So I did it! I read the entire Brothers Karamazov this Lent. All 736 pages of it. I finished on Good Friday. Just in time.
I’ve got a great sense of accomplishment because I’ve tried to read it a few times and have given up. This time I just vowed that I wold do it. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking back, however, I’m not sure it was the best choice for Lenten reading. I didn’t do any other reading because I was so hyper focused on finishing my self-appointed task. I knew if I picked something else up I’d probably get distracted and wouldn’t finish. And yet I feel like I probably should have picked up something else especially in the last days leading up to Easter.
But that’s probably a sign of my lack of understanding. I must say that for all I was an English major and even taught English classes, I’m not a very good reader. I don’t know that I got very much out of my solitary read. I really need a group, a class setting, to push me to dig deep as I read.
So I’m really wanting a good discussion. Tell me, all you who have told me how much you love this book. What is it that you love? What is your favorite scene? Which are your favorite characters? And why? Why is this book great? What did I miss in my single-minded race to the finish line? What should I go back and savor?
[…] must say, this experience was very different from the first time through, in 2011, during the Lent that followed Anthony’s birth. At that time I knew I hadn’t […]