I kept this book on my shelf for 3 years before reading it, but once I did, I finished it in less then a week. Dostoyevsky has incredible insights on socialism, philosophy, religion and society, most that are still relevant today. It is easy to see how Camus and Sartre were influenced by it, and there were passages also that reminded me of Huxley's Brave New World, especially about the englightened few controlling the masses.
Above all else however, this is an enjoyable whodunnit. An excellent crime novel centring round the three Karamazov brothers; Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha and their wayward father, Fyodor. All the human emotions are here - love, hatred, jealousy, bitterness, and although Tolstoy may be the master of relationships, no-one can draw out the tension like Dostoevsky.
I was intimidated by the sheer size and reputatio of this, but it is one of the best books I have ever read, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it.