I cannot express how much I love the first half of this book. We meet the Karamazovs, in all their absurb, silly glory. They interact with many others who believe themselves to be less absurd and silly, but we, as readers removed from the peculiar town that gossips about them, know better. The second half is, unfortunately, not as charming. Its repetitive and almost dull. However, i should say, that repetitiveness serves a purpose. We are walked through events of a tragic night several times. First by the accused murderer himself, unable to separate himself from his absurd silliness even to save himself. Then we hear from everyone around him. Those who, it could be argued, he deserves love and understanding from. Finally we hear from the authorities. As the town, and we, contemplate these testimonies, reeling from two other less absurd tragedies the town experiencea in this time, the question of what truly motivates us - emotionally, morally, economically - is shown to be far more complex than we often let ourselves believe. We are all capable of being just as absurd, silly, and tragic, as any Karamazov.