Crime and Punishment (Audio Connoisseur Edition)

Simply amazing narrator! Charlton Griffin, with his mellifluous voice and always-clear perfect diction, breathes new life into this classic Russian novel. He performs every speaker - even women's voices - with artistry, interest, and believability to such an extent that even some of the minor characters (who would ordinarily get lost in the story or seem boring) become interesting. I can't imagine trying to listen to this otherwise long, dark story without the kind of masterful narration that Mr. Griffin gives us. (I will surely seek out all of his narrations!) Anyway, if you are interested in (finally?) delving into this classic, I highly recommend this truly outstanding version!

I had read the book many years ago, but remembered only that I struggled through the difficult literature, often losing the story line. So I bought the Audiobook to listen to it again and have to admit, I was surprised at the ease with wich the narrator relayed the story. The story is not easy to follow, with difficult emotions, thought processes and circumstances to picture in one's imagination. I think the narrator does an excellent job at involving and convincing the listener of these difficult aspects of the book. Raskolnikov (the main character) is an obscure character in even more obscure circumstances. Throughout the events of the book, his emotions and thought processes take the listener on a journey of the human condition focussing on questions that are still relevant and un-answered today. It culminates in an unexpectedly "correct" yet strangely unfortunate ending, leaving the listener with an appetite to know what happened during the remainder of his exile and thereafter.

As for the author, Dostoyevsky, all I can say is that the story could not have been written without deep, real, personal experiences which are difficult to recreate in the way that he does. I would not want to delete a single explanation or description given throughout the story as it would undermine the overall experience.

A true classic, and very satisfactorily relayed.

This audiobook is incredible. The narration is above and beyond any audiobook I've listened to. You surely will not be dissapointed with this one. You feel yourself getting into a criminals mind. Taking every step with him and feeling every emotion. SUBERB. Don't miss this one.

Dostoevsky does a great job in capturing the mind set of the main character Raskolnikov. The author gets you inside this mans head and sucks you into his methodically cunning murderous (and occasionally benevolent) psyche. Just sit back and enjoy this masterpiece of literature from, in my opinion, Russia's most prolific author.

The narrator does remind me of the voice in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland though. Every time I hear his voice it's the first thing I think about. But don't let it deter you. He does a fairly good job with his characterizations.

This is my first Dostoevsky experience and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Prior to listening to Crime and Punishment I knew little of Dostoevsky except that he was Russian and best known for Crime and Punishment, a notorious classic. I don't really remember what prompted me to use a credit on this book, except the little I knew, and just for the sake of being able to say one day, "Yes, I've read Crime and Punishment" A part of my decision to download this audio book was the sample of the narrator who has a great voice and did a terrific job bringing this entire story to life. On the book itself, I was surprised at how straight forward it was. I assumed that the text would be difficult and dry to fallow, but I was completely wrong. The only difficulty I had fallowing this book was that some of the characters have similar or the same names, which, at times, was confusing. Now that I can say “Yes, I’ve read (listened) to Crime and Punishment” I can say that I have read better classics. The story goes into so many different directions and some of the directions were more intriguing to me than others and for this reason I won’t give Crime and Punishment five stars. I found the book to be presumptuous and boring at times. Some of the scenes described in this book I know I will never forget though because they were so exciting, intense, original, and most importantly, real. There are lessons to learn in this book, for sure, but now that I have learned them I am moving on to the next book. I could see myself revisiting this book in ten or fifteen years.

Looking forward to more Russian Classics read by Charlton Griffin.

At first I was wondering why I bought this book, though I do like them with lots of hours. Yes pretty silly requirement. This book got better after a few hours and lots better the longer it went on, as it takes allot of time to get into the book fully. Sets itself up very well , but you must listen closely , this is not a simple read and haves a very intriguing ending that is full of surprises and lots of emotion and conflict. For a book being over 150 year old what a psychology wonder encompassing most of the human emotions we our capable of.

The narrator for this book is absolutely fabulous. The book is still "Crime and Punishment" but Mr. Griffin makes it absolutely entertaining and saves the day.

Crime and Punishment is one of the hallmarks in literature, and a major hole in my own knowledge, and so I was pleased to find this production engaging and entertaining. The story itself is well-known; boy commits crime, boy meets girl, boy goes crazy, and girl commits herself to the boy. What that sketch fails to draw out is the psychological aspects of the novel that are at play, which are also mocked in the questioning and investigation of the crime. For those less familiar with Russian literature, there may be some difficulty in following the characters as the names are quite similar and each character has three or four names by which he/she is referred. But to see the transformation of R throughout the novel from logical mastermind to bumbling criminal to crazed offender to penitent prisoner is worth the effort and time. And bonus is that the funeral banquet scene might be the most comic scene I have ever read in literature.

If it is a better translation. The old Garnett translation has been surpassed. Griffin is an excellent reader.