I had a really hard time finishing this book. At times I really disliked it and had a difficult time getting through it. I love reading books that I connect with, but I really couldn’t seem to identify with many of the issues examined in the book particularly the subject of atheism and religion. I guess it is my self-absorbed state or the fact that I don’t consider this issue relevant enough to me to wrestle with it. However, there were times when the story was enthralling, particularly in the first few sections of the book. Maybe I didn’t give the book a fair chance because the sheer size of it intimidated me. Just getting through it was a huge project. It took absolute concentration for me with no interruptions (which is somewhat difficult to find on campus) for me to get through the reading every night. The quantity of complicated issues, the language and the amount of characters Tolstoy took on in this book required my total and absolute concentration every time I sat down to read. If I had read the book when I didn’t have so many other demands on my time I think I would have gotten into it and enjoyed it a lot more. Listening to part of the book on tape really worked for me though. I did think Tolstoy’s character development was pretty amazing. Some of the characters I hated, some I really admired. FatherZosima was one character I loved. He was truly the kind of person everyone, believer or not, should strive to be like.