The Brothers Karamazov

Penguin Classics

By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, David McDuff - translator

Narrated by: Luke Thompson

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Luke Thompson, best known for his role in the hit Netflix drama Bridgerton. This definitive recording includes an introduction by David McDuff.

The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes the lives of his sons irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, driven to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother, Smerdyakov. Dostoyevsky's dark masterwork evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyone's faith in humanity is tested.

Translated with an introduction and notes by David McDuff.

©2003 David McDuff (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The most magnificent novel ever written." (Sigmund Freud)

Fix an error near the end of chapter 7.

The text repeats and overlaps. I've listened to the section twice and I'm convinced it is an error in editing, not in the audio player.

My Favorite Audiobook of all time

I have a whole bookshelf of audiobooks and some 550 on Audible of which I’ve listened to maybe 400. But of all of those, and there have perhaps been 100 that were exquisite, I think this book, this translation and this performance, are all the best! Luke Thompson is a brilliant actor of this novel. He is from the UK and gives the characters the voices of British society, from aristocrats to the dregs. Being more familiar with these voices and accents than those of Russians, he guides us to understand the characters. He has a voice for a few dozen characters that are recognizable and understandable. I have some favorite readers such as Grover Gardner but Luke Thompson brings the novel to life like a good movie, but giving you the entire novel, all 43 hours of it.
The book itself is riveting. I’ve read several novels by Dostoyevsky including The Idiot and Crime and Punishment which were favorites, but The Brothers Karamasov surpasses them substantially. It is one of the greatest novels, discussing issues of child abuse, murder, God and the Devil, Christianity, love, loyalty, sin, redemption…. essential issues of their time…and all time. (The setting is in later 19th century Russia.)
I canning recommend this audiobook more highly and plan to give this as a gift to my friends.

Amazing Novel, questionable narrator.

Dostoyevsky does an amazing job of making characters that feel real and are relatable in intimate ways. The narrator I find tries to add a little too much interpretation with his inflections in ways that I’m not sure are to be read in tone he does. Extreme examples are lines that are read sarcastically but I’m not sure it was intended to be sarcastic. If your not careful it’s easy to just not thing about the actual words and context and just trust the narrators over dramatic tone.

Wow! Beautifully performed

I'm so grateful for the narrator of this book. The story came to life because of details laid out in his voice.
Long, but captivating.
Thank you.

A great listen, but not Dostoevsky’s best work

Before this, I’ve listened to crime and punishment, and notes from underground. If you are looking for ramblings of an insane man, you won’t find it here. But here lies a tale of how families work, and their consequences. Every character has their role, and Dostoevsky portrays that beautifully.  I don’t really wish I would understand what he was going through. Good read if you like classic literature