The Mysteries of Udolpho

In appreciation of Udolpho

(4 stars)

Runcible

I'm writing this in response to the previous review by sarahm. A long book such as this one took a very long time to record on Librivox. If you were to wait for another group of volunteers to even attempt "Udolpho" again, you might be waiting in vain. I respectfully remind everyone that this is a volunteer recording; that many who volunteer for Librivox don't have professional recording studios. So there may be variations in sound quality from time to time. If one reads along from the text link provided at the Librivox catalog page for Udolpho, a listener can get around those occasions when you don't like a certain reader of a chapter.

Fortunately We Have Alternatives

(0 stars)

sarahm

UPDATE: Read along? I listen to books while I am gardening or cooking. But if honest comments are not wanted, I will simply comment without stars. You are correct that there is no need to redo. I can always download and listen TTS or on Kindle. Original Comment: The novel is sure to entertain anyone who delights in atmospheric Gothic stories about rambling old castles with secret passages and danger. Unfortunately, many chapters include distracting background noises or indistinct readings.

A classic that feels really slow for modern audience

(3 stars)

BlueCat

Udolpho is a classic, considered to be a part of the histories of fantastical, horror and romantic literature, but I have to confess I found it not just a little tedious at times. Long descriptions of environments and atmospheres, action scenes described in a long-winded way that loses the action, and idiotic characters that I wanted to kick to get them to actually do something. Especially the main character, Emily, frustrated me with her proper manners and goodness that prevented her from acting against the monstrous situations she floated into. I do realize times were different and the role of women was much more constricted, but still, her inactivity was suffocating for me. The book was read by several different readers, which is understandable since it's so long. Some of them were better, some not so good, but overall good work. Just one thing: if one wants to record a book situated in France and Italy, one should really learn to pronounce Italian and French names... That aside, I want to thank you all!

----

(0 stars)

lanternland

This is not a review of the book but rather a comment on what Runcible said... "If one reads along from the text link provided at the Librivox catalog page for Udolpho, a listener can get around those occasions when you don't like a certain reader of a chapter." I didn't even know that! Thanks!

Exhausting Length

(2.5 stars)

Kevin Kelly - Orlando, FL

A worthy historical insight into the development of classical romance novels. Not much worthy of reading based on early 21st century expectations, but any review today is spoiled as the product of modern likes arrogantly applied to a historical era. We simply are not there and then. With that qualification in mind, this is a good novel expanded into twice its deserved length. Rife with self-indulgent “poetry” squares forced into rounds holes. A foundation for melodrama. I appreciate narration by late stage students of English, but too many important chapters here are relegated to primary students of the language with whom we jointly cringe.

Could have been shorter

(2.5 stars)

Heidi

I love the classics but not this one. There were beautiful phrases here and there that I loved and highlighted, but overall the plot was a meandering mess. Thank you, LibriVox volunteers, for your contributions. It was weird and jarring to have the narrators change from chapter to chapter, and the pronunciations of European names likewise varied wildly with each narrator… so I suppose that's one aspect that perhaps could be looked into for future collaborations. At least have everyone on the same page regarding how the names should be pronounced (including names of locations).

(3 stars)

Faust

The text is long and filled with intricate details of nature and surroundings in general, what makes it a bit hard to get through. If you are not a fan of picturesque descriptions you might find it quite slow paced. But the thing that bothered me a lot was a lot of different readers with strong accents.

(2.5 stars)

E M

it's hard enough to understand foreign titles and names that I'm unfamiliar with, having readers who cannot hardly talk English makes it extremely difficult to follow the storyline. at least if they could read several chapters in succession you could get used to who they're talking about. very disappointed