Don Juan

by Lord Byron Narrated by Frederick Davidson

Overview

Byron's exuberant masterpiece narrates the exploits of Don Juan, a handsome and charming young man naturally gifted with the ladies. After his first illicit love affair at the age of sixteen in his native Spain, Don Juan is exiled to Italy and catapulted into a string of adventures that send him into dire peril and luxurious boudoirs around the world. Following a dramatic shipwreck and an affair with a pirate's daughter on a Greek island, he is sold into slavery and finds himself in a Sultan's harem, then in battle in Turkey, and finally in Russia, where he becomes the lover of Catherine the Great.

Written in ottava rima stanza form, Byron'sDon Juanblends high drama with outrageous farce. Sprinkled with digressions on wealth, power, society, chastity, poets, and England,Don Juanis a poetical novel of satirical fervor and wit.

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

Byron never managed to finish this epic, but Jonathan Keeble narrates right up to the end of what did get done. This may be the only classic poem that rhymes "Euxine" (a classical name for the Black Sea) with "pukes in," but Keeble keeps up with the shifting moods and tones, which range from expressions of pure romantic love to snarky commentary on British politics (and poetic politics) of the 1820s. Keeble doesn't overstress the rhyme or meter of Byron's eight-line stanzas and goes over the top with emotions only when the text calls for it. This is, after all, mostly a comedic story, and although the jokes are almost two centuries old, Keeble keeps them fresh. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

Byron never managed to finish this epic, but Jonathan Keeble narrates right up to the end of what did get done. This may be the only classic poem that rhymes "Euxine" (a classical name for the Black Sea) with "pukes in," but Keeble keeps up with the shifting moods and tones, which range from expressions of pure romantic love to snarky commentary on British politics (and poetic politics) of the 1820s. Keeble doesn't overstress the rhyme or meter of Byron's eight-line stanzas and goes over the top with emotions only when the text calls for it. This is, after all, mostly a comedic story, and although the jokes are almost two centuries old, Keeble keeps them fresh. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169906615
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/2006
Edition description:	Unabridged

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