The Fyodor Dostoevsky BBC Radio Drama..., Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Fyodor Dostoevsky BBC Radio Drama..., Fyodor Dostoevsky
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The Fyodor Dostoevsky BBC Radio Drama Collection
Including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils & The Brothers Karamazov

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Narrator: Roy Marsden, Alex Jennings, Roger Allam, Paul Rhys, Nicholas Boulton, Paul Hilton, David Suchet, Full Cast, Barnaby Kay, Lia Williams

Unabridged: 17 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/25/2021

Categories: Fiction, Classic


Synopsis

BBC radio productions of Dostoevsky's masterpieces, plus selected shorter fiction and bonus programmes exploring his life and work

One of the most important and influential Russian writers of the 19th Century, Fyodor Dostoevsky is admired worldwide for his great realist novels, exploring questions of morality, philosophy and the nature of existence. This compilation contains the BBC radio productions of his four most famous novels - as well as three lesser-known works and two bonus documentaries - collected together for the first time.

Crime and Punishment - When he tests out a horrific theory, young Raskolnikov finds himself pursued by the cunning investigator Porfiry Petrovich. This thrilling tale of guilt and redemption stars Barnaby Kay and Jim Norton.

The Idiot - Arriving back in Russia after years spent abroad treating his epilepsy, Prince Mishkin learns the story of the woman who will dominate his life - the spoilt but captivating Nastasya... Dostoevsky's most personal novel stars Paul Rhys, Roger Allam and Lia Williams.

Devils - Idealism curdles into murderous anarchy in this fresh, contemporary 3-part adaptation of Dostoevsky's terrifying masterpiece, starring Gary Lilburn, Jane Whittenshaw, Joseph Arkley and Jonathan Forbes.

The Brothers Karamazov- The Karamazov family reunite for a meeting with their father to discuss Dmitry's inheritance. But the unpredictable Fyodor seems unwilling to play the game.... Stars Roy Marsden, Paul Hilton and Nicholas Boulton.

The Friend of the Family - Russia, 1859, and the Manor of Stephanchikovo is thrown into chaos when a former sergeant sets himself up as an arbiter of morals and taste. David Suchet and Clive Merrison star in this farcical comedy.

Bobok - Loitering in the cemetery after a funeral, a drunken writer overhears the conversations of the recently deceased corpses... This blackly comic short story is performed by Boris Isarov.

Dream of a Ridiculous Man - A study in music and words of Dostoevsky's vision of an idyllic, prelapsarian world. Read by Ronald Pickup.

Dostoevsky and Dangerous Ideas - John Gray reflects on the lessons Dostoevsky's novels teach us about the perils of misguided idealism.

Dr Rowan Williams on Dostoevsky - The onetime Archbishop of Canterbury joins Susan Hitch to consider conflicting ideas about spiritual regeneration and existentialism, as embodied in Dostoevsky's characters.

First published 1859 (The Friend of the Family), 1866 (Crime and Punishment), 1869 (The Idiot), 1872 (Demons), 1873 ('Bobok'), 1877 ('The Dream of a Ridiculous Man'), 1880 (The Brothers Karamazov)

About Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), born in Moscow, lived much of his childhood distanced from his frail mother and officious father. During these formative years, he formed a close bond with his elder brother Mikhail. When they were teenagers, however, Fyodor and Mikhail were enrolled in separate boarding schools, Fyodor matriculating at an engineering school in St. Petersburg. Even as he was studying the trade of government, Dostoevsky was honing his skills as a writer, inking drafts of what would become his first novel-Poor Folk. In 1846, it was published to warm critical response. Something of a literary figure at the age of twenty-five, Dostoevsky began attending the discussion group that would result in his imprisonment. His sentence was commuted to four years in prison and four years of army service. His prison experiences, as well as his life after prison among the urban poor of Russia, provided a vivid backdrop for much of his later work. Released from his imprisonment and service by 1858, he began a fourteen-year period of furious writing, in which he published many significant texts, including The House of the Dead, Notes from the Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and Devils. During this period, Dostoevsky's life was in upheaval, as he lost both his first wife and his brother. On February 15, 1867, he married his stenographer Anna Grigorevna Snitkina, who managed his affairs until his death. Two months before he died, Dostoevsky completed the epilogue to The Brothers Karamazov, which was published in serial form in the Russian Messenger.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tobi on July 16, 2024

1. Crime and Punishment This adaptation was phenomenal! Adapting such an eventful and well known book is probably an incredibly daunting and complex experience, and before I started this I was worried about how it would be condensed down into a few parts. But it’s actually really good! We meet all of......more

Goodreads review by Moon Rose (M.R.) on September 09, 2023

Is it really possible to interpret Dostoevsky's works in another medium? Can they really do justice by just faithfully adapting them? Countless artists have tried, from the world of cinema to theatre, to radio drama, but so far. they all seemed to fall short. Even the great Japanese director, Akira K......more