The Girl with the Golden Eyes


Read by Martin Geeson

(3.2 stars; 23 reviews)

Listeners who like to plunge straight into a story would do well to skip the lengthy preamble. Here, Balzac the virtuoso satirist depicts the levels of Parisian society as a version of the Inferno of Dante - but perhaps keeps the reader waiting too long for the first act of his operatic extravaganza.

Our beautiful, androgynous hero, Henri de Marsay, is one of the bastard offspring of a depraved Regency milord and himself practises the cynical arts of the libertine. His quarry is the exotic Paquita Valdes, she of the golden eyes.

But there is a mysterious third person in this liaison...

The shocking truth of their interrelationships marks this out at once as one of those French novels that Lady Bracknell would instantly ban from the house. (Summary by Martin Geeson) (4 hr 30 min)

Chapters

Preamble: Paris 1:00:32 Read by Martin Geeson
'Upon one of those fine spring mornings...' 29:46 Read by Martin Geeson
'The young man who called himself...' 17:50 Read by Martin Geeson
'De Marsay was not impulsive...' 22:06 Read by Martin Geeson
'When, after making an excellent meal...' 19:39 Read by Martin Geeson
'At the hour mentioned Henri was...' 30:23 Read by Martin Geeson
'For the next and succeeding day Henri disappeared...' 21:39 Read by Martin Geeson
'If it be impossible to paint the unheard-of delights...' 17:25 Read by Martin Geeson
'At breakfast, by the time he had started...' 19:16 Read by Martin Geeson
'Paquita seemed to have been created for love...' 16:18 Read by Martin Geeson
'De Marsay was driven to the house...' 15:46 Read by Martin Geeson

Reviews


(1 stars)

I tried to finish this book but it just went over my head. Just when I am getting it, I get lost again. I love listening to Mr. Geeson. He's also great in the dramatic readings.

Excellent recording


(5 stars)

It's the tale of Henri de Marsay, a physically beautiful but spiritually empty young man who devotes all his time to the pursuit of sensation and sensual pleasure. He develops a burning lust for the inaccessible golden-eyed girl of the title, Paquita Valdes. De Marsay does manage to seduce her, but becomes enraged when he realizes that she's the kept pet of a hidden rival, for whom he's something of a stand-in during their lovemaking. De Marsay devisies a plan of revenge but by the time he arrives at the seraglio to effect it, Paquita has been murdered by her original lover, who turns out to be none other than Henri's equally beautiful and heartless half-sister. A very “balzacien” way of depicting Parisian life! Lovely reading by Martin Geeson: many thanks for your time and effort!


(3 stars)

One should appreciate the effort the reader went through while creating this piece. However, because of his overpronounciation, it is imposible to nuance between diverse emotional and psychological states of the characters. Geeson's cadence is not professional and it requires a patient listener to get through the whole novel.


(1.5 stars)

Totally ruined by the reader who unwaveringly read like like a breathless excitable schoolboy throughout. More suited to reading P G Wodehouse than Honore de Balzac.

The Girl with the Golden Eyes


(5 stars)

Well Read, Fun listen and recommended... Thanks!

Thank you Mr. Geeson! I am listening to all your recordings


(5 stars)

Could have been 5 star


(2 stars)

Too bad. The reader is talented, however he is completely oblivious to the fact that his voice follows virtually an identical cadence throughout almost every passage. At the end of every couple sentences or so the readers voice annoyingly and inevitably hits a high cliche falsetto note. This is too great and deep of a work to be read so flippantly and without regard for the content, as ironical as the text is. Its not meant to be read in a mocking voice every damn paragraph. Please.


(1 stars)

the voice is insufferable. I have to repeat the sentences to myself just to feel the true tone of the book. I might as well be reading it instead of listening.