Rachel’s Reviews > The Brothers Karamazov > Status Update

They are finally having a trial! I thought they weren't going because it took so long for this to happen.

Though this is a very long book, the plot still moves at a breakneck pace. As a result, I'm never board with this book, but sometimes I have to re-read portions to understand what just happened.

I'm on part four, book XI, chapter four! What the heck! I find the way my copy of the book is divided up to be sooo confusing. The mystery part has been solved? I personally still suspect a different person to be guilty, though it would be odd, as the book seems done with the case.

There is a fourteen year-old boy named Kolya who has just been introduced in the book. He has a lot of really pretentious ideas and is very petty, which is funny because I have meet some people like him. I don't really like his character, but it is very believable.

The plot of this book was mostly centered around drama and the actions of the characters, but now there is more of a mystery element. I really enjoyed the way the plot was before, and the mystery is ok, but I find it a little confusing. Apparently, one of the events that I thought was fact was really a dream sequence, which changes my opinion of who is guilty and calls into question how trustworthy the dreamer is.

This book is really long, but I think it works better this way. The characters are really well developed as is the plot.

I really appreciate having access to the internet while I read this book. It has a lot of unfamiliar words in it, and some confusing references as well .(How much is a ruble? Who is Sappho?)

The part of the novel that I'm currently reading reveals Dmitri's motives, and the part I just finished shows what kind of person Alyosha is. However, the author hasn't spent as much time developing Ivan and Smerdyakov as characters. This makes sense for Ivan, because he is very aloof, but it's just kind of confusing when it comes to Smerdyakov.