The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue — Content Guide for Parents
Found in this book
- ViolenceSupporting
- Scary contentBrief
- ReligionCentralChristian
- Race & cultureBrief
- Sexual contentBrief
Not found
- Climate
- Gender roles
- Gender & orientation
Couldn't confirm
- Profanity
- Profanity: The sources do not describe the book's own language or list any swear words from its text.
Content themes
Factual summary of themes present in this book. No opinion — just the facts.
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Religion
PRESENTContains references to prayer and church attendance. A minister character plays a supporting role in two chapters.
About this book
Winner of the Pen/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
The award-winning translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel of psychological realism.
The Brothers Karamasov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons—the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture.
This award-winning translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal
inventiveness of Dostoevsky’s prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original. It is an achievement worthy of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue appropriate for a 7-year-old?
The plot turns on the murder of the father and the trial of a son accused of it, and Dmitri hits his father in a fight over inheritance and a woman. The book involves a gruesome murder and a chapter in which Ivan has a nightmare of the devil, along with accounts of cruelty to children.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have violence?
Found (Supporting): The plot turns on the murder of the father and the trial of a son accused of it, and Dmitri hits his father in a fight over inheritance and a woman.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have scary content?
Found (Brief): The book involves a gruesome murder and a chapter in which Ivan has a nightmare of the devil, along with accounts of cruelty to children.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have religion?
Found (Central, Christian): One brother is a novice in a Russian Orthodox monastery, and the novel is built around questions of God, faith and doubt, including a story in which Jesus returns and is questioned.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have race & culture?
Found (Brief): A character's lines make a hostile joke about Germans, and one critic notes the book's antisemitic touches in how the father's greed is explained.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have profanity?
Couldn't confirm: The sources do not describe the book's own language or list any swear words from its text.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have climate?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have sexual content?
Found (Brief): The story includes lust and rivalry between a father and his son over the same woman, described as sensual, but no explicit scenes are described.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have gender roles?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does The Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue have gender & orientation?
Not found in the sources we checked.
