Curious to hear more thoughts about brothers Karamazov. And what your favourite individual scenes are and what you think about the inquisitor scene. If you want. Alyosha absolutely would say bweh btw
Part of what makes Dostoyevsky so fascinating as an author is his genius-level skill with character productively clashing with his personal Christian aristocratic moralism. I was interested in the trial, because I find it very interesting when an author has to represent The Law.
Take detective Porfiry from Crime and Punishment. Incredible character. A proto-Columbo. As a representation of the law, he is dogged, unassuming, disheveled, and sharp-witted. His approach to Raskolnikov's murder is methodical, almost non-judgemental. He does a excellent job of representing a legal institution slowly pursuing Truth. He is also morally justified. It is good that Raskolnikov goes to jail. He deserves to be in jail, and it is good when detective Porfiry puts him there.
Compare this to Kafka depicting police and lawyers, as bizarre, childlike, sadistic, freaks who talk like spirits from Twin Peaks. They are representatives of a system with arcane rules that has both total power and little regard for its subjects.
I was really interested to see how Dostoyevsky represented the trial of Dimitri. I got farce. Yk like the jury are presented as idiots and romantics easily swayed by the lawyers. Dostoyevsky is clearly far more interested in the social aspects of the legal system. I might do another closer read of the trial chapters to see what I can glean. I do like how the prosecutor was described, as being this strange and birdlike man. I feel there's probably some allusion I'm missing.
As for my favorite scenes I really liked how the chapters from father Zosimas perspective changed style. I listened as an audiobook and the reader changed his delivery for those bits. It had an interesting affect I can't quite put into words. I especially liked that father Zosima rotted incredibly quickly and his followers started questioning their faith in him, rather than the actual value of his teachings. It was a witty and effective commentary on religion that --imo-- feels somewhat undermined by the thematic adherence to Christian morality as a meaningful social technology.
As for the Grand Inquisitor chapter. Yeah incredible. Alyosha being the Christlike little bro is effective and engaging. Excellent type of man to sexually torture. I will say though, I recently read The Apache Wars by Paul Andrew Hutton and it is personally difficult for me to square the beauty of the argument presented by the Grand Inquisitor with the actual historical events of the conquest of Apecheria and the Americas more broadly. Great book. I enjoyed Crime and Punishment more.