Fry and Laurie read Daudet & Jerome

by Alphonse Daudet, Jerome K. Jerome, Stephen Fry (narrator)

Daudet's atmospheric Letters from a Windmill, combined with Jerome K. Jerome's wonderfully idle ramblings. He was indeed the original founder of The Idler and famous for his classic novel Three Men and a Boat.

Genres: Audiobook, Humor, Short Stories, Classics, Literature

Audiobook

First published May 15, 2006

About the author

Stories of life of French writer Alphonse Daudet of the naturalist school in his native Provence include Lettres de mon moulin (1869).

Louis Marie Alphonse Daudet authored novels. He was the younger brother of Ernest Daudet. He was married to Julia Daudet and the father of Léon Daudet, Lucien Daudet and Edmée Daudet, all writers.

Family on both sides belonged to the bourgeoisie. Vincent Daudet, the father, manufactured silk, but misfortune and failure dogged the man through life. A boyhood depressed Alphonse amid much truancy had. He spent his days mainly at Lyon, left in 1856, and began life as a schoolteacher at Alès, Gard, in the south. The position proved intolerable. As Charles Dickens declared that all through his prosperous career, the miseries of his apprenticeship to the blacking business haunted him in dreams, so after Daudet left Alès, he woke with horror, thinking for months that he still dwelt among his unruly pupils.

On 1 November 1857, he abandoned teaching and took refuge with Ernest Daudet, his brother only some three years his senior, who tried "soberly" to make a living as a journalist in Paris. Alphonse took to writing, and a small volume, Les Amoureuses (1858), collected his poems and met with a fair reception. He obtained employment on Le Figaro, then under energetic editorship of Cartier de Villemessant, and wrote two or three plays; those interested in literature began to recognize him as possessing individuality and promise. Morny, all-powerful minister of Napoleon III, appointed Daudet, who held a post of his secretaries till death of Morny in 1865, and Morny showed Daudet no small kindness. Daudet put his foot on the road to fortune.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was originally available as two cds, which I listened to from my phone via the library. The first 'cd' is excerpts from Daudet's "Letters from my Windmill." The letters are interesting enough, and Fry did a good job, but if I ever read the original, I would like to read the annotated version. (Why is someone a trollop for 'sleeping alone in the barn?' )

I preferred Laurie's reading of selections from "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" and I would listen to Laurie read anything by Jerome. Jerome's views on women are absurd, but he made me laugh during a pandemic, and I look forward to reading more by him.

[Tanja Elín Sigurgrímsdóttir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gæti hlustað á þessa menn lesa hvað sem er! En þessi verk henta röddum og persónum þeirra einstaklega vel. Fry í notalegu frönsku sveitinni. Laurie enn betri í The Idler sem eiginlega sama týpa og Wooster, vildi óska að hún væri lengri.

[Femke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heerlijke stemmen om naar te luisteren en grappige verhalen

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely charming. Jerome more than Daudet.