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The Brothers Karamazov by Feodor Dostoevsky. At the time I didn't realize that it changed me, but looking back on it, the perspectives I learned from it fundame
by jcranberry 8y ago
The Brothers Karamazov by Feodor Dostoevsky. At the time I didn't realize that it changed me, but looking back on it, the perspectives I learned from it fundamentally how I viewed and understood other people.
- robin_reala 8y agoIt’s so good. I just finished reading the Constance Garnett translation and it’s just gripping all the way through. Well, I guess apart from Zossima’s life story in the middle, but that definitely has its place. The Gutenberg HTML of it is definitely a labour of love and extremely high quality: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28054/28054-h/28054-h.html https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28054/28054-h/28054-h.html . I converted it to a nicely formatted epub for Standard Ebooks and it’s in review now, so hopefully will be available this week.
- jcranberry 8y agoI was surprised no one else mentioned at least one book by Dostoevsky, actually. At least, at the time of commenting.
- FabHK 8y agoThanks for contributing to Standard Ebooks. It's a great resource. Since you modestly didn't plug it, let me: An excellent source of carefully formatted and corrected free ebooks (mostly classics). https://standardebooks.org https://standardebooks.org
- robin_reala 8y agoAh, well if we’re plugging I also did the SE production of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, with bonus incredible cover by Edvard Munch: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/fyodor-dostoevsky/crime-and-punishment/constance-garnett https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/fyodor-dostoevsky/crime-an...
- robin_reala 8y agoCan’t edit the original comment, but Karamazov went through review at SE and is now available at https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/fyodor-dostoevsky/the-brothers-karamazov/constance-garnett https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/fyodor-dostoevsky/the-brot...
- qznc 8y agoCould you elaborate? I got nothing out of that book when I read it.
- jcranberry 8y agoToo many things. It implanted the idea that people, all people can be understood explicitly, through empathy (and that all people can be empathized with). It showed me a way of thinking that was based off of human emotions and understanding but also analytical. Father Zosima's conversation with the woman with the dead child also helped me resolve the question of how much of a part one's thoughts and intentions play in whether you're a good person, and in general what it means to be a good person and how that can change. There are other things, but on first reading those are the ways that it directly influenced my viewpoint (that I can remember now).