The Brothers Karamazov: (Bicentennial Edition)

I have been looking forward to reading the "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoyevsky since I was in college. I thoroughly loved “Crime and Punishment” and hoped for more of the same deeply introspective, philosophical, and analytical treaties on humanity in "The Brothers Karamazov." Honestly, I was deeply disappointed. This behemoth of a book is one I think people highly rate just for the accomplishment of having finished it rather than the merits of its freshness, narrative, character and plot development, as well as stickiness. It would take the time of a full sabbatical to recap and review the constructs of everything in the book in order to undergird my rating. For now I can say that my 3 out of 5 was being generous. The length was a test of patience, rather than a reward of world building. The characters were un-relatable even with the suspension of disbelief and framing your mind for the times in which they live. The tone and cadence of the prose is stiff and uninspiring. The plot offers very little save for the latter third when things really start to develop. None of this gave me the eagerly anticipated offering of more of Dostoyevsky's philosophy. There is a single exchange between one and the brothers and a key “antagonist” that saves the book from oblivion. It was the only section worth reading and perhaps a case study in itself. I think the gloating on "The Brothers Karamazov" can end and it need not be included in MUST READ lists any longer. “Crime and Punishment” does Dostoyevsky and Russian Literature justice enough.