How Many Pages Are In Brothers Karamazov Books?

Question

Reading a print copy, curious about length? Page counts vary by edition. Translators affect pacing, but what's a standard paperback estimate?

Oluwabusayo Aderinola Ademoye · Answer

I tried to find out how many pages a standard edition of “The Brothers Karamazov” in English has. Usually it’s around 700-900 pages in paperback. But I’d have to look up the exact number for a specific edition. Interestingly, the title of this story instantly made me think of the well-known scenario of three brothers competing with each other as the setup for a royal fantasy. An outsider princess arrives and the three brothers have to negotiate with each other in order to form an alliance, and all of them are hoping that in the end the princess will join forces with one of them. The story explores the reasons for her ultimate choice.

Henry · Answer

When I first picked up Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ it was bigger than I had anticipated. Some editions of the novel run to over 800 pages but mine, translated by the inimitable Constance Garnett, comes in at a more manageable 736 pages. In order to develop the complexity of characters and ideas in the novel Dostoevsky clearly needed to write a long book and ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ is a novel that explores the big questions of God, free will and human nature in considerable depth.

I think this novel is so long because Dostoevsky needs so much space to bring you into the world of the Karamazov brothers. Yes, all of the brothers. There are so many details about each of them that are so important to their growth and change throughout the novel, and to explain the many different ways in which each of them deal with the moral issues of the novel that Dostoevsky can’t fit them all into a short amount of space. If you’re someone who likes to really become immersed in a story and can let yourself spend time in its world, then this is definitely the novel for you.

Noreen Lauron · Answer

To get a sense of a given translation, it’s useful to compare it to others of the same work. Page count is a principal indicator of a translator’s style, as the Garnett translation, a minefield of long, formal sentences, demonstrates. By contrast, Pevear & Volokhonsky aim to write in a direct, forceful style; they occasionally shrink the same material. The new McDuff translation for Penguin seeks a middle ground. For the purposes of this discussion, I have read parts of each of these, and my assessment is offered from that context. For a beginner who needs to be able to read the book, I would advise Pevear & Volokhonsky even if there were a shorter edition of the work. Their translation is immediate and alive and makes for a long and often grueling read of hours on end of a very real and very nasty family at each other’s throats. The page count is just a number; it’s the voice in your head for hundreds of hours. Choose a voice you won’t mind.

Eugene Toh · Answer

I do want to note the emotional weight per page. “The Brothers Karamazov” is a very intense novel, it is largely “fluff-free.” Often a single page will have to be digested for a long time, as there is a lot of psychological insight into the characters as well as a lot of moral questions to ponder. Dmitri’s jealousy or Ivan’s struggles with his ideology to name two examples. The 900 or so pages of “The Brothers Karamazov” are very different from the 900 or so pages of a fantasy novel for example. So while the number of pages in a novel can be a measuring stick for length, it is not an accurate measure for this novel. It is not a simple novel to read. A novel is a physical object which can prompt a lot of internal dialogue and so measuring a novel in terms of pages is almost crude. A single page of “The Brothers Karamazov” is like a single drop of water – it may appear to be very small but a thunderstorm is made up of thousands of such drops and to ask how many pounds a thunderstorm weighs is to ask the wrong question.

Liam · Answer

I have always been particularly intrigued by the depth and breadth of ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Typically published in long book format, the number of pages can vary greatly depending on the edition and translator; commonly it runs to around 700-800 pages or so. My copy translates in at around 796 pages in the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. Yes, it is a long read, but every page is sumptuously packed with abstract philosophical debates, in-depth characterization and rich human emotions; a long read for sure but a very rewarding one, covering many topics including faith, morality and family. So take your time to read this classic novel, as it is most definitely a long and arduous journey!

Wilson Rano · Answer

I agree with Tom Merrill to publish Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation of Dostoevsky in the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition (796pp). That was an incredibly alive book by Dostoevsky, and their notes about translating the original text – trying to preserve its rawness, and get across its sense of urgency – really paid off. The number of pages felt just right for the text’s heft, not unnecessary verbose or old style words added to artificially extend the book. The book itself was very handily sized for reading, and a great physical book – very sturdy, the spine didn’t even start to crack after having read the whole thing. Of all the Dostoevsky editions I’ve looked through, this one struck the best balance of something that could actually be carried to read, and a literary work of great importance, by a genius. The page count was accurately sized to the content.

Zion · Answer

I remember first picking up The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky at the library – it was like holding a brick! While most editions of the novel are around 700-800 pages long, my copy (by translator David McDuff) is an enormous 840 pages, and one of the most challenging yet rewarding novels I’ve read to date. It is long because Dostoevsky is an ambitious writer; he built a complex story with many layers and he gave plenty of room for each of the characters to grow.

Despite its immense size, Dostoevsky manages to keep the novel from feeling overwrought. Each of the brothers is fully realized, and their distinct personalities — passionate and impulsive Dmitri, atheistic and intellectual Ivan — shine through on every page. The long philosophical debates, such as that found in the famous “Grand Inquisitor” chapter, are dense, but they are also rewarding in their complexity. In the end, every page serves a purpose — whether it be furthering the plot of the novel or exploring a theme — and is therefore well worth the reader’s time.

Rory McCauley-Hayman · Answer

For the sake of clarification, The Little Stranger is a very long book, and it has four parts and an epilogue. You can take it one part at a time, starting with Part One, which introduces the ‘nice little family’ in rather explosive fashion, and then leaves you in suspense as the first part comes to a close. If Part One doesn’t grab you, then perhaps The Little Stranger is not the book for you right now. But if it does grab you, then the rest of the book won’t feel like such a slog. The structure of the book is your friend, and it should help you to manage the scale of the undertaking.

How Many Pages Are In Brothers Karamazov Books?

8 Answers

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