The most naturally English of the modern versions, and the easiest to read at length. Ignat Avsey worked to make Dostoevsky sound like living, idiomatic English rather than translated Russian, and his prose flows so well that this is often the one recommended to readers daunted by the book’s size. He will occasionally recast a phrase for naturalness where a stricter hand would stay literal, which is exactly what purists hold against him and what everyone else is grateful for. The Oxford World’s Classics edition is well introduced and annotated. If your goal is to actually finish the Karamazovs and enjoy them, Avsey carries you the most smoothly of anyone.
Ignat Avsey
1938–2013
A translator of Russian fiction whose 1994 Oxford Brothers Karamazov is admired for its natural, idiomatic English and won a translation prize.