The Charterhouse of Parma

De: Henri Beyle Stendhal

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini

In the coming-of-age story, we follow a young Italian nobleman, Fabrizio Valserra, Marchesino del Dongo, on many adventures, including his experiences at the Battle of Waterloo, and romantic intrigues.

©1997 Margaret Mauldon (P)2013 Recorded Books

To the happy few

The beginning is slightly clustered with characters who hold no special significance later in the book, thus it was a bit difficult to follow. However, after Parma is introduced, the story carries on at a steady pace with at the centre being the love life of Fabrice and the affections showered upon him. Another thing which doesn’t lend itself being easy to imagine is the Fortress prison in Parma, although offering details, I have never seen anything like it so my imagination doesn’t do justice to the painted picture.

I enjoyed the pronouncing of names and titles, the Italian puns, fights, court intrigue, and so much more. Charterhouse of Parma is a remarkable book and what’s more, being offered free of cost. I would also recommend Red and Black which has a hero at the centre who also finds himself engaging in adultery and revering Napoleon, and much like in the pertinent story, the character has an unhappy ending.

A classic you don't want to miss

This is another classic I never got around to reading and finally Audiobooks made it possible for me to finally get to it. I thought it started a little slow but oh how it developed. It was hard to stop my walks and turn off my iPod. I walked extra just to keep listening. It is a French author writing about an Italian hero and I enjoyed the comments about the two different cultures. The beautiful Italian names will ring in my head forever. Don't miss it.

Napoleonic fiction

Where does The Charterhouse of Parma rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

very high

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mosca, a complicated character

What does Edoardo Ballerini bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Depth, feeling, and wonderful pronunciation.
If only all your readers of books with European words could pronounce them as well as he does.
I look for books that he reads.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

all of it

Any additional comments?

Get Ballerini to do more readings.

Highly Regarded, But…

This novel is highly regarded in literary circles through time.

I see many reasons why.

But I don’t think it’s great, however great might be defined.

I won’t bother you with all the features that are traditionally regarded as excellent or those that I admire. I’ll just say that I think the plot unwinds in ways that aren’t particularly interesting, and the characters sort of meander on to the end on disparate courses that seem rather contrived to me.

I take leave of the story with little of the inspiration or glow I tend to have after reading a great piece of literature.

The narration is more than satisfactory.

Another version of Candide

Any additional comments?

This is a remarkable enjoyable epic of a young man in search of love encountering the ways of the world which have not changed since this book was written. It reminded me of Voltaire's Candide but far more sophisticated in nuance and breadth and soul. It's comparison of the French and Italian personas is very interesting.