The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
List: $29.95 | Sale: $20.97
Club: $14.97

The Brothers Karamazov

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett

Narrator: Frederick Davidson

Unabridged: 34 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/21/2010

Synopsis

This passionate novel of ethics and morality, religion and philosophy was Dostoevsky’s final and best work.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. While on the surface a story about patricide, this novel is, on a deeper level, a spiritual tale of the struggle between faith, doubt, reason, and free will.

About Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the darkest recesses of the human heart had a profound and universal influence on the twentieth-century novel. He was born in Moscow, the son of a surgeon. Leaving the study of engineering for literature, he published Poor Folk in 1846. As a member of revolutionary circles in St. Petersburg, he was condemned to death in 1849. A last-minute reprieve sent him to Siberia for hard labor. Returning to St. Petersburg in 1859, he worked as a journalist and completed his masterpiece, Crime and Punishment, as well as other works, including The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov.

About Constance Garnett

Constance Garnett (1862–1946) translated the works of numerous Russian authors, including Tolstoy, Gogol, Pushkin, and Turgenev.

About Frederick Davidson

Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on August 10, 2019

If you like your books to move in a linear fashion this book is not for you. It hops around and attention must be paid or you will find yourself flipping back a few pages to reestablish the thread of the story. I took this on a plane flight, crazy right? Not exactly the normal "light" reading I......more

Goodreads review by Michael on December 23, 2018

I'm writing this review as I read. Frankly, I'm astounded by how good this is and how compelling I'm finding it. Astounded? Why should that be? This is a classic, after all. True, but it breaks just about every "rule" of fiction. The plot so far is virtually nonexistent: three brothers get together......more

Goodreads review by Rawley on September 07, 2008

If there was still any doubt, let me confirm that this actually is the greatest book ever written. But be warned that you need to set aside a solid month to get through it. And it's not light reading--this is a dense work of philosophy disguised as a simple murder mystery. But it's well worth the ef......more

Goodreads review by Vit on August 19, 2020

The Brothers Karamazov is the greatest novel… The Brothers Karamazov is the greatest grotesque novel. And I’m afraid my interpretations of it will hardly be very popular. What is God? What is man? And what are their relationships? “You see, I close my eyes and think: if everyone has faith, where does......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on June 07, 2024

"Reading Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is comparable to pushing a beautiful grand piano up a very steep hill." —Kevin Ansbro Why, oh why, in a world filled with endless opportunities to enjoy oneself, did I think it was a good idea to embark on a 19th-century book that's almost the size of an el......more

Quotes

“This novel will shatter those who are ready for it, ready for Dostoevsky’s courage to plunge into the abyss of human cruelty, and his wisdom at locating what grace there is. This is a novel of ultimate destruction and grace. It has in it the whole lived world, also heaven, also hell.”

Rachel Kushner, New York Times bestselling author

“[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

“A dramatic and psychological representation of the moral consequences involved in the acceptance of rejection of the existence of God.”

New York Times

“The Brother Karamazov...is the strongest [novel] Dostoevsky composed, and is where his genius should be sought...he seems to me to have a deeper relationship with Shakespeare than criticism so far has revealed.” 

Harold Bloom

“The Brothers Karamazov is the most magnificent novel ever written.”

Sigmund Freud

“Heartily recommended to any reader who wishes to come as close to Dostoevsky’s Russian as it is possible.”

Joseph Frank, Princeton University

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List