The Brothers Karamazov

By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett - translator

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

After spending four years in a Siberian penal settlement, during which time he underwent a religious conversion, Dostoevsky developed a keen ability for deep character analysis. In The Brothers Karamazov, he explores human nature at its most loathsome and cruel but never flinches at what he finds.

The Brothers Karamazov tells the stirring tale of four brothers: the pleasure-seeking, impatient Dmitri; the brilliant and morose Ivan; the gentle, loving, and honest Alyosha; and the illegitimate Smerdyakov: shy, silent, and cruel. The four unite in the murder of one of literature's most despicable characters - their father. This was Dostoevsky's final and best work.

Public Domain (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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." (Washington Post Book World)

admirable narration

My take is that this narrator is actually quite incredible. Much of the book is dialogue and I am amazed at the way the narrator jumps between characters - male, female, old, young, wise, foolish, etc - so effortlessly. In fact, he is able to maintain the tone and personality of the character with precision. The story is long and I greatly appreciated the narration. Listen to the sample and you will see what I mean.

A lot of philosophy in there!

The core of what the writer's philosophical message was (in my mind) achieved in the final court scene or at least it was concentrated there. The rest of the story had a scattered deep messages but felt a bit too unrealistic.

long but interesting

such a multiplicity of words! true Russian literature! enjoyed the reading and glad it's over!

Preaching Russian nationalism to Children

The story portrays a profound psychological study of men struggling with an unloving father being forced to find their sense of direction in life leading them into catastrophe. Through this, Dostoevsky weaves in a critique of the various sociological modern trends being contemplated during the late 19th century that still apply to us today such as the role of religion and the state in modern society including atheism, Catholicism, industrialism, clasism, and socialism. Then he wraps it up with sentimental monologues about dying on Russian soil as a farmer and sharing lessons to children about caring for one another. It presents powerful psychological insights but somewhat contrived notions of sociology and national pride that borders on cheesy.

The narrator did a good job acting out the parts with a lot of feeling but his voice most of the time sounded like a raspy old man. There were times I had to take a break from it as it became overwhelming.

So-so

A decent enough story however if 1) you like philosophy and 2) you can get over the narrator’s inflections, which I found distracting. This one was challenging to get into because the story was slow and characters all have about 5 names each so it’s hard to remember who is who. Give it fine and you’ll catch on. Overall I’d say it’s not as profound as some other philosophical fiction I’ve read but worth a gander since it’s free and a classic.