The Brothers Karamazov: Introduction by Malcolm Jones (Everyman's Library)

More than 50 years after I first read 'The Brothers Karamzov' while in high school (my existential phase, which became more than a phase), I re-read it as a part of our successful "read the classics" program with my wife in December 2014. And the novel, read through a second time (and possibly more closely than the first time) "holds up" amazingly -- although it stands in stark contrast to much of what is around nowadays in both form and content. After all, a novel where some paragraphs are three or four pages long is not about to get to the top of today's Best Seller lists.But it's worth the time and effort Dostoevsky demands. His characters are complex and provide some insights into the worlds of pre-Revolutionary Russia that would be lost to history had Dostoevsky not taken on this massive "psychological" novel. The challenges faced by the three Karamatzov brothers (and their half brother) may seem unusual today. After all, nearly 150 years of modernity have passed since the patrimony in the family Karamazov caused the three brothers -- Alexi, Ivan, and Dimitri -- to face the various insults and injuries put upon them by their monstrous father. And as close readers realize, it is the fourth brother who has the most to be angry about, because he was the product of the rape of a girl from the town by the elder Karamazov.A crime novel, a "psychological" novel, and series of meditations that helped give rise to 20th Century "existentialism" -- and in some ways a proto-feminist meditation, "The Brothers Karamazov" challenges the reader, in the most intelligent ways. The novel could be a 21st Century soap opera that could stretch for years (decades perhaps) just based on the panoply of characters presented to the reader. But if a novel is also to be judged based on the fulfillment of its "minor" characters, then here, too, Dostoevsky has triumphed. Despite the fact that none of the female characters is one of the leading characters, a half dozen of the women in the novel could easily be featured in a long-running HBO series. I can almost picture the reviews five years hence, when a bunch of "bingers" compare "The Brothers Karamazov" to "Breaking Bad," "The Sopranos," or the immortal "The Wire" (which I have compared to the great Russian novels). A 21st Century genre could perhaps revive this masterpiece of the 19th.Dostoevsky still holds second place in my heart to the great novels of Tolstory (I taught "Anna Karenina" to Chicago high school students for several years, always with great satisfaction to both the students and myself; and I always wished I could teach "War and Peace" -- but there just wasn't time). And I don't know if we are up to the challenge of going through "Crime and Punishment," "The Idiot," and "The Possessed" as closely as we did "The Brothers Karamazov" as the cold weather began here in Chicago. But the effort was well worth it. (Even though I had to read a Carl Haisson novel in the middle of the long march through Dostoevsky to take a breather).And you have to wonder how Dostoevsky would have written that sequel to the story of the Karamazovs, the one he was outlining after the publication of the story of Alexi, Dimitri, and Ivan. But he died, as to all great artists, and we don't have to worry, I hope, about someone taking up the next generation of the works of one of the world's great novelists the way some lesser novelists, from Ian Fleming to Margaret Mitchell, have been...

These Russians really know how to tackle the big issues in literature. I started with Solzenitsyn's Day in the Life, then did War and Peace, then Crime and Punishment, and most recently, The Brothers Karamazov, and I have to say that I am much the better for reading these books.Phew, I thought War and Peace was good (and it was), but the Brothers Karamazov locks horns with the problems we face as human beings, wrestles them to the ground, exposes us for the weak, sinful things that we are, then gives us hope.Principally (to me, anyhow), the novel was about the problem of overthrown authority. God and the church were starting to be questioned as the ultimate authority, and the air in Russia at the time was begining to move towards reform, begining to become modern. Its themes are just as relevant today as they were for Dostoyevsky's time, and there are several passages in "The Russian Monk" chapter that were profoundly prophetic of the problems of modern society- if you replace some words with modern equivelents you have a very good picture of the USA today. Isolation of the individual, invented needs, the problem of freedom- these are some of the things Dostoyevsky tries to tackle.Several chapters are masterpieces enclosed within the work itself, 'Pro and Contra,' 'A Little Demon,' 'The Russian Monk' the chapter where Mrs Kholaklova (spelling) professes her lack of faith to the Elder Zosima, the chapter that focuses on the relationship between Snegiyrov and Illyushin, his son, showing how children lose their innocence and become indoctrinated into this harsh adult world- with bad consequences when violence is present. And of course, there is the 'Grand Inquisitor' chapter. Wow. WOW. Had to read that three times before I think I got everything in it, but I think if every human being on Earth read 'The Grand Inquisitor' 'The Russian Monk' and then 'The Speech at the Stone' we would all be very much the better for it. eh, just read the whole thing while you're at it.Dostoyevsky's conclusion seems to be that faith will be the ultimate healing salve for all humanity- once everybody realizes the stupidity of everything other then selfless, active love, we shall all move forward and life shall be paradise. We've had 120 years or so more progress towards it since Dostoyevsky wrote it, but it looks like we're still not doing very well (thank you very much Ms Ayn Rand). Dostoyevsky provides enough sustenence for people with less ardent faith to continue on- one of the characters, Rakitin, says 'Man kind will find the strength to live for virtue wether or not he believes in the immortality of the soul.' The Devil, in the chapter where he has a conversational duel with Ivan, mocks this idea as 'most charming.'Each of the primary characters- Alyosha, Ivan, Dmitry, and Fyodor Pavlovich, is a guide to a certain way of living. Alyosha the christ-man, Ivan the intellectual skeptic (Raskolnikov mk II), Dmitry the noble savage, and Fyodor Pavlovich as the great sinner. Each character has his own climax in the book, and everybody should be able to identify with at least one of the characters, or find that they may be 10% Dmitry, 50% Ivan, and 40% Alyosha.This should be an exceptional book for any young person trying to figure out what the heck life is all about. There's some good stuff between those covers- Dostoyevsky has a very deep understanding of human nature.So in closing, whatever your beliefs are, don't eat the pineapple compote, and don't take the earthly loaves.