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Pure

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Pure

By: Andrew Miller
Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
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About this listen

A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of mummified corpses and chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love.... A year unlike any other he has lived.

Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it.

At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own.

©2012 Andrew Miller (P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Romance

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All stars
Most relevant  
This is one of those books that you can start and be so consumed by you finish it in a couple of days. Engaging, funny, visceral and at times tragic. Love the narrator and the depth he adds to the characters.

Witty prose wonderfully narrated

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Great story..........extremely well narrated by Andrew Miller. Well worth a listen in my view

Loved it............................

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Very beautifully read . Story could have been better
. I didn’t get a feel at all for the main character

The reading

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Wasn’t sure what a story about digging up a cemetery and relocating bones would work as a fact based work of fiction. Pure is a fast paced, skilfully plotted and atmospheric tale...in literally every sense.

Andrew Millers people are almost visual as is Paris and later rural northern France. They’re dark, sometimes subversive, humorous and totally plausible. The malodour pervaded almost every page and seeps into the story metaphorically and literally. I was totally gripped by a fast moving tale.

Strange and compelling

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it felt like diving deep into late 18th century Paris... full of beautiful descriptions, rich detail and intricate imagery. The characters are engaging, and the story feels like it builds towards some great intrigue... one that, sadly, never really comes. the plot feels a little flat. But, still, a very enjoyable read!

rich detail, absorbing detail, engaging characters

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A great book of such an interesting historical period, with some truly memorable characters and great twists and turns in the story itself. Extremely evocative of pre-revolutionary France and the amazing city that was/is Paris. Brilliant.

Great book, great narrator, well worth a download

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Wonderful story, excellently told. I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish. Would highly recommend!

Brilliant

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well written. captivating. Exposes the hollowness of all-consuming ambition. I will read his other novels

Exposes the hollowness of all-consuming ambition

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The setting is intriguing, as you can see from the publisher's details; the handling of the story and the gradual descent into darkness with the counterpoint of the development of sincere love are clever. The use of language is often almost poetic, a delight to listen to. However, at times all these elements just tip over the fine line between the satisfying and the irritating and strain the suspension of belief. It is rather a shame that Jonathan Aris sometimes has trouble with the pronunciation of the (numerous) French names, as in every other way he is a masterly reader. All in all, worth listening to but not, for me, a book of the year.

intriguing and clever but sometimes overdone

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I bought this book ages ago and then allowed it to languish while I read some of my more 'flashy' titles. Now I have finally got around to giving this a listen I can't believe this took me so long.
This is a vivid account of a Paris filled with physical and moral corruption. Jean Baptiste is an idealistic young engineer from the North charged with clearing a cemetery so overcrowded that bones are exposed to the air and scattered around the grounds. He lodges with a family who live so close to the cemetery that their breath and food is tainted by their environment. The natural assumption is that Jean Baptiste would be applauded for the work he is conducting, but this is not the case, and he meets resistance from all sorts of strange and mysterious sources.
The details in this story are fascinating. From the food people ate, to the clothes they wore and their daily routines. Some of it was strangely moving. For example when Jean Baptiste retires for the night to face a long and lonely evening in his own company, I felt saddened that such a wonderful young man is forced to live like that. The central love story is unconventional to say the least, and the courtship scenes are played out with tremendous humour.
This is one of those books that gives an enriching insight into history and I know I will go back to it again and again. Jonathan Aris delivers an outstanding performance and I am now looking for other books where he is the narrator. If I could give this higher than 5 stars, I certainly would.

Pure Perfection

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