The Charterhouse of Parma

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What to expect

The Charterhouse of Parma is a twisting tale of passion and intrigue following the adventures of Fabrizio del Dongo, a young Italian nobleman who dreams of glory on the battlefields of Europe and finds himself fighting alongside Napoleon at Waterloo. After returning home, Fabrizio becomes entangled in Machiavellian scheming, an ill-advised romance, and a fatal duel that lands him in prison, where he begins a star-crossed love affair with the ethereal Clelia, the commandant’s daughter. Admired by Balzac, who considered it the most important novel of his time, The Charterhouse of Parma is a profoundly moving reflection on power, prestige and freedom.

Critics Review

Set in a corrupt Italian principality, Stendhal’s 1839 comic masterpiece is often called the greatest of political novels. This fine new audiobook narration by Nicholas Boulton captures all the cosmopolitan wit and worldly detachment of its author’s distinctive voice. Like many other nineteenth-century masters, and unlike today’s more detached authors, Stendhal is companion and guide, and he oversees the adventures of ‘our hero,’ the headstrong Fabrizio, with open partiality. Boulton slips easily into that traditional narrative role and takes us through Stendhal’s rollicking action-filled narrative at an unflagging pace. His performance is classic, and now more than ever, Stendhal’s sanity and good humor are a welcome antidote to the modern world’s harsher political realities.

D.A.W., AudioFile

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