Rob鈥檚 Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2024

2,895

pages read

books read

Rob Dircks

Shortest Book

pages

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Longest Book

928

pages

Average book length in 2024

263

pages

Most Shelved

1,585,491

people also shelved

Least Shelved

6,511

people also shelved

Rob鈥檚 average rating for 2024

4.4

Highest Rated on 欧宝娱乐

4.40 average

Rob鈥檚 first review of the year

it was amazing

I loved Stephen King's On Writing, and this... even better. So many great little stories, told to teach this and that, and remind this writer what to look for, and what to work on, and what it's all about. ...more

搁翱叠鈥橲 2024 BOOKS

it was amazing

it was amazing

Rob鈥檚 last review of the year

really liked it

This book's been reviewed a million times, so I'm going to post this more as notes to myself to remember my experience reading this book, and if you're a reader similar to me, it might get you to read it, and enhance your experience -- or not read it, and run away, and feel good that you did.

1. This is the longest and densest book I've ever read, at 900 pages and what felt like an infinity of words. I like short novels. I hated approaching this o This book's been reviewed a million times, so I'm going to post this more as notes to myself to remember my experience reading this book, and if you're a reader similar to me, it might get you to read it, and enhance your experience -- or not read it, and run away, and feel good that you did.

1. This is the longest and densest book I've ever read, at 900 pages and what felt like an infinity of words. I like short novels. I hated approaching this one, especially the physical paperback. It was a doorstop, and soooo intimidating. So having finished it (months later), I feel like I just ran a marathon, with the attendant feelings of holy-shit accomplishment, and total exhaustion. But a good feeling overall. (btw if you're wondering why I even attempted it, my son read it, and to share the experience a bit I decided to join him. I had done the same with East of Eden, which became one of my favorites.)

2. Technical note: I purchased the paperback, and borrowed the kindle, switching back and forth. In the beginning, I actually found the kindle better, because it was less intimidating (I have THAT MANY pages left?!). Then, almost giving up about a quarter in, and finding time driving and walking, I borrowed the audiobook, which got me through some of the slower parts. So in the end, around a quarter of my reading was paperback (especially the last major parts, which really were a joy to read), a quarter audiobook, and half kindle/laptop/iphone (sneaking time whenever, in a waiting room, on the beach, etc.) And really? I formerly wouldn't ever want to mix media like that, but using all three actually added to my enjoyment, mixing it up. And I could pick the media I wanted for the next bit. Also, the audiobook helped bring some of the characters to life more (and totally helped with the pronunciation thing, and the every-character-has-five-different-names thing).

3. As a writer myself, I am humbled. I don't think I've ever read a writer -- including Steinbeck, Orwell, and others -- with such genius and ambition and just fearless abandon to write something so sprawling and epic. Page after page I was just blown away with Dostoevsky's mastery of writing, ideas, playfullness, and adventurousness. His chapters could be one long paragraph, or a speech, or a memory, or a short story within a story. His sentences could run on to ridiculous lengths. He could begin a chapter with Ivan courageous and determined, and end it with Ivan going mad and having a conversation with Satan.

4. As epic as it is, it's really a simple, intimate story, told over a very short period of time, of three brothers dealing with life, each other, and the (spoiler alert! lol) murder of their father. I don't know what I expected from something this ambitious: A world war? Continent-spanning adventure? Generations of populations migrating to new lands? Civilizations rising and falling? Nope. Just three brothers in a small town in Russia. That's it. Amazing.

5. The parts I loved: The Grand Inquisitor, Zisoma鈥檚 life story, the courtroom speeches (by both the prosecutor and the defense), Ivan鈥檚 meeting with the devil (distressingly good), the final funeral scene and Alyosha鈥檚 ending monologue. The ending unexpectedly choked me up. A forward-looking, hopeful message of love. Bravo.

6. The parts I didn't love: I don't know if it's a Dostoevsky thing (this is my first - and who knows if it's my last - Dostoevsky novel), but every time a woman is involved, they seem to be in hysterics. (Though Mitya was also in hysterics through most of the book, too!) So to me at least, the romance/betrayal/intrigue portions of the book were kind of weird and off-putting -- the only parts I really couldn't wait to get through. Especially when, in the next chapter, you might read the most insanely great explanation of man's use of religion to control others, or an exploration of man's inherent contradictions.

7. It's like ten stories in one. Before reading this book, I'd say "No way. Give me one story at a time, please." But now? I feel like I could read anything, and maybe appreciate it more. Give me a few stories at a time. I can take it. And maybe? Maybe it'll even open up my brain in my own writing. So thanks for that, Fyodor!

So... did I like it? Hard to say. Like running a marathon or climbing the Statue of Libery, I'm really glad I did it 鈥� but not sure I'd do it again. Whew! ...more

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