The Karamazov Brothers

While waiting for a romantic encounter, Fyodor Karamazov is brutally murdered.

The three sons of the old drunkard are made to consider whether they are guilty or complicit in the crime. Who will be responsible for murder? Dmitri, the impulsive and passionate? Ivan, the corrosive thinker? Surely not Alyosha, a virgin novice monk?

The investigation reveals the conflicts that paradoxically bring the brothers together. Dostoevsky creates a complex web of social, psychological, and philosophical connections around the writings of this one dysfunctional family.

He simultaneously demonstrates that his theatrical abilities haven't lost any of their edge, from the opening "scandal" scene in the monastery to a personal appearance by an eccentric Devil. Many consider The Karamazov Brothers, which was finished just before Dostoevsky passed away in 1881, to be the pinnacle of his brilliance as a novelist and chronicler of the modern ills.