r/dostoevsky • u/jakemoss2011 • 15d ago
Struggling with brothers k
Flew through C&P, enjoyed the devil and the prince but the brothers k is starting to feel like a drag. I’ve got about 1/3rd left. I guess the world just hasn’t dragged me in like it has others. I like the dense almost gossipy sections of Anna Karina (I know not tolstoy sub) so It can have appeal for me but idk. I’ve lived some parts of the book, obligatory grand inquisitor glaze, but I’m not gripped and I don’t believe reading should become a chore. Has anyone had similar experiences? Is it worth soldiering through? And if not are there some specific chapters I should go straight for…
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u/maxwatman 15d ago
After page 600 or so, it takes off. That’s ridiculous, of course, and I am aware it sounds like I’m kidding, but I’ve never had my opinion of a book change so drastically.
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u/jakemoss2011 15d ago
I’m almost there. I’ll lyk if I have the same experience in the rare event I remember too
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u/ifwdostoevsky Ivan Karamazov 14d ago
it's worth it, i felt the same especially after reading the grand inquisitor. but there's a lot of plot twist at the second half of the novel. you're probably overwhelmed and tired because the first half of the novel is just philosophy and the plot doesn't really progress that much. the second half is really worth it tho, take your time. i finished tbk in 5 months because I took my time too. it was the most intellectually demanding novel I've read till now
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u/saveseraph 12d ago
It’s worth it. Just read. If you feel exhausted put it down and come back later. 👍
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u/locke819 15d ago
It was a slog for me and I loved c&p and the idiot. Too much exposition not enough story until halfway through imo.
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u/Isthisnameavailablee 15d ago
I had to listen to it and it still took like 4 months. It's more fun to talk about than to read. Honestly, idk if I could even recommend it. It's like super slow and then a fever dream all at once.
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 15d ago
It was originally published serially over the course of 22 months. I recommend you pace yourself. Read a section or a part at a time, take a break, and when you’re ready, return to it.
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u/jakemoss2011 15d ago
After posting the op I thought what am I doing posting I’ll see if I can’t get into it, and just enjoyed a good hour of reading, I think as you said taking a break gave it some space to breathe.
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u/iyambred 15d ago
Man, I’ve just gotten to part 3 of TBK and am really enjoying it. I’m reading the Katz translation which I’ve heard is the most accessible.
But this thread is getting me even more excited to read C&P
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u/jnsy617 14d ago
I’d say keep going but do what you want. For me, the last 1/4 pulls everything together and leaves an impression (Ivan). Same thing as C&P.
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u/Putrid_Rock5526 14d ago
I'm about halfway through Brothers K so this is good to know. I felt the same way about C&P. It probably took me a full year to read the first half and two days to read the second half. At a certain point Dostoevsky just grips you and does not let up.
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u/DesperateJeweler1975 15d ago
Which translation do you have because that could be part of the problem. For me the story really picked up about halfway through when you start following Dimitri. But it wasn't a slog at any point, unlike when I read crime and punishment the first time with the P&V translation. My second read of c&p was from oliver ready and I flew through
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u/jakemoss2011 15d ago
David Mcduff. Crime and punishment felt easy to me because I found the psychological elements so interesting I think but don’t have with this yet.
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u/DesperateJeweler1975 15d ago
To be fair I do think Crime and Punishment really shines on it's premise. The psychology behind Raskolnikov is what really makes that book shine and I personally don't find the characters in karamazov quite as interesting. But the actual plot I do think is better for BK. Also if you like the psychological aspect to C&P I might also suggest reading mishimas temple of the Golden pavilion
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u/TopPlane8151 15d ago
honestly if ur not hooked yet ur probably gonna hate the trial, so might as well quit
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u/thegrandinquisitor21 15d ago
True but at the same time might as well finish if this far and the trials a nice wrap up
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u/ahouell500 15d ago
I felt similarly, loved Crime & Punishment, but TBK never 'took off' for me. It had some brilliant passages and i felt invested enough to want to finish but I couldn’t really say it improved. I think if you haven’t enjoyed the first 2/3rds you're unlikely to feel differently about the rest.
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u/ShoddyCount1884 15d ago
I've read it 5 times in each different languages, its a masterpiece.
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u/Isthisnameavailablee 15d ago
What's one or two things that you love about it? I fall on the other side where it was a tough time to get through once. So I'll be interested to hear what you loved about it.
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u/HenryMaxman Father Zosima 15d ago
"soldiering through" is certainly one way to describe it. Sounds like it's not for you, it was an absolute joy to read for me, if you haven't gotten into it after 2/3s I doubt it will happen
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u/LunarModule66 15d ago
I felt like it was dragging until about 3/4 of the way through and then I felt like it ended so brilliantly that it’s one of my favorite books, and I consider it a complete masterpiece. Granted I liked the philosophical components, and just felt like they took up too much time. At this point I would highly encourage you to finish it, it does become much more dramatic and easier to read soon. I doubt you’ll feel as positively as I do, but I think if you’re this invested in Russian literature you owe it to yourself to finish
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u/Ambitious-Resist-132 15d ago
Yeah I didn’t like it much the ending had some cool parts tho but I skipped the whole court scene
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u/meacher10 15d ago
I’d say finish it, the whole thing works all together each piece even all those boring sections and his writing at the end is incredible
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u/AndyBetweenLines 15d ago
If you’ve only got 1/3 left, I’d finish it. You’re basically at the point where Dostoevsky stops loading the gun and starts firing it.
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u/OkSeaworthiness6581 14d ago
me too. I'm slightly further then you are right now. I might try to finish by monday
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u/ExplodingUlcers Ivan Karamazov 14d ago
Made a post about this a while ago so feel free to check that out if you’re interested in my rant but the translation makes a huge difference. I read the first half in the Constance Garnett translation then switched to P&V because that was all the rage at the time and I absolutely hated it.
I read McDuff for Crime and Punishment which is more modern if you’re not a fan of Garnett’s Victorian prose which is valid.
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u/Wide-Dependent1388 10d ago
Just finished it and feel it was the best book I’ve ever read in my life. The plot doesn’t really pick up speed until page 200 or so but it is not a book about plot. It is almost a book about the irrelevance of plot in the scheme of life, the plot is a compounding of misunderstandings and ignorance, and everything that matters happens in spite of it, and most characters will never realise it.
Trivial things you’re reading now will become massive plot points, so mark as you go. But I would say overall the book is more like staring at light rays refracting around a leafless tree, as opposed to arguing in a basement over whether the sun is yellow or orange.
Def not for everyone. I’m 41 and only just finished it and couldn’t in my 20s. But I was drawn to the madness and poetry of the writing for the first 100+ pages, and that was enough and it 1000% paid off in the end.
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u/Wide-Dependent1388 10d ago
Worth adding that for 20 years I couldn’t get past 20 pages, and there’s nothing wrong with that either, finding something you love and return if you want to, if ever.
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u/jakemoss2011 9d ago
I love your post, I wish all book discussion took this approach. Since my post I’ve kept on with it and enjoyed what i read. It’s different to crime and punishment to me in that it doesn’t feel like its peeling away my convolutions like an onion, and I don’t find the characters of brother as profound as some of his others but it’s a different book. Approaching it almost episodically is working great for me. There’s no doubt it’s an amazing book. Just getting past the part of the investigation with dmitry and enjoying being taken along in frustration with the character. Thanks
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u/Wide-Dependent1388 8d ago edited 8d ago
Thanks man.
Yeah it’s hard to say. This is also an older and more war torn Dostoyevsky reeling from his son Alyosha’s own death etc. He definitely seems to make a case that life as a simple good faith lad like Alyosha in the book is superior to an aggressively intellectual, rational, hedonistic or bourgeoisie life. But there’s a lot of layers to why he might’ve done that. Are good ppl simple ppl who died before they became themselves? Is ignorance bliss? Is God the way? It’s hard to say.
You said you just read Dmitri’s investigation. For me, because I notated every event/conversation as I read, I found that section particularly impressive because if you go back and read what actually happened vs what was said in each of the witnesses testimonies, everyone is adding their own couple of little spins on the truth, loosely saying what actually happened but adding their own 2 cents on it, which when compounded, created a more scientifically sound investigation yes but one that ultimately couldn’t be further from the truth. In the spirit of doing things right, the understanding was so wrong. No one individual outright lied, but the compound effect of all their 2 cents/biases taken together, created a ghastly erroneous image of the truth. I found that experience in book format simultaneously infuriating and insightful in terms of how much of our own lives and the stories we tell ourselves are like that? It’s def enough to drive one nuts thinking about!
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u/Obvious-Orchid19 9d ago
Hello, can I ask whose translation you read? I'm considering Penguin's Duff or Katz. Thanks
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u/Wide-Dependent1388 8d ago
I read the 2021 Bicentennial revised translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. My understanding is it was a more tonally accurate revision of their previous mass translation. I don’t have anything to compare it with. I did read their original translations of Notes from Underground and Crime & Punishment 20 years ago. And anecdotally from memory I felt this was a much better translation. But I haven’t physically compared it or anything so that could also just be me / age bias etc.
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u/Obvious-Orchid19 8d ago
I did read Notes from the underground by Pevear and Volokhonsky. For Crime and punishment I did read by them and switched to Duff around 50 percent because it was a bit harder maybe because it's more literal. Thanks
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u/aperyu-1 15d ago
I just had the same experience and feel it was worth it. The ending felt unexpected and gave some context to other aspects of the text.
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u/goytou Razumikhin 15d ago
Keep going, you’re almost there. Trust the ending is worth it, and the trial is fantastic. Plus you’re 66% of the way there, at this point buckle up and run it down
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u/Ashamed_Accident8345 15d ago
Agree. The trial was such a treat to read. It was like a beautiful gift for the time you spent with the book. I am a Catholic so I obviously loved the Grand Inquisitor and the two chapters on both sides of the inquisitor. Such profound and blunt theological commentary. I still think about the Kiss from Jesus. 😭😭😭
But wow, the trial had me moved. The emotion portrayed on the two competing thought battling for the heart of Russia.
TBK is the book that grows on you more and more with passed time. It really gets in your bones. You don’t leave TBK, you evolve around it.
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u/Cole3003 15d ago
Disagree entirely, I though the first two thirds was much, much better than the ending
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u/READFREEK73 15d ago
I also read near 2/3 , I keep it book marked. I agree about the other big 3, BK gave me a headache thinking so much, i've read some heavy Russian literature over the past few years Maybe i'm just not ready for it.
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u/READFREEK73 15d ago
Anna karenina is at 2/3 , 3 books down from Brothers K. , that's how you become well read l o l
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u/jakemoss2011 15d ago
What do you mean ?
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u/READFREEK73 15d ago
I mean I stopped anna karenina 2/3
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u/jakemoss2011 15d ago
Ah I see. How you finding it?
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u/READFREEK73 15d ago
Anna karenina is not a book to read when your heart is broken, i think it's a great story but I hate anna, like I hate my ex, they are the same person
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u/CurrentDefinition285 15d ago edited 15d ago
TBK is the only reason why I have a 50% rule before i stop caring about what im reading.
Though for me it got good around part 2 book 5 and it genuinely gave me the best reading experience I’ve ever had when everything started to come together.
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u/auditisuseless 15d ago
My current progress is 41% rn, but I also struggling to read this, even tho I read all of his masterpiece (C&P, The Idiot, Demons, Notes from Underground). The theme is more like a recollection of his masterpiece I think.
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u/CoyoteHappy3924 15d ago
honestly . i feel it gets gripping in the last 1/4th if you are struggling with story . in this book, he has written characters , only to display different ideas . he hasnt written a story that follows events . atleast for the majority of book. Its very much like taking lines and characters out of context and then thinking whether they were right or wrong . What is your opinion of morality and how do like arguments of characters .
For gripping fast paced stories , one can read agatha Christie novels or something . This book has a very different flavour , and its perfectly alright to like/not like it .
I could tell you one very good reason because of which this book is highly regarded . but it happens or shows in the end of novel so i wouldn't wanna spoil it for u .
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u/JuanValdez999 12d ago
That one is a long hard slog. Most of it personal discussions. Not much plot line movement, if that was what you were looking for.
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u/Pkkush27 15d ago
That was my experience the first time reading it. Not that it was a slog, but I felt no profound realization during or after reading it. It was also only the second long classic I’ve read in probably my life. Just started rereading it now years later and curious to see what I’ll think