Crime and Punishment [Trout Lake Media Edition]

By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Narrated by: Alan Munro

Length: 25 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Dostoyevsky's supreme masterpiece

A young student is haunted by the murder he has committed. Overwhelmed afterwards by guilt and terror, he confesses and goes to prison. There he realizes that happiness and redemption can only be achieved through suffering.

Public Domain (P)2013 Trout Lake Media

Could they have found a worse narrator?

What did you like best about this story?

I think I liked the story. It's hard to know for sure because trying to follow the narrator was impossible.

Would you be willing to try another one of Alan Munro’s performances?

I don't think so, no.

Any additional comments?

I have to listen to this in short increments to offset the rage that fills me trying to follow this narrator. It's like he was narrating a Russian translation in English but had just starting learning the Russian language very recently. Pausing mid sentence (mid word even), then no inflection, then constant inflection, then the same bad Russian accent for 3 different characters. Sometimes it's so confusing it's like he is choosing randoms sentences to read. I find myself rewinding after five minutes because I have no idea what just happened.

my first Russian novel ! great complex story

fine audio presentation of this celebrated multi-layered story. ..do not miss this extraordinary Russian tale

Wonderful book - if you can bear the narration

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

yes; it's a very long book, but the story is tremendously well-told and it tells us much about human behaviour.

What did you like best about this story?

it is a classic fable with twisting plot-lines and it plays with the reader's sympathies throughout.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I bought the title more than a year ago, but I have only recently found the time to dedicate to listening to it. it is a tremendous book, but the experience has been almost totally spoiled by the performance of the narrator.i am sure he has an excellent voice for Audible but, in this case, his delivery makes the book almost unlistenable. his halting, slightly sing-song narration, with inexplicable leaps and stresses on random words and parts of sentences, makes it a hard listen. i've found myself too often distracted from what is a complex - and lengthy - text, by the idiosyncratic delivery. i love the book but I'm not sure whether i'll be able to reach the end - i might have to invest in another version.

The reader is just awful!

Was the reader having a stroke the whole time? I’m currently on chapter 4 and it has been torture having to get through this. Nonetheless, I’m getting my money’s...I hope. The story is good, but dear god the reader is terrible. Step it up Alan Munro!

Interesting old book

Good basic story. Some translation issues. Reader for this version is way too staccato for pleasurable listening.

Cheap and awesome.

Love it! Great performance. Classic story. The mind after crime with great subplots. Groundbreaking for it's time but still potent for today.

Classic

Just a great literature classic, way longer than I expected, but worth every second of it.

Old Story

It's amazing how many new and current stories reflect this 19th century construct. Hard listening to the old story now.

Fine Book, Awful Narrator

Would you listen to Crime and Punishment [Trout Lake Media Edition] again? Why?

No. The book was fine. It is over 100 years old and shows some wear, but is an interesting look into the past. My real issue is that the narrator is just so bad. Let me explain. He has a fine voice for audible. But he emphasizes words and syllables in the middle of sentences and pauses in the middle of sentences for no reason, that the sentence loses its meaning or causes confusion. He doesn't just do it on occasion, it is throughout the entire book. It made listening to his version of this book so unenjoyably that I will never listen to a book with this narrator again.

What didn’t you like about Alan Munro’s performance?

Terrible. Why pause in the middle of sentences for no reason? Why the emphasis on words or syllables in the middle of sentences? How did this get past the producer?

Any additional comments?

I'm very surprised as the production quality of this book seems well done that the performance by the reader was so bad.

Price-worthy and quality performance of a classic

I was initially put-off from purchasing this version, given the critical reviews of the narrator’s performance. Contrary to what others wrote, I did not find the narrator’s pauses mid-sentence to be irritating, rather I found he used these pauses to add depth to the text.
I found this version to be more griping compared to other renditions of Dostoevsky classics, for example Naxos, which is far more expensive.
Bottom line, is if you’re looking for a cheaper option to enjoy a classic, I highly recommend this option.