Brother’s Karamazov

Shayan writes:

The Brother’s Karamazov starts off introducing Alexey Fyodorovich Karamazov (Aloysha) the third son of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov. Fyodor Pavlovich is described as a senseless man, but a man not lacking intelligence. He has married twice and he has three sons. The eldest, Dmitri, by his first wife, and two, Ivan and Alexey, by his second. Fyodor Pavlovich had no influence in the upbringing of his children. He spent a lot of time drunk with many different women and he simply forgot about his oldest son Dmitri. Dmitri is raised by a servant until members of his mothers’ family took him in. They tell him that his mother has left him an inheritance which includes money and property that is in the care of his dad. After getting rid of his first son, Fyodor Pavlovich marries a sixteen year old orphan and he treats her just as badly as he treated his first wife. However, she bears two of his children before she dies, and for a while, the same servant takes care of Alexey and Ivan. The boys are taken in by one of their mother’s friends who provides for their education. Ivan becomes a very smart student and Aloysha enters a monastery.

            When Dmitri grows up, he visits his father to get more information about his inheritance. His father pays him little sums of money at a time to keep him quiet but after a while Dmitri confronts his father. Fyodor Pavlovich confesses that there never really was an inheritance and that Dmitri might even be in debt to him. Dmitri, who is now enraged, suspects that his father is cheating him. They arrange a meeting, at the same monastery where Aloysha is, in the presence of elder Zosima, an esteemed monk. Dmitri hopes that in the presence of this important monk, their conflict will be resolved. Meanwhile, Aloysha is nervous because he feels his father and brother will offend the monk.

            This is as far as I have gotten in the novel. The Brothers’ Karamazov is a challenging book and sometimes I have to read a section twice. I still have much to read, however, and I am looking forward to finding out what will happen as the plot develops.