Classic French Short Stories, Volume 1

By: Jean Paul Sartre, Guy de Maupassant, Anatole France, Albert Camus

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

Filial Sentiments of a Parricide by Marcel Proust
In this extraordinarily sensitive and penetrating psychological story, a series of letters from a family friend reveals far more than expected in hindsight.  

An Incident in the Reign of Terror by Honore de Balzac
A mysterious man follows a nun to her hiding place in order to say a midnight mass.

The Wall by Jean Paul Sartre
The master of existentialism takes us on a journey into raw fear as felt by three men facing execution during the Spanish Civil War.

Omphale by Theophile Gautier
A delightful tale of a young man's unusual first love. 

Father Gauchet's Elixir by Alphonse Daudet
In this hilarious tale, a remote monastery in the French countryside decides to go into the spirits business...alcoholic spirits that is.

In the Moonlight by Guy de Maupassant
When a French priest finds his niece involved in a romance, his religious obsessions threaten to erupt into violence. An epiphany intervenes.

The Procurator of Judaea by Anatole France
Set in the ancient Roman Empire, this is an intriguing conversation between two well connected Romans, one of whom is Pontius Pilate.

The Guest by Albert Camus
Set in French colonial Algiers, this is a story of how a French teacher is made to suddenly experience the fear and hostility of being an outsider in a hostile land.

The Little Bouilloux Girl by Colette
Growing to womanhood in a provincial French village is the subject of this marvelous story.

The Duel by Alexandre Dumas
The master of the adventure novel tells a tale of an unusual duel. But the ultimate victims of this affair turn out to be not only both the duelists, but a third party, as well.

The Walker-Through-Walls by Marcel Ayme
This comic tale is about a man with miraculous powers. At first, he is content to play practical jokes, then he moves on to burglary and high romance.

©Public domain; 1939 Jean Paul Sartre; 1957 Albert Camus; 1943 Marcel Ayme (P)2006 Audio Connoisseur

Great intro to French lit

Dumas has written so much that is classic, it's easy to overlook the other great storytellers of France. This volume makes for a good introduction.

Nonsense music

The annoying classic music plays during the story and has nothing to do with the story. You have to listen to a minute of music to find out which chapter is which story.

music is annoying

music is very annoying. The stories and the reader make this book a worthwhile read.

Perhaps the most terrible reading of anything ever

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I found it nearly impossible to get anything from this because both performance & presentation are so bad. The reading manages to be both overblown and robotic. Clearly the reader has little or no real engagement with the material & falls back on bad acting, cliche and guesswork where understanding, subtlety and nuance are required. A real shame as I was pleased to find some English translations of classic French literature on audible.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Classic French Short Stories, Volume 1?

The appalling & off putting music springs toMind

How could the performance have been better?

In so many ways. Nuance, subtlety & a sense that the reader had engaged with the texts would be a start though.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Great writing.

Any additional comments?

More translations of French lit would be nice. Particularly if done well.

Computer or human

Could not work out if the narator was human, or a computer. The voice often sounded like a voice recogniton programme. Not the easiest listen from Audible.