Crime and Punishment

I decided to get this book after listening to Phillip Yancy's, "The Jesus I Never Knew." Mr. Yancy refers to Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy in the contrast of God's law (Tolstoy) and His grace (Dostoyevsky). I read "Crime & Punishment" more than 30 years ago and remembered that it had a profound affect on me as a young man seeking meaning in life. The book is, of course, a classic--just as I recalled. The audio book is exceptionally well read. I really liked the slow and calculated delivery. I read along with many pages. Accordingly, I appreciated the reader's excellent command of the Russian names. I highly recommend this all time classic.

I had not read this 'classic' but thought at least listening to this abridged version would offer a decent overview--which it did. The challenge, though, is there are many characters FREQUENTLY coming in/out of the plot with long, Russian names thus following the story can be difficult. Several times I had to read the Wikipedia entry which has a summary and character snapshots to follow along.
Overall, a fine presentation.

This book took me forever to get through. Because I'm a committed person and like to finish what I start, I endured until the very end of this book. This was the slowest, most boring, depressing book I've ever listened to. Someone could tell this story in about 2 pages but it drags on and on until you can't take it anymore. The Russian names are so confusing that you don't know who the characters are even by the very end. The narrator was very monotone and made it even more boring. Put needles in your eyes, it will be less punishing.