Read by Sarah Bean, Ernst Pattynama, excessory, Fr. Richard Zeile of Detroit, Philippa Brodie, Ted Nugent, Rachel Steely, Figura, AmyG, Martin Geeson · 96 chapters · 37 h 55
A murdered father, three sons, and a question that nobody in the family can leave alone. In a provincial Russian town, the landowner Fyodor Karamazov is a greedy, mocking man who has neglected his children. Dmitri is passionate and reckless, Ivan is brilliant and tormented by doubt, and Alyosha is a gentle novice monk whose faith holds the others together.
When the old man is found dead, suspicion falls on the family, and a trial begins. But Dostoyevsky’s novel is far more than a crime story. It is a vast exploration of belief, guilt, love and responsibility, and it contains some of the most famous scenes in all fiction, including the chapter in which Ivan tells his brother the tale of the Grand Inquisitor.
Ninety-six chapters, close to thirty-eight hours: a huge listen, best taken a chapter or two at a time.
Introduction
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) completed The Brothers Karamazov in 1880, and it was serialised in a Russian magazine before appearing as a book. It was his last novel, and he died only a few months after its publication. It is generally regarded as the culmination of his work, drawing together the themes of faith, doubt, freedom and guilt that run through Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and Demons.
The story centres on a murder and its aftermath, but the novel is as much philosophical as it is dramatic. Its famous episodes, such as the Grand Inquisitor’s parable and the teachings of the elder Zosima, have been discussed by theologians, philosophers and psychologists. Sigmund Freud wrote an essay on it, and writers such as Albert Camus have acknowledged its influence. The book is structured in parts and books, with a long courtroom section toward the end.
This recording uses the English translation by Constance Garnett, whose versions of Dostoyevsky and other Russian authors introduced them to a wide English readership in the early twentieth century. It has ninety-six chapters and lasts almost thirty-eight hours, read by LibriVox volunteers who shared the work among them.
Because of its length, the book is well suited to listening over many weeks, for instance during a commute or daily walk. Its characters are so vividly drawn, and its arguments so compelling, that many listeners find themselves returning to it for years afterward. It is a demanding experience and a rewarding one.
Public domain
Fyodor Dostoyevsky died in 1881: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
