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: I just finished re-reading Brothers Karamazov and could not believe how much more I got out of it this time around, in previous readings it felt terribly disjointed, and read like a series of isolated spiritual events strung together. This time...the thematic reverberations sounded clear. Unfortunately this is a long post but I just had to talk about the book to someone. I'd love to hear any thoughts. : I think now that the Karamazovs are Dostoevsky's Russia. Fyodor is the old Russia, the waning corrupted crucible which nevetheless holds all the potential futures (that D. envisioned for her). Dmitri has the almost Doestoevkian peasanant mentality of basic honor with unmeditated and sometimes rash action, and represented that part of Russia to be shaped. Ivan is of course the d nihilistic intellectual at crossroads, which worried Dostoevsky so much his whole life, personally and on behalf of Russia since he saw their rise and influence as ultimately destructive (cf. Demons). Alyosha is the promise he saw in Russia's future, what she could be if she realized what Alyosha realized (see Mr. Hydrogen's great comments below). In a way the book did not, and could not, conclude, because even at 60 Dostoevsky could not say what he thought the resolution was to his own, and therefore what he saw in Russia, ambivalence about the existence of God. At the same time his love and faith in Russia and, ultimately, God allowed him to end B.K. on a hopeful note, and show his pionate love for Russia: "Hurrah for Karamazov!" : Many times in the book different characters say "it is that Karamazov character" etc. personally I've always thought this read a little awkwardly, especially since even people like the defending lawyer, who had only known them all for 3 days, would say it, and even in a courtroom as if it were defendable evidence. But taken simply as a broader comment, as indeed the courtroom was the best of all D.'s metaphors for pitting his ambivelent beliefs against each other, it makes sense, and I think especially if by "Karamazov", he was essentially talking about Russia as he perceived her. : Thoughts? Feel free to email me as well...

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