--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first book that really knocked me out…" description: "\"The first book that really knocked me out was the 'Brothers Karamazov.' I read it when I was a senior in high school.\" — Robert Hass" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/robert-hass-3548_book_the-first-book-that-really-knocked-me-ou_2401696.jpg" --- # The first book that really knocked me out was the… ![“The first book that really knocked me out was the 'Brothers Karamazov.' I read it when I was a senior in high school.” quote by Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/robert-hass-3548_book_the-first-book-that-really-knocked-me-ou_2401696.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/robert-hass-3548_book_the-first-book-that-really-knocked-me-ou_2401696.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/robert-hass-3548_book_the-first-book-that-really-knocked-me-ou_2401696.jpg) > “The first book that really knocked me out was the 'Brothers Karamazov.' I read it when I was a senior in high school.” [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The novel 'Brothers Karamazov' profoundly impacted the writer, marking a pivotal literary awakening during high school. **In simple terms:** A powerful book changed his view as a teen. Key Takeaway Seek literature that challenges your worldview. Themes growth literature awakening Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - high school reading - college literature courses - book clubs Key Concepts existentialism family dynamics morality Questions to Reflect On - What themes in the novel resonated most? - How did it shape your later reading? A Different Perspective Not everyone resonates with dense philosophical novels. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) [High school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school/) [High school senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school-senior/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [She had a west coast strut that was sweet as molasses, but what really knocked me out was her cheap sunglasses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zz-top-21087/she-had-a-west-coast-strut-that-was-sweet-as-molasses-but-what-really/) ZZ Top > [I was a senior in high school when I decided I wanted to work on ants as a career. I just fell in love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/i-was-a-senior-in-high-school-when-i-decided-i-wanted-to-work-on-ants/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Do you want to do this thing? Sit down and do it. Are you not writing? Keep sitting there. Does it not feel right?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/do-you-want-to-do-this-thing-sit-down-and-do-it-are-you-not-writing/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [My advice to this years seniors, don't let anyone ruin your year, make it last & have fun because it flys by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-advice-to-this-years-seniors-don-t-let-anyone-ruin-your-year-make/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Its awesome being in school don't get me wrong but ugh why so much work and finals are scaring me!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-awesome-being-in-school-don-t-get-me-wrong-but-ugh-why-so-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Seniors, I know you're ready to get the hell outta high school but live it up your senior year. It flies by, I promise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seniors-i-know-you-re-ready-to-get-the-hell-outta-high-school-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Today is like our first day of School, the butterflies are back as we remember the friends we made years ago. Our future may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-alfaro/today-is-like-our-first-day-of-school-the-butterflies-are-back-as-we/) Theresa Alfaro > [Teacher: You failed the test \| Me: You failed to educate me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/teacher-you-failed-the-test-me-you-failed-to-educate-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Can't believe I'm a senior, I feel like I just walked through the doors of high school like yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/can-t-believe-i-m-a-senior-i-feel-like-i-just-walked-through-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [High School really did go by as fast as they say. Like wasn't I just a freshmen?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/high-school-really-did-go-by-as-fast-as-they-say-like-wasn-t-i-just-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You don't realize how badly you want to succeed in a high school sport until you're a senior and you only have one chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-realize-how-badly-you-want-to-succeed-in-a-high-school/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's my senior year, and I'm not going to hold any grudges. I want to end my last year of high school on happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-my-senior-year-and-i-m-not-going-to-hold-any-grudges-i-want-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone's so excited for senior year, but honestly I just wish I was done high school already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-s-so-excited-for-senior-year-but-honestly-i-just-wish-i-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm actually really excited for school to start, yet half sad at the same time because this is my last year of high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-actually-really-excited-for-school-to-start-yet-half-sad-at-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time I was a senior in high school, I was constantly with my headphones, just making music all the time. People were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-jaar/by-the-time-i-was-a-senior-in-high-school-i-was-constantly-with-my/) [Nicolas Jaar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-jaar/) ## More by Robert Hass > [It's the same with this idea of a literate public, and also of a democracy in which people have access to and really read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/it-s-the-same-with-this-idea-of-a-literate-public-and-also-of-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [All the new thinking is about loss. In this it resembles all the old thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/all-the-new-thinking-is-about-loss-in-this-it-resembles-all-the-old/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Poetry, when it takes sides, when it proposes solutions, isn't any smarter than anybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/poetry-when-it-takes-sides-when-it-proposes-solutions-isn-t-any/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I was in college, I lost my scholarship one year. I had enough money for tuition, but not room and board. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-was-in-college-i-lost-my-scholarship-one-year-i-had-enough/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [As poet laureate, I was asked to be a spokesman for literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/as-poet-laureate-i-was-asked-to-be-a-spokesman-for-literature/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [After Pope, in the beginning of Romanticism, people developed the idea that imagination rather than reason was a special form of knowledge and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/after-pope-in-the-beginning-of-romanticism-people-developed-the-idea/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [They are the kinds of things that make us a community: attachment to place, attachment to local arts traditions, the ability to read literature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/they-are-the-kinds-of-things-that-make-us-a-community-attachment-to/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I think that were I in the middle of an obsession to write about, say, sudden oak death in California or my grandchildren or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-think-that-were-i-in-the-middle-of-an-obsession-to-write-about-say/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I suppose there's something to be said for the sheer reinforcement of our beliefs, but really I think poetry is more useful as disenchantment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-suppose-there-s-something-to-be-said-for-the-sheer-reinforcement-of/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [If you were making poetry out of convictions - trying to convince other people - you were in the territory of rhetoric, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/if-you-were-making-poetry-out-of-convictions-trying-to-convince-other/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Milton was the first person who really experimented with putting politics into sonnets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/milton-was-the-first-person-who-really-experimented-with-putting/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I came into the job, funding for the humanities at the federal level was being drastically cut. This was the high tide of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-came-into-the-job-funding-for-the-humanities-at-the-federal/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [One may prefer spring and summer to autumn and winter, but preference is hardly to the point. The earth turns, and we live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/one-may-prefer-spring-and-summer-to-autumn-and-winter-but-preference/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“ A Faint Music by Robert Hass Maybe you need to write a poem about grace. When everything broken is broken, and everything dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/a-faint-music-by-robert-hass-maybe-you-need-to-write-a-poem-about/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“When everything broken is broken, and everything dead is dead, and the hero has looked into the mirror with complete contempt, and the heroine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-everything-broken-is-broken-and-everything-dead-is-dead-and-the/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) [Explore all 128 Robert Hass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The first book that really knocked me out was the 'Brothers Karamazov.' 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