Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero

I don't understand some of the other reviews ! Not only is Frederick Davidson THE best narrator on Audible he also does a perfect job in reading this book. There can be hardly anything said about the story for it is known to most of us, and may it even be from the picture made in in the 60ies, starring the unforgetable Sir Peter Ustinov. The criticism about the "ancient ttranslation" is not very well founded. Sure, there are a lot of "thou" and "thee" but this makes the story more interesting and does not affect the fluency of the book. I read this book many years ago and this "audio delicasy" brought back old memories. All in all it was extremely enjoyable listening to this great tale.

If you liked Ben Hur and The Robe and have the patience to read something above the eighth grade level (that is to say, something with high level language, extensive explication of historical setting and surroundings, and slow but sure character development), you will like Quo Vadis. It will remind you a lot of The Robe in its theme and development, but it is a fine classic in its own right.

Excelent book, great translation, fantastic reader.

First, Sienkiewicz is one of my favorite authors, and it is a shame that Audible doesn’t offer more of his works. Quo Vadis would only rank in the middle of the pack, with many better books out there. Please record more!

Some reviews complain about the translation, there is not a mistake here; Sienkiewicz is writing a book about things that happened about 30 years after the death of Christ, so he tried to make the language sound contemporary to the bible. It makes sense in the story. Admittedly Frederick Davidson’s narration may make this a little worse to people who are sensitive to something that sounds "old", as he does have a very formal British accent. Personally Davidson is one of my favorite narrators on Audible, and I feel he does great work with this Nobel Prize winning novel. While on one hand this is a novel about Christians in Rome (one of the better books in this genera), it may also be interesting that the author wrote this in a partitioned Poland. Not all the jabs are just about the historic decadence of Rome.

Beware: this is the late 19th-century translation which uses archaic English (thee's and thou's and Bible-like phrasing and syntax) to give the text an "ancient" feel. Five minutes of "Dost thou know how I love thee?" is quaint, but one tires of the ornate speech rather quickly. There's an up-to-date, contemporary translation of Quo Vadis that is supposed to be very good but it is not yet on audio. As well, the narrator speaks with an uber-upper class British accent that, combined with the archaic language, turns the characters into snobs and drama queens. Not sure if this was intended or not, but Nero actually sounds normal in comparison the insufferably snobbish Petronius! Still, there are some very fine moments in this book and some levity sprinkled here and there. Sienkiewich did his homework and one really does get immersed in this vanished civilization. Hopefully they'll bring the modern translation to audio.

I've grown spoiled by the quality of great narrators in my Audible library. Unfortunately, Mr. Davidson's narration of Quo Vadis? did not work for me. His reading style seemed more suited for lecturing at a University.

There is no flow, the tonality given to people is just so unbelievable, I mean the Tribune( military hero) sounds like my 12 year old daughter when she whines about her curfew

The narration is poorly performed. Could not get through more than about an hour of the book.