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Devils

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About this listen

Exiled to four years in Siberia, but hailed by the end of his life as a saint, prophet, and genius, Fyodor Dostoevsky holds an exalted place among the best of the great Russian authors. One of Dostoevsky’s five major novels, Devils follows the travails of a small provincial town beset by a band of modish radicals - and in so doing presents a devastating depiction of life and politics in late 19th-century Imperial Russia. Both a grotesque comedy and a shocking illustration of clashing ideologies, Dostoevsky’s famed novel stands as an undeniable masterpiece.

©1992 Michael R. Katz (P)2013 Recorded Books Classics Russia Soviet Union
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Some things to bare in mind before buying this book

1. You will need a character list to avoid losing track
2. You will need a pretty good understanding of spoken French, as a lot of the main character's dialogue is in French. there's a couple of chapters towards the end that are almost completely in French

A tough one

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The trick is somehow getting through the turgid first five hours or so as few of the main protagonists actually appear in Part one and the plot doesn't take shape until much later. It's worth it though and it all kicks off soon after and it kept going to the end. A thick blue pencil through one third of this novel would have made a more pleasurable listening experience however I suppose you have to keep in mind it was written in 1871 not 1971. I was not sure about George Guidall as the narrator but he grew on me and did a good job in the end.

Marathon Melodrama

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I found Devils confusing to read in book form so I resorted to listening to it. The narrator's style didn't really help to convey the sense of the narrative until way into the book when I began to enjoy him as personifying the book's narrator: a slightly fussy old man. His canadian accent took getting used to but his russian and french were perfect. So long and drawn out a narrative with characters so alien and with various names made it difficult to keep in one's head. I googled the plot to have some idea of what was going on but now my main memory is that I didn't like any of the characters. It is a dark, bleak book right up until a moment at the end when Stepan is dying and realises belief is all. There's a cruel satire of Turgenev, (who lent Dosteyevsky money)
I may listen to it again some day now I know who everyone is and what they are doing.........

A long journey

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I’ve been going through Dostoevsky, and I struggled with this one until about a third of the way through. I couldn’t entirely track the characters or stay engaged all the time, but then I seemed to just fall into the story and never looked back. The psychological insights and depth of the ideas is unbelievable.

I didn’t find there to be nearly as much French as some people have complained. Having finished this book, I can’t believe I nearly gave up on it.

I hope you find it as meaningful as I did.

Staggering literature

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This very long book was brought to life by the excellent reading. Beautifully read and one that I would never have finished reading if it were not read to me as an audio book. I finally have an understanding of the genius of Dostoyevsky.

Outstanding reading

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