The Brothers Karamazov (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett - translator

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

The Karamazov brothers are as different as mind, body, and spirit. Ivan, an atheist and brooding intellectual; Dmitri, a volatile sensualist and his father's rival for the beautiful Grushenka; and Alexey, driven by unshakeable piety. In their shadow is their rejected half-brother, humiliated into servitude. Together they act to rid themselves of the dissolute Karamazov patriarch. Then, in a single shocking act, the fates of the brothers are inexorably altered.

Delving into debates about God, free will, faith, doubt, and moral responsibility, The Brothers Karamazov is Fyodor Dostoyevsky's profound pioneering masterpiece of psychological realism.

Revised edition: Previously published as The Brothers Karamazov, this edition of The Brothers Karamazov (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Piercing view of humanity

Dostoyevsky at times seems to wander here and there through this long epic, but the “slower” or more difficult parts always turned out to be rewarding. Some of the characters at first seemed absurd, but by the end of the book I realized how absurd I can be, too.

The performance is acceptable. There are no audio blunders, it is a clean recording, but the narrator uses little inflection and in scenes with multiple characters talking it can be difficult to remember who the speaker is. The translation is also clunky at times. Nonetheless, worth the listen!

Didn’t download completely.

The book is a wonder superb book, sadly it only download half of it. There is no instructions to correct the problem.

Excellent narration

I carefully picked out the audio version of this book because I knew the Russian names are always an issue. I took a chance on this one even though it had zero reviews because I liked the sample. I'm glad I took the chance. The names were clear and easy to understand. The inflections were perfect. I enjoyed it very much while painting my bedroom. The story? I know it's a classic and at heart its a good book. I just felt it was like listening to someone with dementia veering off the subject into some philosophical rabbit hole ad nauseam.

Excellent narration of a classic translation.

Excellent narration of a complex work of world literature in a classic translation.
Foster performs with nuance, emotion, swiftness, and energy.
Garnett’s devotion to Russian literature and its authors was a gift to the English speaking world.

Wow! I can’t believe I waited until age 56 to read this.

In some ways, this novel is an extended essay on the development of progressive thought in culture, law, psychology, and religion in 19th century, Europe, and especially Russia. It’s fascinating to learn about how Russia viewed itself in comparison, and contrast with the rest of Europe. The philosophical musings regarding the changing role of the church in Russian society are fascinating. Wonderful to see that some of the things people were wondering about then or not that different than what they are wondering about now in many ways. Also, a fascinating and astonishingly modern snapshot of the classic guru disciple relationship in the context of the orthodox church.

I can understand why this is the definitive translation of this work. It is truly excellent however, it is also 100 years old, and it could use a light editing pass to update some of the language that is now no longer sensible to modern readers of English. Some examples include overuse of the word “should” when we would say “would” and many other similar examples.

The narrator’s performance is truly excellent, however, has a few glaring problems. First: there are many passages in this book which are in French. They chose a narrator who doesn’t speak French, and it is very awkward to listen to him bumbling through these French phrases. Additionally, there seemed to be no proofing of the audio recording, because there are many words mispronounced, or pronounced without understanding. Just two examples, among dozens: “brooch”, and “casuistry”. An attentive Director should (both meanings intended :-)) have caught these and had them re-recorded.

The latter points are quibbles on the whole, and I would have to classify this as one of the most approachable of the classic masterworks of the 19th century. If you have any interest in catching up on the world literature you may have missed in college, this is your perfect opportunity and one that will richly reward your investment in time.