkin speech", he wrote at midnight to his wife: "As I walked across the hall during intermission, a host of people, youths and graybeards and ladies, rushed toward me exclaiming, 'You're our prophet. We've become better people since we read The Karamazovs.' (In brief, I realized how tremendously important The Karamazovs is.)" The next evening, after the triumph of his speech, he wrote to her, "When I appeared on the stage, the auditorium thundered with applause.... I bowed and made signs, begging them to let me read-but to no avail(no use): elation(joy), enthusiasm (all because of The Karamazovs)!"

However, not everybody loved *The Brothers Karamazov*. Tchaikovsky, an important writer of music in Russia, was interested in *The Brothers Karamazov*, but finally decided that it was "" and that all the characters were "crazy". Some people, like Henry James, Vladimir Nabokov and D. H. Lawrence were very critical of it (did not like it). For example, Lawrence said that in *The Brothers Karamazov*, he did not like "these   Russians, morbidly wallowing (swimming) in adoration (love) of Jesus, then getting up and spitting in His beard.... It's all , half-baked, and one gets tired of it. One gets tired of being told that Dostoevsky's Legend of the *Grand Inquisitor* 'is the most profound (deepest) declaration which ever was made about man and life.' ... The more Dostoevsky gets worked up (excited) about the tragic (sad) nature of the human soul, the more I lose interest. I have read the *Grand Inquisitor* three times, and never can remember what it's really about." He also said *The Brothers Karamazov* was too depressing "because, alas, more drearily true to life. At first it had been lurid romance. Now I read *The Grand Inquisitor* once more, and my heart sinks right through my shoes."

## Reading more 
* Belknap, Robert L. The Genesis of The Brothers Karamazov : The Aesthetics, Ideology, and Psychology of Text-Making. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1990.
* *The Structure of The Brothers Karamazov.* The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1967.
* Dostoevsky, Fyodor. *Crime and Punishment.* Translated by David McDuff. New York: Penguin Classics, 1993.
* *The Idiot.* Translated by Alan Myers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
* Frank, Joseph. *Dostoevsky.* Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996.
* Mochulsky, Konstantin. *Dostoevsky: His Life and Work.* Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1967.
* Sutherland, Stewart R. *Atheism and the Rejection of God: Contemporary Philosophy and The Brothers Karamazov.* Oxford: Blackwell, 1977.
* Terras, Victor (1981, 2002). *A Karamazov Companion.* Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

## References 
## Other websites 
* The Brothers Karamazov, e-text of Garnett's translation (1.9&nbsp;MB).
* 
* The Brothers Karamazov  Free PDF  from PSU's Electronic Classics Series 
* The Brothers Karamazov, HTML version of Garnett's translation (as one file) at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
* Full text in the original Russian