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The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky

28 readers recommend it across 23 discussions

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Original Hacker News comments, in the readers’ own words.

pmdulaney
I started The Brothers Karamazov four times through the years, but would quit each time after 50 pages or so. I finally realized that I was repulsed by the story because the father reminded me of the worst aspects of myself. Once I accepted that I was able to read on and finish the book, and now I look upon it as one of my favorite novels. I would have given up on it early on, but when I was going to Berkeley in the late 1970s, I attended First Presbyterian Church, where Earl Palmer was pastor. He extolled The Brothers Karamazov, Sheldon Vanauken's book A Severe Mercy, and Star Wars from the pulpit. His favorite part of TBK was the Grand Inquisitor chapter; I had to slog through that, but overall found the book quite rewarding, not least of all because it is a window into the Russian soul, which I think remains to this day a different beast than our own.
robswc
This one is really hard tbh. I don't think I could name one. There was a period where I worked in a warehouse and listened to audio books and college lectures and all those together allowed me to make connections I don't think I would have made otherwise. A very meaningful book I read was "A Short History of Nearly Everything" just because it showed me how much to the world there was to discover. It made me very optimistic. I haven't finished "The Brothers Karamazov" and I don't think I would call it a "meaningful contribution" to my life _but_ I do think so far it is one of the only books that has made me say "wow." Every sentence seems to be crafted to perfection and connect with you on a deeper level. I can't personally relate to it too well but I would say everyone should get to experience a bit of it. Besides those, I read a few auto/biographies which where interesting, I could relate to and gave me motivation and discipline.

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rsync
I second the votes for War and Peace, Anna Karenina and Brothers Karamazov ... but I think I can add a unique (and very special to me) entry with: Chesterfield's Letters to His Son: "Begun in the 1737 and continued until the death of his son in 1768, Chesterfield wrote mostly instructive communications about geography, history, and classical literature, – with later letters focusing on politics and diplomacy – and the letters themselves were written in French, English, and Latin, in order to refine his son's grasp of the languages."[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_C... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield#Letters_to_His_Son)

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playing_colours
I decided to try reading the classic literature this year. The books that stood the test of time. I started with Brothers Karamazov by F.Dostoyevsky Middlemarch by G.Eliot After that I plan to continue with East of Eden by J.Steinbeck Ulysses by J.Joyce They all have incredible characters, deep thoughts, delicious language. Sure, not an easy read after contemporary fiction, but I noticed that the more classic literature I read the better I understand and enjoy it. Also, I own Folio Society's copies of last three titles, and it's an an additional pleasure to hold, touch, and read physical books.

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roymurdock
Older Stuff: The Bible/Quran, The Republic (Plato), The Social Contract (Rousseau), Tao Te Ching (Laozi), Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky), History of the Peloponnesian War (Thucydides) Newer Stuff: Nine Stories (Salinger), The Razor's Edge (Maugham), Nausea (Sartre), Siddartha (Hesse), Road to Serfdom (Hayek), The Book (Watts), Design of Everyday Things (Norman), Atlas Shrugged (Rand), Invisible Man (Ellison), Debunking Economics (Keen), Blood Meridian (McCarthy), The Center Cannot Hold (Saks), This Time Is Different (Reinhart/Rogoff), Infinite Jest (Wallace), Calvin and Hobbes (Watterson) All of these books are well written and have given me some perspective on interesting people/situations/ways of thinking.
harscoat
It depends if you want to be knowledgeable "about" philosophy and knowledge or if you want to apply it to you life. * K.Popper (in both cases;): _Open society and its ennemies_ http://www.archive.org/stream/opensocietyandit033120mbp#page... (http://www.archive.org/stream/opensocietyandit033120mbp#page/n7/mode/2up) for "Ars Vitae" (applicable to one's life) * Plato: _Gorgias_ * Marc Aurélius: _Meditations_ * Friedrich Nietzsche: _Beyond good & evil_ I agree with others on Hume, Russell, Husserl. Another great thinker while he does not pretend to be a philosopher is Dan Sperber, I think of 2 books * Dan Sperber (with Deirdre Wilson) _Relevance. Communication and Cognition_ (Blackwell, 1986) * Sperber, Dan (1996) Explaining culture: _A naturalistic approach._ (Oxford: Blackwell) Finally philosophical literature: * Doistoievski: _The Brothers Karamazov_ (question of God is asked)
electronslave
The Brothers Karamazov. Awesome, if only for the casually violent Russian realism that I loved in Преступление и Наказание. As far as learning goes, I'm chugging through the FARs and the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. I'm about to solo. As far as computer tech stuff goes, I haven't picked up a book with hype (plus requisite clipart/bad drawings/abuse of color space) on the cover in years. Edit: What's up with all the Ayn Rand? Misogyny, xenophobia and unvarnished greed aren't exactly admirable characteristics, and her books read like an apologist's how-to manual. My favorite example of a Rand fanboy now works (when last I checked) at a bowling alley in Santa Barbara, after loudly and memorably insisting that he didn't need liberal pansy friends like me, because he'd be the wealthiest tycoon alive. Yeah. I guess he has a stovepipe hat and a monocle now.

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