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Great literature.
Made simple.
Still powerful.

Most people never finish the great books, because the language gets in the way long before the story does. Read the original, or a simpler version in plain modern English, listen to it read aloud, and let Hermes explain the difficult lines in the margin. Hardcovers in stock, at your door in one to two days.

Hermes carrying a monumental stone tablet

What Roman Reads Is

The great books: printed, read aloud, and explained in the margin.

In stock. Delivered in 1–2 days.

R1our own audio modelTwo voices free with an account

The most natural, most expressivenarration model.

R1 is our own audio model. It reads the audiobooks on this site, and any book you bring in yourself, in 340 voices across 63 languages. A whole chapter at a time, in one voice from the first page to the last. Two voices are free with an account. The rest come with the subscription, coming soon.

Hear a sample 5 of 340

Every reader reads the same passage, so you can compare them.

All 340 readers

Plain narration, unhurried, the way a chapter opens.

On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.Crime and Punishment, Constance Garnett, 1914

  • Every word is timed, so the page lights the word being read.
  • Your place is kept to the second, chapter to chapter.
  • R1 will read in your own voice instead.

Dialogue, offhand and warm, one character talking across a room.

The loaf I'll fetch you this very minute, but wouldn't you rather have some cabbage soup instead of sausage? It's capital soup, yesterday's. I saved it for you yesterday, but you came in late. It's fine soup.Crime and Punishment, Constance Garnett, 1914

  • Every word is timed, so the page lights the word being read.
  • Your place is kept to the second, chapter to chapter.
  • R1 will read in your own voice instead.

The same reader at full pitch, to hear what the voice does under strain.

'Ah!' she cried out in a frenzy, 'he has come back! The criminal! the monster! And where is the money? What's in your pocket, show me! Where are your clothes? Where is the money! Speak!'Crime and Punishment, Constance Garnett, 1914

  • Every word is timed, so the page lights the word being read.
  • Your place is kept to the second, chapter to chapter.
  • R1 will read in your own voice instead.
R1 reads every audiobook on this site
Samples are free to play. Reading a whole book in a live voice comes with the subscription, coming soon. Open the audiobooks

9 volumes · 7 writers

Every book, both ways:
in hardcover, and read aloud.

Our best sellers first: Russian novels, philosophy and modern classics. We hold every one as a hardcover, at your door in one to two days. Click a book to see its details.

Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky · Volume 1 of 9 · 1866 About this book

Crime and Punishment, 1866

Philosophers · novelists · modern voices

Get to know the
writers you love.

Every one of them has a page: who they were, what happened to them, and every book they wrote. Read it in the original words or a simpler version, listen to it read aloud, and have it explained in the margin by Hermes, the built-in AI guide.

pick a face, it opens their page

A hundred books,read aloud.

Choose a voice, press play, and pick up exactly where you left off. The text follows along, line by line, as it is read. Three samples are free to play today. The full library comes with the subscription, coming soon.

100+ audiobooksYour PDF, read aloudOne subscription, coming soon

The app, coming soon

The whole library,
in your pocket.

The Roman Reads app is coming to iOS and Android. Carry the whole library with you. Read or listen, in the original words or a simpler version, and ask Hermes, the built-in AI guide, about any line, chapter, or book.

Free appiOS & Android100+ audiobooks
A marble statue of Hermes holding the Roman Reads app QR code QR code linking to the Roman Reads app page
Stay in touch

New books and recordings, about once a month.

New hardcovers, new audiobook recordings, and special editions from Roman Reads, straight to your inbox.

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Roman ReadsLiterature made simple

Hardcovers and audiobooks, with simpler editions, translations on request, and Hermes, the built-in AI guide that explains the parts that are hard to follow.

Set in Cormorant Garamond, Manrope & Caveat.
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