Reviews

Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoevsky

therandom's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

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5.0

You know how practices of all religions degrade with time from the way they were originally supposed to be to how powerful pretenders want it to be. Perhaps this decline is natural to mankind - just look at how Abrahamic religions have fallen to pretenders after each prophet - Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad; or look at similar degradation of Hinduism and Buddhism in east.

'The Grand Inquisitor', which is but a section of Fyodor Dosteyvesky's novel 'Brothers Karamzov', documents this degradation in a incredible manner - by making the inquisitor tell Jesus that his colleagues are doomed to fall to Satan's temptations. A great feast of author's writing powers and every bit hair raising.

eliasisnothere's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

dostoevskij really said religious trauma

angelsrgorgeous's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow - there is quite a bit of truth in here!

Dostoyevsky continues to impress me with both the depth of his subjects and the eloquence with which he explores them:

"There exists no greater or more painful anxiety for a
man who has freed himself from all religious bias, than how he
shall soonest find a new object or idea to worship. But man seeks
to bow before that only which is recognized by the greater
majority, if not by all his fellow-men, as having a right to be
worshiped; whose rights are so unquestionable that men agree
unanimously to bow down to it. For the chief concern of these
miserable creatures is not to find and worship the idol of their
own choice, but to discover that which all others will believe
in, and consent to bow down to in a mass. "

edmundsson's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

catalina_monserrate's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

melinum's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

alanffm's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a great collection of stories from The Brothers Karamazov and The House of the Dead. I'm at a loss for words - Dostoevsky has a way with archetypes, words, stories... just an amazing writer. While these excerpts are a great introduction, I recommend reading his original works.

nisa_s's review against another edition

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reflective tense

3.0

saarahrust's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5