My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 30: Concluding Observations

Well folks, I had to finish it up sooner or later.  The Brothers Karamazov is one of my favorite books of all time, and there is so much there that I could go on writing about it forever.  But this is a blog, not a book.  And it is not good form at all, from [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 29: More on the Schoolboys

In this post I wanted to return to Alyosha and the schoolboys.
Earlier I said that the thing I liked best about Alyosha in his first encounter with the schoolboys was his willingness to put himself out there and to engage with them, even at the risk of getting it all wrong.
As I think about myself [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 28: Gold Mines

In this post I want to look at the character of Madame Hohlakov.
It is commonly accepted that people become more religious as they grow older.  The theory is that as people get older they become aware of the fact that they will only be around for so long and that time is growing shorter.  This [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 27: Cana of Galilee (cont’d)

Alyosha is on his knees in prayer beside Father Zossima’s coffin, but really listening to Father Paissy’s reading of the Gospel.  Father Paissy is reading the story of the wedding at Cana, and Alyosha is thinking about his impressions of that miracle.
As he is thinking, he has a vision in which he is transported into [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 26: Cana of Galilee

Well how about that?  Last week I thought that I wouldn’t be blogging much at all right now, and yet in between school work and my job I’ve managed to get out more posts this week than in all of the month prior to then.  So much for “not blogging very much during the coming [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 25: A Meeting with the Schoolboys

In this post I wanted to focus on Alyosha’s first meeting with the schoolboys.  This meeting occurs in Chapter 3 of Book IV.
Alyosha is on his way from his father’s house to Madame Hohlakov’s when he meets a group of school-age children on their way home from school.  Alyosha attempts to strike a conversation with [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 24: A Young Man Bent on a Career

In this post I turn my attention to the character of Rakitin.
Rakitin was a divinity student living at the monastery with Father Zossima and Alyosha.  Rakitin is a foil to Alyosha, just as Father Ferapont is a foil to Father Zossima.  Alyosha is a gentle and honest spiritual seeker who struggles but comes through his struggles [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 23: More on Father Ferapont

I wanted to return briefly to the character of Father Ferapont, because I believe that the recent discussion of Kyle Lake and the watchblog antagonists serves as a perfect modern-day illustration of what was going on in the monastery when Father Zossima died and Father Ferapont denounced him.

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 22: Ivan

I will now turn my attention to the character of Ivan.  Alyosha is the character that I most want to be like, and I am sometimes able to identify with Dmitri.  But I believe that most of the people who know me would say that I am most like Ivan.  For this reason I feel [...]

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My Reaction to The Brothers Karamazov–Part 21: An Onion

The death of Father Zossima and the events surrounding it brought on an intense crisis of faith in Alyosha’s life.  Alyosha was so distressed by the sight of his elder Father Zossima being dragged through the mud by his detractors on the day of his death that for a short time he abandoned his faith [...]

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