The Brothers Karamazov & The Idiot (Dramatized)

I was disappointed that this was not a literal reading of the book by Dostoyevsky. My husband and I enjoy listening to classic books when we take road trips that are several hours long. But this CD was a rendition where a theater company made a play based on the book. I didn't enjoy it and would not order it again. Every single one of the actors literally SCREAMED every single word. It was awful. It was not enjoyable in the least. We finished the Brothers Karamazov but it was painful listening. When we realized the next CD, The Idiot, was exactly the same, we quit listening. We will donate this to the local library. Maybe someone out there will enjoy it but we certainly didn't.

"Brothers Karamozov" is so good right from the first paragraph that I literally could not put it down -- I read it while cooking, during an ultrasound exam (!), even for 5 minutes in church! It's a grand, sweeping epic of a novel, which reads like the latest page-turner on the best seller list -- the characters are so vivid & real & 3D, the most amazing & appalling things keep happening to them and keep being caused by them, & yet at the same time it's a fascinating look at 19th cent. Russian life & mores, at religion, at the psychology of families....just a FANTASTIC novel, I've never read a finer one!!

The Brothers Karamozov is an epic yet personal novel that will knock the wind out of you. My favorite character is the vapid Grushenka who bedevils all of the slightly twisted Karamozov brothers and Father. A great book for its religious, historic, and lyrical values.