The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's last novel, completed only a few months before his death, centers on the bitter love-hate struggle between Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, a wicked and sentimental father, and his three very different sons: the impulsive, sensual Dmitri, the coldly rational Ivan and Alyosha, a young novice. The story also follows erotic rivalries that play out in a series of love triangles. Through the family, Dostoyevsky works through lust, greed, jealousy, sorrow and humor alongside moral questions and the problem of collective guilt. The novel also gives a broad picture of Russian life and its social and spiritual striving at a turning point in the country's culture.

AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson named it his favorite book, and Jordan B. Peterson included it in the suggested readings for Maps of Meaning.