Lourdes


Read by Peter Tucker

(4.6 stars; 13 reviews)

This book describes a five day national pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Lourdes, where miracle cures are hoped for. The central character is a priest, Pierre, whose faith is faltering. He is accompanying his childhood sweetheart who has been stricken with paralysis and whose faith is strong. In the background of the great irony of this relationship, there are numerous sub-plots, some tragic, some whimsical, involving a large number of characters, set in the midst of organised chaos in the pilgrimage site. Through Pierre's mental and spiritual experiences Zola explores the role of religious faith in a society coming to terms with science and reason. - Summary by Peter Tucker (19 hr 3 min)

Chapters

Preface 13:56 Read by Peter Tucker
The First Day: I 40:30 Read by Peter Tucker
The First Day: II 44:36 Read by Peter Tucker
The First Day: III 44:25 Read by Peter Tucker
The First Day: IV 48:51 Read by Peter Tucker
The First Day: V 53:29 Read by Peter Tucker
The Second Day: I 40:31 Read by Peter Tucker
The Second Day: II 44:13 Read by Peter Tucker
The Second Day: III 44:18 Read by Peter Tucker
The Second Day: IV 46:31 Read by Peter Tucker
The Second Day: V 48:06 Read by Peter Tucker
The Third Day: I 39:54 Read by Peter Tucker
The Third Day: II 49:44 Read by Peter Tucker
The Third Day: III 40:32 Read by Peter Tucker
The Third Day: IV 47:25 Read by Peter Tucker
The Third Day: V 41:58 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fourth Day: I 39:12 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fourth Day: II 38:36 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fourth Day: III 42:13 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fourth Day: IV 47:48 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fourth Day: V 44:13 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fifth Day: I 37:54 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fifth Day: II 50:22 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fifth Day: III 51:44 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fifth Day: IV 52:32 Read by Peter Tucker
The Fifth Day: V 50:04 Read by Peter Tucker

Reviews


(4 stars)

Fantastic reader. I almost feel guilty for listening to it for free! The book itself starts out great, they’re all travelling on a train (the sick, their families and the wretched of the earth) from Paris to Lourdes and its healing waters. There is a great subplot about Pierre the priest and his childhood crush Marie (not gravely ill and handicapped). But alas, Zola makes very little of that, and the plotting is thin. Rather, Zola gets busy TELLING us all about the religious fraud and cupidity behind the Marian apparitions that established Lourdes as a pilgrimage site. Even so, I think it was very brave of him to tackle this subject when the Catholic Church was still mighty, unshaken by the child sex abuse and other scandals. I liked the last chapter on Bernadette. It’s more incredible than Zola’s novel what the church did with Bernadette after her death— turning her corpse into a relic and making her an official saint! I will let the readers judge…. A good novel (you can skip the repetitive parts)


(5 stars)

great book read well. Rome out too but please Peter read us Paris to complete the trilogy 🙏🙏


(5 stars)

Beautiful, insightful and eloquent exploration of suffering, illness, death and faith. Absolutely worthy of your time.