The Brothers Karamazov By Fyodor Dostoevsky, a Powerful Translation

This book is available from Amazon


Editorial Reviews from the Amazon page. plus my review.

Review

"It may well be that Dostoevsky's [world], with all its 

resourceful energies of life and language, is only now--and

through the medium of this translation--beginning to come

home to the English-speaking reader." --John Bayley, 

The New York Review of Books

"Heartily recommended to any reader who wishes to come

as close to Dostoevsky's Russian as it is possible."

--Joseph Frank, Princeton University

"Far and away the best translation of Dostoevsky into English

that I have seen . . . faithful . . . extremely readable . . . gripping."

--Sidney Monas, University of Texas

My Review

I heard a lot about Dostoevsky when I was becoming Orthodox,

how his magnum opus 'The Brothers Karamazov' is the very

embodiment of Orthodox life, mindset, outlook and reality; sin

and virtue, light and darkness brilliantly portrayed.

But I was never able to read the book. The translation I had

seemed dry and artificial, so I kept looking around for an edition

that would captivate my interest.

Then I found this translation. Needless to say that 'gripping' is

an understatement. I am enthralled.

Read for example, the description of the author's hero, Alexei

Fyodorovich in p.19. Dostoevsky sees life and human character

with Orthodox eyes. He values and rejoices in the virtue

observed and experienced in the countenance of those shining

with the Presence of Christ, not only in the lives of those like 

Elder Zosima, but also in the most unexpected places, in 

suffering borne with fortitude and faith.

Dostoevsky observes darkness with tears in his eyes, without
judging. His description of the desolation of a life marred by
sin, of humanity torn, broken and disfigured, pierces the heart.

There is so much pain in the world.

No one who has not encountered the Lord, who has not had the
eyes of his soul opened by the light of the living Christ, could
make the observations that the author makes or could 
appreciate as he does, what is truly great in the human heart. 

Alexei Fyodorovich 

"In his childhood and youth he was not very effusive, not 

even very talkative, not from mistrust, not from shyness

or sullen unsociability, but even quite the contrary, from

something different, from some inner preoccupation, as

it were strictly personal, of no concern to others, but so

important for him that because of it he would,as it were,

forget others. But he did love people; he lived all his life,

it seemed, with complete faith in people, and yet no one 

ever considered him either naive or a simpleton. 

There was something in him that told one, that convinced

one (and it was so all his life afterwards) that he did not

want to be a judge of men, that he would not take judgment

upon himself and would not condemn anyone for anything. 

It seemed, even, that he accepted everything without the 

least condemnation, though often with deep sadness...

Indeed everyone loved this young man wherever he

appeared, and it was so even in his earliest childhood...

He never remembered an offense...And he did not look

as if he had accidentally forgotten or intentionally forgiven

the offense; he simply did not consider it an offense, and
this decidedly captivated the boys and conquered them."

Please, do not deprive yourself of something wonderful,

and read this masterpiece.