Audiobook · read by volunteers
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini (1875–1950)
Read by Gord Mackenzie · 36 chapters · 17 h 11
About the book
A young man of uncertain birth is drawn into the storms of the French Revolution when a friend is killed by an aristocrat. Vowing revenge, he turns to the law, then to politics, then to the stage, taking on one disguise after another, including the mask of the old comic character Scaramouche. He is by turns a lawyer, an orator, an actor, a lover and a fencer of rare skill, and his enemies never quite know where he will appear next. Rafael Sabatini's novel is a swashbuckling tale of wit and adventure, full of sword fights, political intrigue and sharp one-liners, and it opens with one of the most famous first sentences in popular fiction. Thirty-six chapters and some seventeen hours offer a rousing entertainment from start to finish.
Introduction
Rafael Sabatini was born in 1875 and died in 1950. Born in Italy to an Italian father and an English mother, he grew up in several European countries and wrote in English. He became one of the most successful writers of historical adventure fiction in the early twentieth century, with a talent for plot and a gift for the memorable line.
Scaramouche was published in 1921 and is among his best-loved books. It is set during the French Revolution and takes as its hero a young man who is drawn into the political struggles of the time. The title comes from the name of a roguish stock character in the Italian commedia dell'arte, here worn by the hero as a stage persona. The book combines romance, intrigue and swordplay, and it is full of acute observation of how the Revolution looked from different sides of the social divide. A later film version of the story is famous for a long and elaborate sword fight, though the novel has pleasures of its own. The text is divided into several books, each with its own title and character, and the narrative is both witty and fast moving.
This recording is the work of LibriVox volunteers and is divided into thirty-six chapters, lasting about seventeen hours. Why listen now? Because Sabatini's novel is the kind of adventure that reminds you why adventure stories became so popular: brisk, sharp and full of heart.
Public domain
Rafael Sabatini died in 1950: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text