The Seine

The River That Made Paris

By: Elaine Sciolino

Narrated by: Elaine Sciolino

A vibrant, enchanting tour of the Seine from longtime New York Times foreign correspondent and best-selling author Elaine Sciolino.

Elaine Sciolino came to Paris as a young foreign correspondent and was seduced by a river. In The Seine, she tells the story of that river from its source on a remote plateau of Burgundy to the wide estuary where its waters meet the sea, and the cities, tributaries, islands, ports, and bridges in between.

Sciolino explores the Seine through its rich history and lively characters: a bargewoman, a riverbank bookseller, a houseboat dweller, a famous cinematographer known for capturing the river’s light. She discovers the story of Sequana - the Gallo-Roman healing goddess who gave the Seine its name - and follows the river through Paris, where it determined the city’s destiny and now snakes through all aspects of daily life. She patrols with river police, rows with a restorer of antique boats, sips champagne at a vineyard along the river, and even dares to go for a swim. She finds the Seine in art, literature, music, and movies from Renoir and Les Misérables to Puccini and La La Land. Along the way, she reveals how the river that created Paris has touched her own life. A powerful afterword tells the dramatic story of how water from the depths of the Seine saved Notre-Dame from destruction during the devastating fire in April 2019.

A “storyteller at heart” (June Sawyers, Chicago Tribune) with a “sumptuous eye for detail” (Sinclair McKay, Daily Telegraph), Sciolino braids memoir, travelogue, and history through the Seine’s winding route. The Seine offers a love letter to Paris and the most romantic river in the world, and invites listeners to explore its magic for themselves.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Elaine Sciolino (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Cringe-worthy French accent

The author is a wonderful writer, but she should not be narrating. Stay in your lane, as they say.
Despite living for some years in France and having French tutors, she does not pronounce French words well.
While speaking, she frequently pauses before the longer or trickier French words, preparing herself to pronounce them (and usually falls quite flat). I was constantly cringing, and finally gave up on the audible version. Quel dommage.

Loved the book !

This is the second book of Elaine’s I’ve listened to via Audible. The first was “The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue Des Martyrs” which I enjoyed immensely. I am used to her voice and cadence so listening to this book was not unusual for me.
She gives In depth details of not only history but present day cultural life on the River. Many of the places she writes of I’ve visited extensively and enjoyed over the past 5 years in my travels throughout France.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who travels on river cruises such as Viking to understand the magic and importance of this River to France.

Good book, Terrible Reader

This is an addendum to my first review. The author, who is reading her own book, is a good writer, but should not be reading her own work. In my previous review I said she has a stilted manor. To elaborate, she trips over "Ts" anywhere they appear in a word. It comes across as a kind of speech impediment. It certainly is an impediment to telling the story.

When she quotes others she takes on a ridiculous melodramatic tone and imitates the French accent as if she were appearing in a bad farce. The combination of the two is so distracting that I am tempted to give up on this book altogether.

Please rerecord this book with a professional actor. It deserves better. Thank you.

Takes you there

Not a travel guide, although it gives plenty of ideas for your next visit to Paris and environs. (I’d love the riverside Sisley walk and a visit the national archaeological museum upriver, for example.) Not a romance or love letter either, but a practical and loving description of the many aspects of this deceptively gentle but important French river, from its source to where it spills into the sea. Some history, some legend, some modern culture, some autobiography, some surprises, all written in sturdy journalistic style, as befits the writer’s profession as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times.

The author’s own voice provides the narration; at least her French pronounciation doesn’t grate, although her native American English is oddly hesitant or self consciously enunciated at times, no great drawback. Altogether an enjoyable and enriching listen.

A separate PDF provides images she describes, so important to this oft-painted and photographed subject, but when will someone offer an integrated and affordable e-book reader that’s able to show high-res images too?

Sharing Beauty

What a wonderful book, filled with stories, spirit, geography, history, joy and splendid beauty. It made me long to see Paris again... but for today, it’s taken me there.