The Brothers Karamazov.
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Published: Estimated 1880
Genre: Theological Fiction
If a benevolent God exists, why do bad things happen to good people? The Brothers Karamazov is a gripping tale that delves into the lives of the three Karamazov brothers: Dmitry, Ivan, and Alyosha. Set in 19th-century Russia, the novel revolves around family drama, religious and philosophical debates, and the search for truth and redemption. As the brothers grapple with their contrasting beliefs and desires, they are entangled in a web of love, jealousy, and moral dilemmas. The novel explores the complexities of human nature, the existence of God, and the consequences of one's actions.
God and Suffering: Fyodor Dostoyevsky (webpage) - a look at The Brothers Karamazov, which explores major theological and philosophical themes, such as the origin of evil, the nature of freedom, and humanity's craving for faith.
The Brothers Karamazov Study Guide by McGraw-Hill (free pdf download) - this study guide includes a background of the time and place the book was written, helpful vocabulary, and discussion questions.
The Brothers Karamazov Novel Guide (webpage) - a chapter-by-chapter summary.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn Confronts the Grand Inquisitor by Stephen Mitchell (article) - since literature is concerned with truth, most pointedly with dramatic truth, a literary argument is best answered with another. A character who misrepresents humanity is best answered by one who represents it more truthfully.
The Brothers Karamazov (1880) is the pinnacle of Dostoyevsky’s literary and intellectual work. His critique of European Enlightenment ideas, including atheism, utilitarianism, socialism, and utopianism, culminate in this profound tome. Unlike in his previous significant novels, Dostoyevsky wrestles with the problem of evil and perfects his summary of atheism: “Without God, anything is permissible.” Dostoyevsky also ventures into existential territory, asking and answering questions regarding the goodness of life in the face of suffering and whether free will is a gift or a curse. All this and more in a riveting murder mystery featuring love triangles, prison escapes, pious monks, and the lowest sinners.
Within The Brothers Karamazov is a powerful, vivid, and shocking chapter that has since impacted the course of Western Civilization. The chapter, called The Grand Inquisitor, expresses Dostoyevsky’s worst fears about the human condition and discusses how man desperately wants to give his free will to any tyrant who will provide him with food and existential security, regardless of whether that tyrant is the church or the state. In this fascinating chapter, The Grand Inquisitor declares that Jesus Christ has acted cruelly towards man for giving him free will when he knows so many are too weak to follow Christ. Is that true? Does God expect too much from mere mortals? Are his rules, precepts, and teachings simply too complex? Or are Christ’s commandments the gateway to a relationship with God? Perhaps the road to virtue, even the destination of peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, is about the journey rather than the destination.
Debating an atheist about evil is one thing, but how could we respond at the bedside of a dying child in the house of a desperate family? Dostoyevsky’s son died at three years old. He interweaved in his Magnum Opus a profound reflection on the result of tragedy––and how to keep tragedy from unraveling everything you care about.
Dostoyevsky’s brilliance articulated a potent blistering assault on the existence of God through Ivan Karamazov, a character who is as brilliant as he is passionate. The sentiment, “God does not exist––and I hate him!” could summarize his views and the views of many atheists. But is atheism better equipped to deal with the cruel realities life gives us? Is a tragic optimism, or even a deep insurmountable joy despite the tears, an unjustifiable position? It seems that despite the rage against God, atheism is not an intellectually consistent nor emotionally satisfying answer to the problem of evil.
World History at the time The Brothers Karamazov was written.
The industrial revolution was gaining momentum during Dostoevsky’s time. He was enraged by the new forces of the Industrial Revolution. You probably know some signs of industrialization in the nineteenth century: Trains connected cities, symbolizing progress. But they also brought about the destruction of rural lands, divisions between social classes, and rapid urbanization. Learn more about this time in history that affected his writings.
Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky is the most excellent book ever written by Jordan Peterson and Lex Fridman.
The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes the lives of his sons irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, driven to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother, Smerdyakov. Dostoyevsky's dark masterwork evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur, and everyone's faith in humanity is tested.
This new edition presents The Grand Inquisitor together with the preceding chapter, Rebellion, and the extended reply offered by Dostoevsky in the following sections, entitled The Russian Monk. By showing how Dostoevsky frames the Grand Inquisitor story in the broader context of the novel, this edition captures the subtlety and power of Dostoevsky's critique of modernity and his alternative vision of human fulfillment.
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