The final novel of Dostoevsky and widely regarded as his masterpiece. The story follows the three Karamazov brothers — the intellectual atheist Ivan, the passionate sensualist Dmitri, and the gentle, spiritually devoted Alyosha — as they each grapple with questions of faith, free will, and morality in the shadow of their crude and dissolute father, Fyodor Pavlovich.

When the elder Karamazov is murdered, suspicion falls on Dmitri, and the ensuing investigation and trial become the stage for a profound exploration of guilt, responsibility, and the existence of God. Woven throughout are some of literature's most celebrated passages — including the parable of the Grand Inquisitor — forming a vast philosophical novel about whether a world without God permits everything.