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L'Abyssin

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L'Abyssin

By: Jean-Christophe Rufin
Narrated by: Claude Giraud, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Marc-Henri Boisse, Jean-Paul Bordes, Sophie Caffarel, Frédérique Cantrel
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About this listen

 À l'origine de ce livre audio, un fait historique : Louis XIV, le Roi-Soleil, est entré en relation avec le plus ténébreux, le plus mythique des grands souverains de l'Orient, le Négus. L'Abyssin est le roman de cette fabuleuse ambassade.
Jean-Baptiste Poncet, jeune médecin des pachas du Caire, sera, par une extraordinaire réunion de circonstances, le héros de cette épopée baroque et poétique à travers les déserts d'Égypte et du Sinaï, les montagnes d'Abyssinie, de la cour du Roi des Rois à celle de Versailles et retour. L'Abyssin, tout en empruntant sa langue à Diderot et son rythme à Dumas, est un roman bien actuel, une parabole sur la haine du fanatisme, la force de la liberté et la possibilité du bonheur.©1997 Éditions Gallimard (P)2004 Éditions Gallimard Historical Fiction

Critic reviews

À propos de ce titre
Prix Goncourt du premier roman, Prix Méditerranée.
All stars
Most relevant

Would you try another book written by Jean-Christophe Rufin or narrated by the narrators?

FIRSTLY: THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE RECORDING AROUND CHAPTER 40!!! FOR SEVERAL CHAPTERS YOU CANNOT FOLLOW THE STORY. Saying that, I would like to read the book for which Rufin was awarded the Prix Goncourt. I believe that this was his first novel and it started wonderfully, but his leading characters were not well developed - particularly the women- and eventually, in trying to tie up all loose ends the story descends (in my opinion) from a potential epic to a rather banal story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jean-Christophe Rufin again?

Yes, I enjoy audio books and this was well narrated and acted. However, there is a problem with the recording and for several chapters around chapter 40, it is very difficult to hear what they are saying - it is as if the record is stuck and it jumps back and forth and repeats words and stops mid sentence.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This was an abridged version of the book and this fact detracts significantly from the story as it is the historical detail that gives the book its depth and interest and most of that detail has been left out in the audio recording.

What character would you cut from L'Abyssin?

None, but the female characters are, to my mind, not credible characters and detract from the story.

L'Abyssin - a story set at the end of the 1700's

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