

I was stupefied throughout by the subtleties in and mastery of each character's voice. His ability to create nuance and breathe life into the book's huge assortment of characters is just outstanding. Now the good: The narrator, Bill Homewood, is quite simply phenomenal. I will also say that despite these two shortcomings, the overall experience is very gratifying, and I'm glad I pushed through to the end. But it also makes me wonder if some of it was written in order to fulfill that demand, and not necessarily because it was essential to the story. And that helps explain its length and intricacy, I suppose.
#The count of monte cristo audiobook abridged serial#
Granted, the book was originally written in serial form, printed chapter by chapter over time and devoured by an eagerly awaiting audience, just as we might do with the latest episode of our favorite TV series. I have heard some people say that they prefer an abridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo, and I suspect I agree. However, once the various threads started to come together I was drawn back in and riveted to the end. This is why I gave the story 4 stars instead of 5. Although the story is much revered as a classic, and, in my opinion, rightly so in many respects, I found certain stretches to be interminable and boring, laying down an unbelievably intricate web of intrigue that sometimes seems to have nothing to do with what went before, and only has its payoff much later. Second, it took me a very, very long time to finish this audiobook. Can Naxos not afford studio time? Can they not think about putting the mic a bit further away from the bird? Or, bear with me.what if we put the birdcage in this house over here, and record the 52-hour audiobook over here in this recording studio? My first instinct was to try to return it and get another version, but I kept listening, and to be honest, after a while it didn't bother me at all (probably because of the reader's jaw-dropping performance). I marveled at the fact that the engineer (or the company behind him/her) could allow such unfavorable recording conditions. Also, you can hear the faint chirping of a bird in the background. But with decent headphones in my ears, it sounded like the narrator was in a cavern, or perhaps a high-ceiling house. Let me get the bad out of the way: First, when I started listening, I was immediately dismayed to hear an echo in the recording that I had not noticed when listening to the sample. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this one, although in general I rate it highly. Superior performance of a very intricate story There is the infamous Catherine de Medici, deliciously evil, constantly plotting and poisoning Le Mole, a dashing and irresistable young Protestant who becomes Marguerite's lover the noble Coconnos who provides a great source of comic relief and at the center of all this intrigue are the good-hearted Marguerite and Henri who are perfect political allies with complicated and fascinating love lives. With well-known historical figures as main characters in a dangerous and breathtaking game for power, Queen Margot tells of conspiracies, clandestine trysts, and daring escapes. The lively prose and wonderfully constructed plot tell of court intrigues and forbidden love, of beautiful queens, duchesses, and noblemen, suspense, conspiracies, betrayals, assassinations, superstitions, poisonings, and sumptuous feasts. In this inventive and compelling novel, Dumas brings an extraordinary period of history vividly to life with much excitement and romance. The wedding brings noblemen from all over the world to Paris resulting in the notorious Saint Bartholomew Massacre, where thousands of Protestants are killed. Several important political events have led up to this marriage including the mysterious murder of Henri de Navarre's mother, cleverly plotted by Catherine de Medici. Henri de Navarre is a Protestant who later will become the beloved King Henri IV. Marguerite is King Charles' sister and the daughter of Henri II and Catherine de Medici, all firm Catholics. Queen Margot begins in 1572 with the marriage of Marguerite de Valois to Henri de Navarre.

The last years of King Charles IX's reign in France were dominated by religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.
