Read from Monday, August 1st to Monday, August 15th.
After the whirlwind of books in the month of July, I decided to slow it down a bit in August and tackle The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a book I've had on my shelf for awhile now. It is my first foray into the world of Russian literature classics. Though it took a few days to get into it, I really enjoyed it in the end. It is both a crime/courtroom drama as well as a spiritual/philosophical debate amongst the characters. Each main character is unique in their own way and represent a different segment of society and belief system.
Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is the father figure in the family, but he is a boorish, selfish, brute, and had two wives who died young after producing three brothers: Dmitri, Ivan, and Alexei. He also, allegedly, fathered a fourth, illegitimate son, Smerdyakov, who was raised by Fyodor's housekeepers. Dmitri, the eldest, is a hot-headed, passionate young man who joined the army. Ivan is an academic, influenced solely by reason, and an atheist as well. He is gaming fame for articles he wrote recently about ecclesiastical courts. Alexei, the youngest, is just 20 at the time of the action, and he is described as the hero of the story. He is a people-person, someone that everyone likes. He is shy, especially around girls, and he joined the local monastery, and studied under the famous Elder Zosima.
The plot is highly intricate, but the basic set-up is this; Dmitri returns home, along with his fiance Katerina, in order to get the rest of his inheritance, what he feels he is owed, from his father. Fyodor refuses to pay, and Ivan comes back home as well, and they all agree to see Zosima and Alexei in order to work out the problem. However, Zosima is old, and he dies soon after the meeting without anything being resolved, and he sends Alexei out into the world in order to help people and his family. There is another wrench thrown into the domestic dispute; Dmitri and Fyodor both fell in love with the same woman, a local harlot named Grushenka. Ivan shows interest in Katerina, Dmitri's fiance, and Dmitri is only too happy to let her go, since he is now madly in love with Grushenka. Fyodor is attempting to bribe Grushenka to come to his house, and Dmitri, being passionate and hot-headed, spies on the house to make sure she doesn't come. Smerdyakov is Fyodor's guard to keep a look out for Grushenka.
Dmitri also needs money badly, because he wants to repay a debt to Katerina and clear his conscience to her, as well as provide for Grushenka and take her away. He goes all over town trying to sell and pawn his possessions. Meanwhile, Alexei is going around town talking to all the parties involved. Tension is mounting, and Dmitri beat up a retired captain that worked with Fyodor, and the captain's son bit Alexei for being related to him. Also one night, Dmitri stormed into Fyodor's house, suspecting Grushenka was there, and also hit his father and knocked him down. Ivan also leaves town, after having an argument with Smerdyakov, and a philosophical discussion with Alexei about reason vs. faith.
All these events set up the crucial August night. Dmitri returns to town after pawning his possessions and looks for Grushenka, but after not finding her at home, he runs to Fyodor's house. He spies in the window, but does not find her there, and so he runs away. The servant Grigory sees him running in the garden however, and in a frenzy, Dmitri hits him on the head and knocks him out. Dmitri goes into town, suddenly with a lot of money, and finds out that Grushenka is a few towns over with an old love. He buys dozens of bottles of champagne and food, and travels to that town, and proceeds to wine and dine her and eventually wins her over that night. In the morning, however, the police arrive and arrest Dmitri because Fyodor was found murdered that night.
The evidence is stacked up against Dmitri. Grigory survived and testified that Dmitri was running away in the garden at the same time Fyodor was murdered. Dmitri also suddenly had lots of money, and Fyodor was found robbed. He had also expressed on many occasions his desire to murder his father. In reality it was Smerdyakov who murdered Fyodor, in order to please Ivan, who he thought wanted that to happen. Smerdyakov faked an epileptic fit during that night in order to have an alibi. The trial is a major spectacle, and a lawyer comes in from Petersburg in order to defend Dmitri.
Leading up to the trial, Ivan is majorly conflicted. His reason tells him to think his brother killed his father, but after talking with Smerdyakov, he is shaken. Finally, on his third visit to him, Smerdyakov confesses to the crime, and admits that he did it because of Ivan. Ivan feels as if he is the true murderer. Smerdyakov kills himself the night before the trial, and Ivan has a hallucination that he is speaking with the devil. At the trial the next day, Ivan has a nervous breakdown and outburst, and in the end Dmitri is convicted. The novel ends with Ivan still very sick, and Dmitri making plans to escape to America with Grushenka. Alexei has moved onto the same path as the elder Zosima, and it has become evidenced by his involvement with a group of schoolboys after the death of the boy who bit him, Ilyuschenka.
Of course there are many subplots, and they all serve the main theme of the power of faith over doubt. It is a difficult read at times, but there are also moments of hilarity, as well as times of sadness. The characters are fascinating, each one a foil to each other. The narrator is flawed, someone supposedly in the village that knew all the events and thoughts of the characters. He also described Alexei as the hero, even though the action centers around Dmitri and later climaxes with Ivan's doubts and the scene with the Devil. Alexei is the connection between everyone, and someone that people just want to talk to. It was a good read, and I'd like to check out some more Russian classics, maybe Anna Karenina next. Four out of five stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment