The Brothers Karamazov

(Bicentennial Edition)

By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear - translator, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator

Narrated by: Ben Miles

This program is read by renowned English actor Ben Miles, best known for his narration of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy.

“Ben Miles's English accent is perfect for the text of this recent, award-winning translation. He delivers narrative sections in a consistent tone, and his expression is perfect…An excellent match of voice and text.”—AudioFile

Winner of the Pen/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize

The award-winning translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel of psychological realism.

The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons—the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture.

This award-winning translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal
inventiveness of Dostoevsky’s prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original. It is an achievement worthy of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Critic reviews

“[Dostoevsky is] at once the most literary and compulsively readable of novelists we continue to regard as great . . . The Brothers Karamazov stands as the culmination of his art--his last, longest, richest and most capacious book. [This] scrupulous rendition can only be welcomed. It returns to us a work we thought we knew, subtly altered and so made new again.” —Donald Fanger, Washington Post Book World

“It may well be that Dostoevsky's [world], with all its resourceful energies of life and language, is only now--and through the medium of this translation--beginning to come home to the English-speaking reader.” —John Bayley, The New York Review of Books

“Heartily recommended to any reader who wishes to come as close to Dostoevsky's Russian as it is possible.” —Joseph Frank, Princeton University

“Far and away the best translation of Dostoevsky into English that I have seen . . . faithful . . . extremely readable . . . gripping.” —Sidney Monas, University of Texas

excellent performance

I'm so grateful that they released this performance. This is my favorite book, but I have had a hard time finding a narrator that I enjoy listening to. This is an incredible performance, my favorite by far.

Excellent narrator

Bravo! His narration made this challenging book much more possible to understand for me. Excellent vocalization.

Narrator got the Voice

I have lost count of the number of times that I have read or listened to this novel. It is my favorite novel. This was the first time I have listened to the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. I learned some things this time because the English is more understandable. Ben Miles did first rate work.

Great narration

I loved that the narrator managed to give unique voices to the huge cast of characters. it helped me follow the story in a way I never did trying to read it in print text.

Humans

As with most of his books Dostoevsky shows us the true human. I listened to this while reading the book to allow me a chance of really reflecting and creating the imagery in my mind. It is dense and my first of his books but I truly feel different after listening and reading this book.