Classics for Beginners discussion

This includes books 10-12 and epilogue.

Book 10: I'm confused. Why are we back to the schoolboys? What's happened to Dmitri after he was arrested?

Book 11: WHOA! Completely un-put-downable. Too many thoughts. Too many feels. Head is spinning.

I'm looking forward to your reaction, Karen. I was really bored with this one until somewhere around book eight. And I've had a tough time putting it down since. LOL!

Book 12: I can't help comparing this Book's "Court TV" feeling to the current Oscar Pistorius trial going on in South Africa. What's the truth? Is the truth, well, the real truth? What IS truth?

Epilogue: Huh? So, what REALLY happened???

I'm 70% in. Book has definitely taken a turn for the better. Helps that Dostoevsky hasn't preached at me in a bit ;). Really enjoying the investigation.

The novel almost feels like a different book to me than the early parts of the book. The style and vibe of this second half is disparate to the first half.

RitaSkeeter wrote: "I'm 70% in. Book has definitely taken a turn for the better. Helps that Dostoevsky hasn't preached at me in a bit ;). Really enjoying the investigation.

The novel almost feels like a different ..."

I agree. The pace really picked up for me in the later books, and I found the Russian legal process fascinating.

85% in. (view spoiler)[ Well, our old friend 'Stinky' hey?!! (hide spoiler)]
I know Mr D thought Alyosha was the hero but I think he's a bit of a wet fish. I'm a bit of a Mitya fan myself.

LOL!

I'm all finished! I suppose the big question raised by the novel for me is around nature vs nurture. Are people born bad or are they created that way by their environment. I think Mitya made some very poor choices in his life, but I didn't feel he was a really a bad person at heart. How might he have been different if he had had parents who had shown him love and affection and who taught him restraint?

And as for (view spoiler)[ Stinky, how might he have been different if he had been treated like a human being rather than a lackey? (hide spoiler)]

Congratulations on finishing! I've gotta say - I still think Tolstoy is more enjoyable than Dostoyevsky.

Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "Congratulations on finishing! I've gotta say - I still think Tolstoy is more enjoyable than Dostoyevsky."

Me too! Really enjoying these tri-monthly reads :)

Looking forward to your overall impression, Joy! Congrats on a major accomplishment!

Are you planning to participate in the next tri-monthly read as well?

Woot! Well done Joy :). Also looking forward to hearing what you thought of it as a whole.

Joy wrote: "Overall I liked it. There were the long rambling parts but there was enough good for thought that I could get through them. I kind of wondered where he was going with the epilogue but then he tied ..."

I enjoyed the second half, but to be honest I found the first part hard going. I probably would have liked it more if I'd known ahead of time Daddy K was going to be visited by karma!