Our next read: The Brothers Karamazov
Hi friends!
As 2021 draws to a close, I want to thank you all for participating in this new adventure with me. We started this group with three convictions: 1) that reading and discussing the “great books” is something that everyone should be able to do, regardless of educational attainment or institutional association, 2) that practicing and embodying free assembly for the purpose of challenging ourselves is something worth doing, and 3) that food always makes things more convivial. The “free assembly” piece of all this is key though — it wouldn’t be possible if you all didn’t take the time and effort of your own will to read, think, and talk about these texts together.
Going into 2022, we’re going to take on some longer texts than we did this year, starting with Fyodor Dostoesvky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Specifically, we’re going to use the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. There’s an Everyman’s Library edition, as well as a paperback. Jen’s copy has a cover that looks like this, though we obviously encourage you to purchase your copy from a local bookshop, or at least anyone other than Jeff Bezos.
Because this is a heftier title than what we’ve done so far, we’re going to gather sometime in the latter half of March. Hopefully, this gives everyone ample time to read the book. (For what it’s worth, if you read 25 pages of the edition linked above every day, you’ll finish the whole book in ~36 days).
That said, we know you’re all very busy, and The Brothers K isn’t a book to skim. So, we’re going to give a few suggested reading “tiers” for those who doubt they have the bandwidth to go cover to cover.
Tier 1
The whole book.
Tier 2
All books (the novel is divided into “books”) except four and ten, which deal with a side plot.
Tier 3
Books 1-3, 5-6, which set up the main plot, and deal heavily with the theological themes, specifically “The Grand Inquisitor”.
That said, Gap Year participant Ben pointed out that even if you only read half the book, you’ll still have plenty to talk about. As we’ve said since the beginning, we want everyone to give it their best shot, but we also aren’t dispensing grades.
Thanks again for your participation. Can’t wait to see you all in 2022.
Robbie