There's so much to unpack in this book. I read the traditional English translation and I recommend it as very easy to follow and fitting with the time period in which the book was set and written.

This book is easily 100 pages longer than it had to be. If it were written in a more modern time characters would not speak for nearly so long at a time, talking around their point over and over again. I can see how this builds suspense and in a time when novels were the primary form of individual entertainment, I can see this style working much better than it does now. I'm not exactly a fan of it, but I don't hate it either.

I found the main character difficult to relate to or root for in any way. The only characters that I really found to be likable in any way were Sonya and Dunya.

I did enjoy the philosophizing about why we allow great people to get away with terrible things if it furthered their greatness. For a modern example, few people now seem to care that David Bowie slept with underage girls because he was a great musician and it was the 70s. While the book doesn't get into the idea of cancel culture, there is a modern tie in there that is worth discussing.

There are also many religious ideas throughout the story. I particularly enjoyed Lazarus as a character metaphor.

This wasn't my favorite four star book I've ever read. I probably enjoyed it more on the level of a three star book, but I want to acknowledge how well crafted the plot is and how all of the subplots build together.