Delve Readers Seminar: The Brothers Karamazov

The American novelist Walker Percy described The Brothers Karamazov as “maybe the greatest novel of all time . . . . [it] almost prophesies and prefigures everything—all the bloody mess and the issues of the 20th century.” It’s fair to extend Percy’s observation to include the mess of the present century as well. The Brothers K is Dostoevsky’s masterpiece: a gripping tale of murder and family conflict that explores profound questions of faith, doubt, free will, morality, and the existence of God. The novel’s structure is equally complex, featuring multiple narrators and shifting points of view, and a wide cast of characters and voices. Dostoevsky considered the book a complete expression of his thinking about the human condition.

This Delve will offer participants the opportunity to read Dostoevsky’s great novel closely and attentively. We will discuss the book as a work of art as well as a philosophical enquiry; consider its historical and cultural influences and contexts; its reception and legacy; and the enduring relevance of its themes.

Texts
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky (Picador, 1990; trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky)

In-Person Seminar
Note: This seminar meets in-person at Literary Arts, 925 SW Washington. Literary Arts will require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, or a negative test result (within 72 hours) from a healthcare provider, for entry into our in-person classes.  Please see our complete Covid-19 policy here.

Access Program
We want our classes to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers class registrations at a reduced rate. The access program for writing classes covers 60% of the class tuition. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.

Sara Atwood

Sara Atwood teaches English literature and writing at Portland Community College and Portland State University. She is Co-Director of the Ruskin Society of North America and has lectured widely, both in the US and abroad, on John Ruskin, education, the environment, and language. Her work has been published in Nineteenth-Century Prose, The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, and Carlyle Studies Annual. She is the author of Ruskin’s Educational Ideals and has contributed essays to a number of books, including Teaching Victorian Literature in the Twenty-First Century, John Ruskin and Nineteenth-Century Education, William Morris and John Ruskin, and Victorian Environmental Nightmares.