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The Belly of Paris
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
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The Belly of Paris
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Summary
Although it is little known in this country, The Belly of Paris is considered one of Émile Zola’s best novels. Set in the newly built food markets of Paris, it is a story of wealth and poverty set against a sumptuous banquet of food and commerce.
Having just escaped from prison after being wrongfully accused, young Florent arrives at Paris’ food market, Les Halles, half starved, surrounded by all he can’t have, and indignant at his world, which he now knows to be unjust. He finds that the city’s working classes have been displaced to make way for bigger streets and bourgeois living quarters, so he settles in with his brother’s family. Gradually, he takes up with the local socialists, who are more at home in bars than on the revolutionary streets. Slowly, the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor drags the city to the breaking point.
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Belly of Paris
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- cjarrett
- 31-05-18
Badly read
Really enjoyed the story, but did not enjoy Mr Davidson’s reading of the story. His character accents are terrible.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. N. J. Murphy
- 06-08-16
Wonderful book badly read
Would you try another book written by Émile Zola and Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (translator) or narrated by Frederick Davidson?
I would certainly like to listen to more Zola and the translation was excellent. Frederick Davidson's rendering of the book was poor. His lazy, almost sneery, rendering together with his inability to distinguish between a comma and a full stop is pretty poor.
How could the performance have been better?
Get someone else to read the book.
Any additional comments?
Wonderful book, sadly very badly read.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tim
- 02-07-19
Enjoyable
Emile Zola writes in very poetic way and the long descriptions of the market place never get boring. I had no issues with the performance, it was fine.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-02-24
Read it on Kindle or get a paperback
It’s an amazing story but the performer has this annoying repetitive tone that made me crazy. Listen to the sample, if his way of reading is bearable for you for hours then you’re good to go.
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