Thank You, Audible

Any additional comments?

I have been waiting for this English classic to come out on audio for years. A brilliant performance by the narrator ranging from upper class English to serving maids, from lords to thieving brigands all rendered with exactness and enthusiasm that carries us through the narrative like a Harry Potter story. I'll have to reread my Jane Austen collection now that I can fully understand all her "Udolpho" references. One more benefit of this audio.

25 people found this helpful

Loved it!

So great to have the privilege of listening to this on audio by award winning Alison Larkin who is in dazzling form here. She should win an award for her portrayal of the villainous Montoni who very much reminds me of Scar in The Lion King. 

Any serious fan of classic literature will recognize Ann Radcliffe as the grandmother of gothic fiction and the vampire craze we have to day owes much to her writing. This novel I believe was the first "best seller" and after listening one can understand why. 

What separates a great book like this from the popular Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse novels is the obvious well rounded education of Ms Radcliffe. For example at the heart of the novel's mystery are the rogue italian militias that roamed the Apenines and Ms Radcliffe makes glorious use of the dark history. Where else would we learn about that? In addition the sentence structure and descriptive details are some of the best in literature and Ms Larkin renders them like Horowitz playing Chopin.

I've listened to it twice and look forward to at least a few more.

18 people found this helpful

A Classic, but not my style

What disappointed you about The Mysteries of Udolpho?

Though this book is one of the greatest classics of all time, and I hear it's never been out of print, I can't say I found it a compelling listen. I struggle a little with 18th and 19th century period pieces anyway, but this one seemed to be more than usually drawn out, and though there is a great deal of drama and high suspense, I found it all rather contrived. However, several of my friends, more in tune with the Gothic style, really enjoyed it.

Would you ever listen to anything by Ann Ward Radcliffe again?

This, I beleive, was Radcliffe's first book. I might try some of her later work.

What about Alison Larkin’s performance did you like?

The reader performs well, she's comfortable with Radcliffe's high style, and has a pleasant voice.

6 people found this helpful

Only Alison Larkin Could have Narrated This Story

If you could sum up The Mysteries of Udolpho in three words, what would they be?

Love.
Loss.
Surprise.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Mysteries of Udolpho?

One of the most memorable moments was the heroine was reunited with her lover.

What does Alison Larkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This book has sentences that seem to go on like arias in an opera. Only Alison Larkin could give the listener every subtle sense of meaning behind every word. Alison Larkin helped carry me along an experience that was like riding a great wave of powerful prose. I could only ride the wave because she gave me the support--through her clear evocation of every emotion and through every description--that we were moving towards an exciting shore.

I have never heard a story with such deep descriptions of every mental, and emotional experience. Only Alison Larkin has the range of tone and wit and sympathetic and sometimes passionate delivery to have made such a story a great and moving work of art.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book and Alison Larkin's brilliant interpretation of every line was much too grand an experience to try to absorb in one sitting.

I decided early on to let this remarkable experience--like listening to the greatest symphony of life and loves--continue over time. I would listen to it in the evenings.

All day I would look forward to hearing Alison Larkin's melodic voice give powerful meaning to a story that seemed to have almost every possible emotion in it.

Any additional comments?

I am grateful that Alison Larkin narrated this story for us. Without her remarkably sensitive and powerful reading of this material it might not have come alive in such a dramatic way.

8 people found this helpful

Because Jane Austen seemed to recommend it...

In "Northanger Abbey," Austen's main character--and every other young person in the book--is either reading or has read "The Mysteries of Udolpho." It's a 31 hour read in this performance, and I really enjoyed listening to it. The story and the performance were good, though it moves a little slowly, or possibly confusingly, at times. I was quite put off when, somewhere in the middle, the author seems to start an entirely different novel with as-of-yet unmentioned characters. It all gets tied together eventually and comes to a very satisfactory climax and conclusion. The characters are interesting, and it is often hard to predict where they are headed, which is a good thing. This is definitely more "Gothic" than the novels of Jane Austen, but I think that it influenced the later author, and I glad to have read it. Well done, Mrs. Radcliffe.

3 people found this helpful

Be sure to read this in the woods at night

The performance is brilliant and the story has more fainting women than all other gothic stories combined. It is that scary.

3 people found this helpful

'Twilight' for Austen era teenage girls

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

teens of the 1800's?

What about Alison Larkin’s performance did you like?

Alison Larkin is a trooper - she did her very best to make this listenable and I will be looking for more narration by her

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

A revealing window on life from the period - also makes Northanger Abbey even more enjoyable

3 people found this helpful

Very Entertaining!

I really enjoyed the storyline and the characters. Author provided beautiful, graphic descriptions that I could easily follow in my mind's eye. A very enjoyable read, indeed

3 people found this helpful

Excellent

First rate rendering of a most important classic.
While this novel is applauded as an early gothic, it is far too luxuriantly written to overlook the elegance and sheer beauty of its prose.

2 people found this helpful

Delightful book!

I've been wanting to read this book ever since I read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, which is probably the reason why most people read it today. What a fun listen! Admittedly, this book is somewhat shallow; it's kind of like the late 1700s equivalent of the Twilight series, but without the vampires. I think it would have appealed to the same audience of teenage girls. Anyway, it's a delightful book if taken in context, and the performance is good.

2 people found this helpful