Mumu

I would like to preface my review by noting that I had previously snagged another audiobook adaptation of Russian literature also narrated by Max Bohlinger, the former was the Short Stories of Anton Chekhov.

For many years, I have been an ardent audiophile particularly of classic Russian and Victorian literature. As such, I anticipated the arrival of the first audiobook which was quite a disappointment to me. However, I wanted to give Mumu a chance yet the narration was a let down as well. It saddens me that such an egregious project leaves something to be desired. Like some of my fellow reviewers, the tone and cadence of the narrator distracted my concentration. On the other hand, the premise of Mumu is captivating - the sad show more circumstances of a deaf serf who suffers at the hands of his infuriating and calculating mistress leading to further isolation and alienation.

Though listening to the audiobook was challenging, I'm looking forward to reading Mumu in book format. show less

This is my first audiobook ever and it has been a good experience hearing this amusing story by Turgenev. Amusing, but interesting also because one can learn again about the terrible class-differences in the 19th century and how they affected life even in such way that the lady of the house not only could decide that a servant was going to marry, she could even chose the partner also, all dependening on her mood. What a miserable life...
She doesn't know or care about the souls of her servants, she only knows her own moods. The dog Mumu is a symbol of the loyalty of the servant towards the lady. And the servants are no more than a dog to her, something you can command and something fun or useful but if you start to hate it, you can show more drown it. In this story there is no love that overrules the classdifferences.
Only the servants love the dog (they can relate to its position). They have no means to change their situation of dependence. But the central, deaf (symbolic too) figure who saved the dog as a puppy and who loves it more than anything else, has the power to leave after he drowns it on the lady's command. By doing this he has drowned his faithfulness to her also and he breaks the rules.
I can imagine that it is fun for the English listener that the reader has a Russian accent but I had to get used to this and to his nasal voice. show less

This is unlistenable (and if that's not a word, it should be).

Although I applaud a small company producing an audiobook of a classic Russian short story, the translation, reading and packaging all appear to have been prepared by non-native English speakers. The packaging has several glaring typos, and within the first minute of the audio recording, there's a major error in English tense ("she was living" used in an otherwise past tense clause instead of "she lived"). The reading itself is performed by someone with a heavy Russian accent who appears to have limited experience with English pronunciation and word/syllable emphasis. As a result, this makes it tricky to understand the reading on top of the awkward translation.

Sadly, I show more cannot recommend this production. show less

Having read Turgenev's works in the original Russian, I can acknowledge that Constance Garnett does an acceptable job with Mumu, although her language occasionally feels stilted or, worse, laughably anachronistic. My biggest complaint about this new audio release of Turgenev's 19th century classic is the use of a narrator who has a Russian accent. As listeners, we already perceive Turgenev's language through the filter of the translation, so being forced to contend with the additional filter of the narrator's accent serves only to emphasize our distance from the original. Frankly, the narrator's accent makes this audiobook come across as gimmicky for an English-speaking audience, preventing the listener from getting lost in the story show more itself, which is a great disservice to Turgenev's mastery as an author. show less

A poignant story of a deaf-mute peasant who gets a job on an estate in Moscow. Wonderful storytelling and great portrayal of the main character. Even though it's only a short story, there is a wealth of social issues presented in it that plagued life in Russia at the time.
Read in English, but with a very distinct Russian accent by Max Bollinger.

Deeply intense story of Mumu, the dog and deaf mute Gerasim, whom one might suppose a serf transplanted from a country estate near Moscow where "he did the work of four men" to duties as courtyard porter of the Moscow's house of a recluse elderly female landowner, whom one might suppose a member of the Aristocracy. All is intimist and social critic tschekovian in tone, never overt. Gerasim is Russia, lost in a city in his peasant blouse among the "German coats" worn by domesticity and visitors to the town house.

With great empathy for the human condition and his characters, Turgenev depicts a courtyard kept meticulously clean of weeds, dust and drunkards by Gerasim. After loosing a potential wife to a shoemaker through a marriage of show more convenience arranged by the landowner, Gerasim reports all his affection on his dog Mumu.

When Mumu rejects the unwanted attention of the insomniac and paranoiac old lady secluded in her second floor apartments, disaster strikes prompting Gerasim's return to his village and the eternal values of mother Russia, its land and its people. This audio book is beautifully presented. The narrator convincing and sincere in conveying the gentleness of Gerasim and yet his inalterable strenghth opposed to the cruelty and stupidity of the other members of the household. A short story but great in emotion and meaning that makes you want to read his other books. What a successful introduction to a great writer. show less

Mumu is a empathic story that criticizes the social structure of feudal Russia of the 19th century. This subtle tale takes place on the estate of a selfish and thoughtless old widow who treats her serfs as animals and treats her animals worse. The Mumu of the title is a little dog who belongs to a Gerasim, a deaf-mute serf who works on the estate.

I have never read Turgenev before, and this story makes me interested to try more of him.

As for the audiobook, I found that the narrator had an oddly computerized sounding voice--it was as if I was listening to this on my GPS and I'd set the accent as Russian-British. However, within a few minutes of listening, the distraction disappeared and I didn't notice it anymore. However, I had to listen show more to the book in 20 minute periods, so each time I started I noticed this. This was a minor distraction.

Recommended for: people who are new to 19th Russian literature but want to give it a try. Also, people looking for short audiobooks.

NOT recommended for: people who get upset about sad animal stories. I'm not one of those people, but this story was more than a little troubling. show less