The Chartreuse of Parma (The Charterhouse of Parma)

Court intrigue, affairs, all that stuff

(3 stars)

TwinkieToes

Set in northern Italy close to the Austrian border, this story takes place as Napoleon makes his final stand at Waterloo. The main character of the story is 17 at the time, and runs away from his home on Lake Como to join Napoleon's army. What follows is the story of him and his intrigues, and of his aunt, Gina, doing everything she can to forward him in his life, because she loves him (although she's 15 or so years older than him). Lots of love affairs; court intrigue in the kingdom of Parma, which has a weak and ridiculous ruler; selfishness and toadyism. Story's pretty good. Narrator does well, but I disliked the different voice for the French passages and the lack of translation (albeit neither of these are really the reader's fault - if you can't speak French, you find someone else to read the long French parts). Funny how the Chartreuse of Parma itself doesn't come into the story until the last 5 minutes or so.

Not as bad as other reviews made out

(3 stars)

tonyf58

The other reviews made this sound awful however, it is not as bad as all that. Once you get used to the voice he reads well. Yes there is a bit of confusion at the start but don't let this put you off.

Wonderful - but see note:

(5 stars)

Unknown

The book is beautifully read, but beware that Chapter 3 is missing - the introduction repeats. This is not the reader's fault. I did a search online and found a Vibrivox version of the book with Chapter 3 intact.

recording is a mess

(0.5 stars)

Matt

Needs to redone or edited better. Chapter three is missing. The intro is in its place. Chapter two starts with a long passage in french.

not recommended

(0.5 stars)

Listener

-reader uses a sleepy, mumbling voice -chapters in a confused, incorrect order

(4 stars)

kappakoosh

Not sure why the bad reviews. I enjoyed it very much.