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Comment by domtoretto | Hacker News Reader

I finally read my first Stephen King book: "11/22/63". I could not put it down. The mix of historical details and the time travel concept kept me reading until the end. Another first this year for me was "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Took me some time to get used to his writing style but after that I could not stop reading.

This year I also read "The Brothers Karamazov" after having read "Crime and Punishment", "The Idiot" and "Demons" in previous years. It was not an easy read but it stays with you for a long time (or maybe even forever).

Also did some re-reading this year:

"A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles

"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

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"The Brothers Karamazov" is my favorite book of all time, and I always find it quite an easy and enjoyable read. Though this may be a culture thing, as I am Romanian and the cultures are closer to each other.

The thing I love most about Dostoievski is how real everything feels.

A lot of fiction nowadays is based on: how the character portrays himself/how he thinks about himself/who he really is.

And a lot of resolution is about finding out who he really is, or about other characters finding that out and accepting that (usually immediately). Followed by emotional chatharsis and resolution.

In Dostoievski it feels like a lot of the character are chasing that idea and simply finding out it's not true. They will give long speeches about who they really are, expectijg emotional chatharsis, only for none to come. And they react by feeling resentful towards their confidants, or towards themselves. Or shameful. And then they also react to their reaction.

There is no gold character core waiting to be resolved, and a reveleation is usually just a very awkward monologue.

I think the hard bit for me was more the length and some parts where I found it a bit less interesting. I read it in German.

100% agree with your points. That's what brings me back to his books always. Since my first book of his (Crime and Punishment) I keep mentioning this to friends also. Spoiled many other books for me...

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