Cousin Bette

By: Honoré de Balzac

Narrated by: Johanna Ward

Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

The Bette referred to in this magnificent novel's title is Lisbeth Fischer, an excruciatingly cunning poor relation who both depends upon and nurses a terrible grudge against the family of her beautiful cousin, Adeline. That family is slowly being ruined by the uncontrollable sexual appetites of Adeline's husband, Baron Hulot - appetites that will, in time, give Cousin Bette opportunity to exact her vengeance.

Balzac described Cousin Bette as one of his "scenes of Parisian life", and it is certainly that. It offers us a hypnotic vision of that infinitely varied city during the bright, vital, scandalous, and sexually untrammeled era of King Louis-Philippe. The courtesans, swindlers, bankers, artists, murderers, detectives, and saints populating this world pass before us invested with a verve and vividness unsurpassed in the history of the novel.

(P)1999 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Doing justice to Balzac

Johanna Ward reads this book beautifully! She clearly has excellent control of both French and English and it shows! Thanks!

a bit sad

I wanted to read this book because I loved the movie. I am sorely disappointed.

Great story!

Would you listen to Cousin Bette again? Why?

I did listen twice because I could not keep the characters apart and the reader didn't change her voice enough to help me remember individual characters. After I got past that it was easier to listen to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Actually, none of them since none were able to see their own problems let alone do anything about them.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

In the beginning it was difficult to keep the characters apart.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, not possible.

Any additional comments?

I was a lot like a modern day soap opera.

Great story and fine performance, bravo!

The storyline is very witty, and insightful to human nature, respectfully performed by a great artist.

Thoroughly enjoyable

Great story that feels immediate, even though the world has changed. People always want more sex, security and power. Universal.

Classic, Poetic and Funny

It never fails me how even translated from French this. book flows poetically. The twists and turns of this story keep the reader on his toes. Another great narrator also.

Una Joya

Por algo Balzac es un clásico, este libro es un deleite de principio a fin y la narradora lo hace aún mejor.
No se lo pierdan

listened to several times good reader

I had to listen a couple times this book is very good has hidden secrets. you have to keep up with the characters attitude, timing, literally and references to illuminati. God and refusal of God. suffering of man along with all characters vices, folly, the view of a poor and rich social classes quite interesting because it was how realistic life was not very long ago. and how some of it doesn't change. faith hope and charity were actually adopted children of a pedophile and it makes references and statements of realities that time in history. maybe written a long time ago but not irreverent to now and day culture as there are still sugar daddies in society. Valerie takes the lead role very funny i burst out in laughter a couple times. a memorial book definitely makes you think about life and what you want it to be afterwards.

Excellent

I loved this book. it was very modern despite being an old book. It actually reminded me alot of Anna Karinena I would recommend his book to any one. The narrator was excellent too.

Tragedy of the post-Napoleonic sex addict

This novel has several different dimensions, most of which I could not fully appreciate. A big part of it is detailed social history of France in the first half of the 19th century, with constant references to social classes and occupations, houses, decorative arts, and above all economics: every transaction is accounted for down to the sou. To get the most of this you would have to know a lot more about the era than I do. Another dimension to the novel is Balzac‘s opinions about ethical, political and aesthetic questions, which I found unpersuasive and boring.

At the bottom of all this, though, is an absolutely insane melodrama of destructive lust. I don’t know if this is a spoiler, but at one point a character has four different men persuaded that the child she is carrying is theirs, apart from her syphilitic and possibly gay husband. In this world the natural lifecycle of a successful man seems to be despoiling his own family to place bonds, securities and real estate in the hands of a 19 year old actress, but even in this context, the Baron Hulot’s addiction to relationships with ever new, much younger women is completely uncontrolled and leads to the fiery destruction of his own fortune and career and the lives of most of those around him.

It’s a long novel, and for the last half of it I could barely stop listening to do anything else.

The narrator, Johanna Ward, is really excellent. She’s good with the French names and terms, and lends just the right amount of drama.