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Kelly A, April 7, 2010 (view all comments by Kelly A)
That's a summer of reading I will never get back! The scenes at the very beginning in the monastery would have made a good short story.
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mej1960, September 21, 2009 (view all comments by mej1960)
The book is great, the translation is amazing, but I have to wonder if the reviewer read it him/herself!
Why? Because the reviewer sees 'irreverence' where there is clearly none.
There is and there could be no 'irreverence' towards the Orthodox Church in late Dostoevsky. By this time in his life, he was, on the contrary, very reverent towards the Church.
Perhaps what the reviewer mistook for irreverence was his stark realism, sparing the reader none of the shock at the insanity of Fr. Ferapont, or at the factions within the monastery. Or perhaps he confused the author's viewpoint with that of some of the characters, since all the Karamazov's were irreverent to the Church, except for Alyosha (of course: yet even he has a 'dark night of the soul').
Or is it that the reviewer confused this dark night with irreverence? If so, then it is not just Dostoevsky he has failed to understand, it is not just St. John of the Cross the reviewer has failed to understand, but also the Russian understanding of the Book of Job, which was very important to all of Dostoevsky's work.
But in any case, his reverence should have been crystal clear from his description of the life and achievements of Elder Zosima, who was patterned after real Elders at Optina.
myakoopa, May 21, 2008 (view all comments by myakoopa)
I first read this book for a summer homework assignment many years ago, deciding from the very beginning that I would hate it. Within two weeks, I had finished the whole book, loving every sentence. It affected my views so much that I reread shortly thereafter, recommended it to all my friends, and keep it now as one of my favorite reads ever. It's strictly brilliant.
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In this stunning masterpiece, Dostoevsky weaves together a murder mystery, a psychological thriller, and a taut courtroom drama with religious ideas, observations about family dysfunction, and some blistering social commentary. Absolutely brilliant!
by Dianah
"Review"
by The New York Review of Books,
"It may well be that Dostoevsky's world, with all its resourceful energies of life and language, is only now — and through the medium of this translation — beginning to come home to the English-speaking reader."
"Review"
by Washington Post Book World,
"The Brothers Karamazov stands as the culmination of his art — his last, longest, richest and most capacious book. [This] scrupulous rendition can only be welcomed. It returns to us a work we thought we knew, subtly altered and so made new again."
"Synopsis"
by Holtzbrinck,
The award-winning translation of Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel.
"Synopsis"
by Netread,
The award-winning translation of Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel.
"Synopsis"
by Macmillan,
The award-winning translation of Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky were awarded the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Translation Prize for The Brothers Karamazov and have also translated Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Notes from Underground, Demons, and The Idiot.
Winner of the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
This translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal inventiveness of Dostoevsky's prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original.
The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the "wicked and sentimental" Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sonsimpulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, its social and spiritual strivings, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture.
"This acclaimed English version of Dostoevsky's magnificent last novel does justice to all its levels of artistry and intention: as murder mystery, black comedy, pioneering work of psychological realism, and enduring statement about freedom, sin, and suffering . . . [The translators] come as close to Dostoevsky's Russian as possible."Joseph Frank, Princeton University
"[Dostoevsky is] at once the most literary and compulsively readable of novelists we continue to regard as great . . . The Brothers Karamazov stands as the culmination of his arthis last, longest, richest and most capacious book. [This] scrupulous rendition can only be welcomed. It returns to us a work we thought we knew, subtly altered and so made new again."Donald Fanger, Washington Post Book World
"It may well be that Dostoevsky's [world], with all its resourceful energies of life and language, is only nowand through the medium of [this] new translationbeginning to come home to the English-speaking reader."John Bayley, The New York Review of Books
"This acclaimed English version of Dostoevsky's magnificent last novel does justice to all its levels of artistry and intention: as murder mystery, black comedy, pioneering work of psychological realism, and enduring statement about freedom, sin, and suffering . . . [The translators] come as close to Dostoevsky's Russian as possible."Joseph Frank, Princeton University
"Far and away the best translation of Dostoevsky into English that I have seen . . . faithful . . . extremely readable . . . gripping."Sidney Monas, University of Texas
"Absolutely faithful . . . Fulfills in remarkable measure most of the criteria for an ideal translation . . . The stylistic accuracy and versatility of registers used [by Pevear and Volokhonsky] bring out the richness and depth of the original in a way similiar to a fitful and sensitive restoration of a painting."The Independent (London)
"No reader who knows The Brothers Karamazov should ignore this magnificent translation. And no reader who doesn't should wait any longer to acquaint himself with one of the peaks of modern fiction."USA Today
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