Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dec 2007 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Anthony Heald

About this audiobook

One of the greatest works of fiction ever written, Crime and Punishment is at once an intense psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, and a fascinating detective thriller instilled with philosophical, religious, and social commentary.

Dostoevsky studies the psychological impact upon a desperate and impoverished student when he murders a despicable pawnbroker, transgressing moral law to ultimately “benefit humanity.” After killing the old woman, haunted by guilt and terror, the young man must decide whether to assuage his conscience by confessing or attempt to get away with the perfect crime.

Crime and Punishment takes the listener on a journey into the darkest recesses of the criminal and depraved mind and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil who cannot escape his own conscience.

Ratings and reviews

Astonishing Story. This Book will make you reflect on your life as Dostoevsky phyco-analyses his characters. Their thoughts, their hopes, their fears, their self denials. The flaws of humanity are on full display here, topped with a striking redemption story.

The reading is of outstanding quality, very engaging. The story is a rather complex and total look at the murderous heart... It's pains, crisis and everyday life. I skipped reading the title when I was just a kid in middle school... But, 25 years later, I regret not having read it sooner. God bless!

A masterful performance by Heald. I find the authors work very unique in general and a great addition to the understanding of people’s lives in the corner of society which they existed and experienced. This is a classic for a reason. I enjoy Heald’s other works too such as the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and two volumes of short stories by Anton Chekhov.

About the author

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.

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

Anthony Heald, an Audie Award–winning narrator, has earned Tony nominations and an Obie Award for his theater work; appeared in television’s Law & Order, The X-Files, Miami Vice, and Boston Public; and starred as Dr. Frederick Chilton in the 1991 Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs. He has also won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narrations.