….is it really so bad to skim through the Grand Inquisitor portion?
I love this book so far, and I'm aware that it has a reputation for inspiring atheist philosophrs, probably based on the story within a story, the Grand Inquisitor. I figured my faith is strong enough to withstand a monologue by a fictional atheist denouncing God, so I plunged ahead, but now that I'm about a half dozen pages in I'm finding it difficult because I think it's seriously interminable.
Dostoevsky was amazing, a man ahead of his time, perfectly able to depict the kind of whining badly catechized Christian breakaways are still doing to this day. Misunderstanding God, free will, the love of Christ, etc etc etc. It's all there, angst and all.
How badly will it diminish my experience if I just skim to the end where Alyosha tells Ivan to shut his blasphemous mouth?
[Or so I hope he will]