The Brothers Karamazov

Perhaps Fyodor Dostoevsky’s greatest work, the book centers on a collection of brothers with strikingly different personalities. The novel is extremely deep looking at faith and ethics against a very realistic 19^th century Russian backdrop. The book does not pull back from difficult questions concerning free-will, suffering, and holiness; allowing debate and doubt to run through the pages as it does through Alyosha (one of the brothers). One of the greatest qualities of the book is that it asks more questions than it answers, it sends the reader into deep reflection about his or her own beliefs. This novel is definitely well worth the effort needed to engage it.