Finally finished The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I read the Pevear translation. It took forever. That was a long book.

The Good

The Pevear translation seems to be regarded as the most true to the original. I have no idea if that is true or not, I don't read Russian. The story is intriguing, the characters are complex, and it makes you think.

The Bad

This was a tough read. Maybe I should have read the McDuff translation? I don't know. I almost gave up around 10% in. To be honest, the first 40-50% of the book dragged on. There were paragraphs that ran pages. I wonder if it's like that in the original. The second half was more enjoyable. It seemed a little faster paced.

A fair number of people read this and it seems to have a life altering impact. I didn't get that from it. One of these days maybe I'll read it again and pause and reflect more. When I hit the halfway mark I was ready to be done with it. Probably not the best attitude to have. If I do read it again it would be a good one for a book club or a group to discuss what's happening.

The Verdict

It's a classic, right? I wrote a lot more bad than good, but I still give it 4 stars.