CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Dostoyevsky's relentlessly bleak story about poverty and hopelessness in pre-Revolutionary Russia is boiled down to its essence. Alex Jennings is brilliant as Raskolnikov, a man unfortunate enough to have a conscience. Driven by poverty, greed, and a touch of madness, Raskolnikov murders two women for their money and spends the rest of the book trying to live with his crime. Jennings gamely works through the difficult Russian names, making them sound as common as Smith and Jones, while adding just the right amount of pathos and leaden tone to the voices of his characters. The famous novel goes a long way to helping listeners understand the root causes of the Russian Revolution. M.S. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]