The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky

Book cover

“The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky tells a highly complex story of three brothers who are born into a messy, dysfunctional family with a father who lacks any kind of moral conscience. The brothers all struggle through their own personal trials and are faced with difficult moral questions. The reader is also being introduced to a myriad of other characters who greatly influence the course of the brothers' lives. The story is rich with life - with all its complexity, madness and beauty.

Though Dostoevsky is a strong advocate for Christian values, he makes compelling cases against the Christian worldview and makes those characters who speak against it as charismatic and authentic as possible. As a believer myself, I personally like how he doesn't present his opponents as strawman figures but as intelligent individuals. I like how sophisticated the counter arguments are because they challenge me on a deeper level which ultimately leads me to a thorough examination of my own faith.

I think no other literary giant understands the struggle between spirituality, rationality and sensuality as profoundly and with such precision as Dostoevsky - I would even go so far as to claim that his works are really the only literature anyone ever needs for understanding the Human soul.