The Karamazov Brothers

fyodor dostoevsky ignat avsey

Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel, The Karamazov Brothers (1880) is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate. The dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons--the atheist intellectual Ivan, the hot-blooded Dmitry, and the saintly novice Alyosha--are all involved at some level. Brilliantly bound up with this psychological drama is Dostoevsky's intense and disturbing exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, freedom of will, the collective nature of guilt, and the disastrous consequences of rationalism. Filled with eloquent voices, this new translation fully realizes the power and dramatic virtuosity of Dostoevsky's most brilliant work.

Genres fictionrussiaclassicsrussian literatureliteraturephilosophynovels19th centuryclassic literaturereligion

1056 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1880

Series

The Brothers Karamazov

Places

russia,

This edition

Format: 1056 pages, Paperback
Published: August 20, 1998 by Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780192835093
ASIN: 0192835092
Language: English

Characters More characters

Dmitri Fyodorovich Karamazov

Dmitri is 28 years old, Fyodors eldest son and the only offspring of his first marriage. Dmitri is a sensualist much like his father, and the two mens personalities often clash. Dmitri spends large amounts of money on nights filled with plenty...
Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov

Ivan is the middle son and first by Fyodors second marriage. He is a 24-year-old rationalist, disturbed especially by the apparently senseless suffering in the world, depicted as highly intelligent. He says to Alyosha in the chapter "Rebellion" (Bk....
Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov

Aleksey at age 20 is the youngest of the Karamazov brothers. The narrator identifies him as the hero of the novel in the opening chapter (as does the author in the preface). He is described as immensely likable.At the outset of the events, Alyosha is a no...
Pavel Smerdyakov

Smerdyakov was born of "Stinking Lizaveta", a mute woman of the street who died in childbirth. He was called "Son of the reeking one". He is widely rumored to be the illegitimate son of Fyodor Karamazov. He grows up in the Karamazov house as a...
Agrafena Alexandrovna Svetlova

Variously called Grushenka, Grusha, and Grushka, Agrafena Alexandrovna, a beautiful 22-year-old, is the local Jezebel and has an uncanny charm among men. She was jilted by a Polish officer in her youth and came under the protection of a tyrannical miser. ...
Katerina Ivanovna Verkhovtseva

Called Katya, Katka, and Katenka, Katerina Ivanovna is Dmitris beautiful fiancee, despite his very open forays with Grushenka. She became engaged to Dmitri after he bailed her father out of a debt. Katerina produces a further love triangle among the...

About the author

fyodor dostoevsky

Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский (Russian)

Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.

Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .

Many literary critics rate him of the greatest of world literature and consider multiple highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He also well acts as a philosopher and theologian.

(Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (see also Fiodor Dostoïevski)