Results matching “karamazov” from Ye Olde Rad Blog III

Ever noticed, while going about your day (minding your own business), that people seem to be staring at you? Your eyes meet by chance and they quickly look away.

Once or twice, it's no big deal. But when it happens lots of times, it starts to make you wonder .. "Why are people looking at me?"

Been noticing this .. the last few days. First few times, I wrote if off as mere coincidence. Chance glance. But today (especially) I started becoming self-conscious and wondering .. "Do I look strange?"

I admit I've been dealing with some gnarly stuff lately. (Was in court again last week .. the place where dads get slayed.) These things can take a toll. So I've been feeling rather .. 'rugged' lately.

Then (paying more attention) I noticed most of these 'looks' coming from .. ladies. Hmmm. Maybe spring is in the air and all that. But their looks tend to seem more like what you'd expect at a freakshow (a few mouths agape) .. than someone responding to birds or bees.

I'm reluctant to merely republish the content of others .. but » HERE's something you shouldn't miss (Susan Boyle's rendition of I Dreamed a Dream .. from Les Miserables). I actually paused the video and broke out my headphones.

I think what makes her version so special - other than the sonic excellence, of course - is that her life seems to resemble that of the character .. providing that 'something extra.' And then there are the lyrics themselves, with lines like:

And still I dream...
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I know that place .. all too well, I'm sad to say. But who doesn't? If you liked that, you'll probably also enjoy » THIS.

Neither one of these folks are pretty. They're not one of the beautiful people. Their dress unglamorous.

But their performances obviously had nothing to do with pretty appearances. Which made them all-the-more believable and genuine, especially when she belted out the final lines:

You know you're in a bad place when you feel like reading Dostoyevsky .. as a way of commiserating with someone who can relate.

He was screwed over pretty badly. Critics claim it was these experiences that enabled him to write with such penetrating insight.

"The writer's own troubled life enabled him to portray with deep sympathy characters who are emotionally and spiritually downtrodden, and who epitomize the traditional Christian conflict between body and spirit.

Dostoyevsky sought to plumb the depths of the psyche, in order to reveal the full range of the human experience, from the basest desires to the most elevated spiritual yearnings.

Above all, he illustrated the universal human struggle to understand both God and self. Dostoyevsky was, as Katherine Mansfield wrote, a man who loved, in spite of everything, adored life, even while he knew the dank, dark places."

I've known a few dank, dark places myself. (Haven't we all?)

"Who loved in spite of..." That's not easy to do.

Even those who don't like Dostoevsky concede ungrudingly he is "a titan of world literature."

Critics seem to agree The Brothers Karamazov is one of the greatest novels ever written. Some even claim it is the single greatest novel -- ever. (That statement raised my eyebrows.)

• Einstein said, "Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientist."
• Freud called it, "The most magnificent novel ever written."