The Brothers Karamazov Book 5, Chapter 7 Summary

"It's Always Interesting To Talk With an Intelligent Man"

  • When Ivan enters the house, he is too irritated to bother speaking with his father. But during the night, he finds himself oddly compelled to get up and check up on him, and he's not sure why.
  • When morning comes, he announces to his father that he is off to Moscow. Fyodor begs Ivan to go to Chermashnya to take care of a business deal. Wondering why everyone wants him to go to Chermashnya, Ivan tells his father he'll consider it.
  • On his way out, he blurts out to Smerdyakov that he's off to Chermashnya. Smerdyakov's reply is that it's "always interesting to talk with an intelligent man."
  • On his way to the train station, Ivan's not sure what Smerdyakov meant by that phrase, but he's really bothered by it. He decides not to go to Chermashnya and to go straight to Moscow instead.
  • A couple hours after Ivan leaves, Smerdyakov has a fall and goes into an epileptic fit. Fyodor is concerned because Smerdyakov's been his lookout for both Grushenka and for Dmitri, but he's somewhat reassured because, before his epileptic fit, Smerdyakov had told him that Grushenka would almost certainly arrive that night.