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The Cheese and the Worms

The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller

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The Cheese and the Worms

By: Carlo Ginzburg, Anne C. Tedeschi - translator, John Tedeschi - translator
Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
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About this listen

The Cheese and the Worms is an incisive study of popular culture in the 16th century as seen through the eyes of one man, the miller known as Menocchio, who was accused of heresy during the Inquisition and sentenced to death. Carlo Ginzburg uses the trial records to illustrate the religious and social conflicts of the society in which Menocchio lived.

For a common miller, Menocchio was surprisingly literate. In his trial testimony, he made references to more than a dozen books, including the Bible, Boccaccio's Decameron, Mandeville's Travels, and a "mysterious" book that may have been the Koran. And what he read he recast in terms familiar to him, as in his own version of the creation: "All was chaos, that is earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and of that bulk a mass formed - just as cheese is made out of milk - and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels."

In a thoughtful new preface, Ginzburg offers his own corollary to Menocchio's story as he considers the discrepancy between the intentions of the writer and what gets written. The Italian miller's story and Ginzburg's work continue to resonate with modern listeners because they focus on how oral and written culture are inextricably linked.

©1976 Giulio Einaudi editore; English translation copyright 1980 by The Johns Hopkins University Press and Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.; Edition with new preface copyright 2013 by The Johns Hopkins University Press (P)2019 Tantor Europe Religious Studies Spirituality World Middle Ages

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All stars
Most relevant  
Ginzburgs microhistory is absolutely worth the time, but I struggled with the reader. It was nasal and annoying, and waaaay too fast. Slowing the audio down to 0,9 helped me get through, though.

Highly interesting, poorly read.

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I loved this book but Ochlan reads like a computer, I don't understand why he's so prolific.

Landmark historical work, beautifully translated

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The story of a sixteenth century miller accused of being a heretic by the Inquisition, based on documentation produced at the time. The story itself is really interesting, as are the philosophies of the miller and the circumstances in which he found himself. However, the academic content and contextualisation which are central to the book make it very heavy to listen to. P.J Ochlan does his best with very dense material, and I got the general jist of the arguments Ginzburg was making, but it was difficult to fully concentrate on the detail and take in all the points that were being made. The language is not conducive to an audiobook, and I would recommend reading the text in print instead for a full appreciation of it.

Fascinating content but not ideal for an audiobook

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Loved this book. although I feel it's a bit dense for an audiobook.
Need to read it in print now to fully appreciate it.

Fascinating piece of history

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The book itself is really interesting, but the narrator is one of the worst I’ve come across so far on audible. I’m not entirely convinced this wasn’t generated by AI. I’ve since started reading the ebook and am having a much better time, so I’d only recommend this if audio narration is an absolute necessity for you.

Great book, terrible narrator

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