Divya

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Divya is Currently Reading

Divya is currently reading

Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

by Mary Oliver

bookshelves: marked, currently-reading

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Feb 18, 2026 09:58PM

Divya is currently reading

The Brothers Karamazov

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

bookshelves: classic, russian, need-to-read-again, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in September 2020

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Divya said: " 4.5/5. The Id, ego and the superego are epitomized by Ivan, Dmitry and Alyosha. "Anything is possible" has been explored in depth in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and this novel is an extension of that concept through the character of Ivan/Smerd 4.5/5. The Id, ego and the superego are epitomized by Ivan, Dmitry and Alyosha. "Anything is possible" has been explored in depth in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and this novel is an extension of that concept through the character of Ivan/Smerdyakov. The Id is something that doesn't have the restraint necessary to prevent it from stepping over the invisible moral line of humans and Ivan/Smerdyakov are unable to stop themselves from committing the parricide. Ivan and Smerdyakov are alter egos, where Ivan is the brain and Smerdyakov is the hand that commits the crime. But conscience is the curse of humans (which is a point brought earlier by Ivan to Alyosha, Why give a choice to human beings? Giving both the choice and a conscience along with it seems incredibly cruel) and it consumes both of them at the end.

Dmitry is the sensualist. A guy who can function only at the extremes. Egoism, pride and sensitivity are a dangerous combination indeed. The final death knell sounded by the jurors ought to have been quite a harrowing experience for such a man. The only source of relief is that the conscience will not be an added source of torture, which is something.

Alyosha is the well adjusted, superego. Ivan fears Alyosha on account of that. He knows exactly what Alyosha feels and it is in direct contradiction to what Ivan has in his mind. Dmitry needs Alyosha's approval for everything as any ego does from the superego, and if only Alyosha had been there at the fateful night of the murder, Dmitry may not have been in this awful predicament. Since we see most of the novel from Alyosha's PoV, it is a bit subdued in certain places. Maybe Dmitry or Ivan may have been better PoV characters. That is the reason why, at the time of the murder and during Ivan's conversations with Alyosha and the devil there is an added intensity to the novel.

BTW, I docked 0.5 points for the middle portions with the elder Zosima that almost led me to abandon it! Thankfully, I didn't and it has been quite a ride. ...more "

progress:

(page 872 of 1045)
— Sep 07, 2020 06:16AM

Sep 15, 2020 04:32AM · see review

Divya is currently reading

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

by Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)

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Nov 28, 2025 02:14AM

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Divya’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

1 note & 45 highlights

Lankans can’t queue. Unless you define a queue as an amorphous curve with multiple entry points.

Haraesh Jayasethu Ramachandran and 2 other people liked this

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Divya’s Quotes

“These will suffice to show that the emancipation of the mind and the soul is a necessary preliminary for the political expansion of the people.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation Of Caste

3 likes