The Brothers Karamazov Audiobook By Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear - translator, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator cover art

The Brothers Karamazov

(Bicentennial Edition)

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The Brothers Karamazov

By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear - translator, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator
Narrated by: Ben Miles
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About this listen

This program is read by renowned English actor Ben Miles, best known for his narration of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy.

“Ben Miles's English accent is perfect for the text of this recent, award-winning translation. He delivers narrative sections in a consistent tone, and his expression is perfect…An excellent match of voice and text.”—AudioFile

Winner of the Pen/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize

The award-winning translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel of psychological realism.

The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons—the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture.

This award-winning translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal inventiveness of Dostoevsky’s prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original. It is an achievement worthy of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

©2017 Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (P)2024 Macmillan Audio
Biographical Fiction Classics Editors Select Genre Fiction Psychological World Literature Witty
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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. [This] scrupulous rendition can only be welcomed. It returns to us a work we thought we knew, subtly altered and so made new again.”—Donald Fanger, Washington Post Book World

“It may well be that Dostoevsky's [world], with all its resourceful energies of life and language, is only now—and through the medium of this translation—beginning to come home to the English-speaking reader.”—John Bayley, The New York Review of Books

“Far and away the best translation of Dostoevsky into English that I have seen . . . faithful . . . extremely readable . . . gripping.”—Sidney Monas, University of Texas

Editorial Review

A Russian classic whose moment is now
In a parallel version of May, where my listening life as an Audible editor is uninterrupted by a stream of buzzy new releases, I’m spending the month with the bicentennial edition of The Brothers Karamazov, one of the great works of world literature and one of a tiny handful of books I personally call “life-changing.” Twenty-odd years ago I named my dog after one of the sons in Dostoevsky’s final, exquisite masterpiece (Mitya, whose name felt cutest for a canine, though Alyosha and Vanya stole my heart in the novel). But to finally immerse myself in it again is a milestone and a gift, especially in the now-definitive Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, sublimely read by actor Ben Miles ( The Crown). And so perhaps I don’t need the permission of an imaginary scenario to experience it. Life is short, the distractions unending. My future self will thank me for making time, and I’m willing to bet yours will too. — Kat J., Audible Editor

Profound Storytelling • Masterful Psychology • Amazing Characters • Outstanding Dialogues • Literary Classic
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One of the most profound books that I have ever read, full of human psychology, inside into human nature, and outstanding dialogues. It’s literature that will remain the historical classic.

Profound storytelling

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This is a must read book! Dostoevsky is a master at his craft. The narration by Ben Miles is brilliant!

Maybe the best novel ever written….?

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Everything about this translation of The Brothers Karamozov is the greatest story ever told. And the narrator brings this novel to life like no other!!!

Greatest audiobook of all-time

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This book is is a masterpiece, and I was grateful for Miles narration which helped breathe life into such amazing characters.

Masterpiece

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This has long been a favorite novel of mine. I've read it half a dozen times. But it's*long* -- and dense in places -- which has meant that it usually takes me six weeks to get through the whole thing. To be able to listen to the entire book in a week has been a revelation, allowing me to catch many little details that eluded me in the past. The reader's performance is phenomenal and breathes life into Dostoyevsky's characters, especially in their moments of hysteria. I'm already looking forward to listening to it again. I highly recommend this audiobook.

Brilliant performance of a brilliant novel

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What a story. Is just a great great book. You dont want to stop reading.

The narration was absolutely great. Amazing!

Amazing book, perfect narration

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Without question I enjoyed all 43 hours! What a treat and rare thing to find something so entertaining.

A true theater of the mind!

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Ben Miles does a masterful performance. Breathing new life into this literary classic. I enjoyed this tremendously and felt like there must be so many more books Ben has voiced. He should be required for all the greats!

Incredible narration

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A stunning book brought to vivid life with this translation and narration. Can’t speak highly enough about the experience of listening to it. The novel itself plunges us to the depths of human experience in all is contradictory glory and evil and squalor and nobility. And episodes like a darkly humongous chat with Satan are simply stunning. The book’s deep exploration of the spiritual and the moral may be completely out of fashion, but wow, just wow, do they ever hit home.

The language is bursting with life. I love this translation, and the narration enhances it 100%.

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I'm so grateful that they released this performance. This is my favorite book, but I have had a hard time finding a narrator that I enjoy listening to. This is an incredible performance, my favorite by far.

excellent performance

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