Mary Stuart

This audio book is available only in an abridged version. While I normally do not care to bother with abridged audio books, I am a big fan of Mary Stuart, the hapless Queen of Scots, as well as a Julie Christie fan, so I was game to try it.This audio book was better than I thought it would be, given that it is abridged. This is in large part due to Julie Christie's rousing reading. Ms. Christie reads with great spirit and verve, her diction crystal clear. She seamlessly transitions between Scottish and English accents, infusing the characters with distinct personalities and creating a sense of atmosphere. Ms. Christie simply does a beautiful job reading this book.This book by Alexandre Dumas is very good, though literary license is evidently taken. It encompasses Mary's early childhood, her sojourn in France, her return to Scotland as Queen, the intrusion of fire and brimstone religious reformer, John Knox, into the political arena, the perfidy of James, her illegitimate half-brother, the unhappy marriage to Lord Darnley and his murder, her alliance with Lord Bothwell, abdication, exile in England, and execution. The time spent focusing on Mary's last will and testament, however, is inordinately long and somewhat puzzling. It would probably have been better spent focusing more on her alliance with Lord Bothwell or on the political perfidy of her power hungry, illegitimate half-brother, James. Both would play a large part in Mary's downfall and ultimate loss of the throne of Scotland.Still, for those who are fans of Mary Stuart and for those who would like a brief and breezy overview of her life, this abridged audio book might just be the ticket. The book is contained on four cassettes, which provide six hours of reading pleasure.

Alexandre Dumas is a real master teller. He is so knowledgeable of the history that you can never tell between that fact and the fiction. You almost feel like living in the 16th century. You can sense it.The abridged version is to the damage of the story. It has not been very carefully selected which parts to leave out or which parts to shorten. Sometimes it takes a while to realize that the story jumped forward in time and some parts are being given an unnecessary extend (the decription of Mary's will, for exemple). Also the part describing her execution is a bit too morbide.But in any case, this is a great piece of work. It has both its entertaining and historical value.The performance of the reader - Julie Christie - is excellent. She switches from English to Scottish to French accent to support the atmosphere and her voice is clear and easy to follow. I can highly recommend to buy it.