This book is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the 'wicked and sentimental' Fydor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons - the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Rusian life, its social and spiritual strivings, in what was both the golden age and a tragic point in Russian culture.
