The Brothers Karamazov

In a provincial Russian town, the dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov presides over a family riven by greed, lust, and long-nursed resentment. His three legitimate sons could not be more different: the hot-blooded, spendthrift Dmitri, locked with his father in a bitter rivalry over money and a woman; the coldly intellectual Ivan, tormented by doubt and the problem of a world that permits suffering; and the gentle novice Alyosha, drawn to the church and to his beloved elder, Zosima.

When Fyodor is murdered, suspicion falls on Dmitri, and the ensuing investigation and trial force each brother, and the reader, to confront questions of guilt, faith, free will, and moral responsibility.

Dostoevsky's final and greatest novel is at once a gripping murder story, a searching family drama, and one of the most profound philosophical and religious works ever written, culminating in the famous parable of the Grand Inquisitor. It is a towering meditation on the existence of God and the depths of the human soul.