The Brothers Karamazov or Anna Karenina

I think I'm having a mysterious itch for russian novels. The only paperbacks available in my town are The Brothers Karamazov and Anna Karenina. I can't buy them both; western books are expensive where I live. I want to know which one of the two books would you read and why?

I would go with the Brothers K. Dostoyevsky is just more interesting to me and I think it probably will be a a deeper, darker, more multifaceted novel. I've heard it's one of the all-time great works of fiction. Also it has the allure of being his last book and is supposedly difficult and dense and all of that But that's just me. I haven't read either so I'm just telling you what I'd do if I were in your position. 

Where are you from?

Read both, but start with Brothers Karamazov.  Dostoevsky's literature is second to none.

Anna Karenina is good, but likely will not resonate with you at the same level that Brothers Karamazov will. 

I read The Brothers Karamazov, as a freshman in High School, because I happened to find it in the public library.

Was a huge, dense, slow reading book for me, as I recall it.

I remember 'pieces of the plot, so it had an impact I suppose.

Parts I remember involved religion, faith, family, crime, conflict, questioning, society.

The ending felt a bit unresolved to me, but maybe that had to do with my reading level and maturity at the time.

I've never read, Anna Karenina.

Just haven't happened upon it in life.

Good choice, the pre-Communist Russians. Great literature and music. Dostoyevsky uses a much richer language compared to Tolstoy. Dostoyevsky was a poet as well as a great storyteller. I will choose the Brothers Karamazov any day. Are you needing the book in Indonesian? There is a free download in English online. Is it available to you?

I live in Indonesia.

Thank you. I'd like to think that I have a good eye for books. Dostoyevsky seems to be the more popular and sensible choice. I don't really need the book in indonesian since I live among the most conservative third-worlders but I do want the book in paperback. I hold unconventional and contrary beliefs to my peers' indonesian lifestyle. Paperbacks have this protective veil  in which I'm able to drown out ostracization from family and friends. I could get them online but my online library is reserved for the riskiest and polemical part of literature (literature that local authorities could prosecute me with sedition-related charges).

Anna Karenina was the first piece of Russian literature I read, and it still resonates, years later. I recall certain conversations & scenes as if I read them yesterday -- a very meaningful book for me.

I love Dostoevsky as well, possibly more than Tolstoy, but given my experience, Anna Karenina is where I always recommend people start with Russian lit. I strongly believe Tolstoy's literature made me a better person at a very critical time in my life. 

>  I strongly believe Tolstoy's literature made me a better person at a very critical time in my life. 

That was his goal.  That is also why I love Russian literature.  It's not just a story.  It's philosophy, theology, religion, spirituality, morality, and everything else that makes us human.   Tolstoy wrote for the purpose of making people better people, more in touch with what it means to be human, and did so beautifully.  

I read Crime and Punishment and The Idiot and I don't think I took a single thing away from either of them. I found The Idiot charming at times. Crime and Punishment was a slog throughout. I mean nothing wrong with them, but just amused at FourTrouble taking them so seriously I guess. 

I just googled Nietzsche and a quote popped straight up "Woman was God's second mistake." That man was funny.  

Well, I read the first 50 pages and I think the book is overwhelming. I guess once I'm done reading the book i might remember it in the same way as you do. I guess reading it a second time might make it less overwhelming too. Anyway, thank you for your perspective.

I've yet to read the Idiot, but Crime and Punishment has always induced me to think 'why 'not discard others and past moral habits, in exchange for better living and purpose in life.

Even if they are exchanged for villainous means.

. .

Still, I'm far to lazy, incapable of plans, and uninclined for such a path, that I doubt it'll ever become an issue for me. Still, book influenced my opinions on Nihilism and Existentialism.

The book contained some prettily worked psychology for sure. It was just a bit traumatic for my tastes.