The Judgement of Paris | Leonard Merrick | A Bitesized Audiobook

Опубликовано: 01 Ноябрь 2024
на канале: Bitesized Audio Classics

12,112

931

Two celebrated comedians, Robichon and Quinquart, compete for the hand of Suzanne Brouette, a beautiful actress in their theatre troupe. She sets the pair a challenge: she will marry the one who proves himself more convincing in a serious role. Which one of them will become the toast of Paris? Story begins at 00:01:20

Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):

Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bitesize...
Monthly support on Patreon: / bitesizedaudio
Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: https://bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com/
Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
/ bitesizedaudioclassics

00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:20 The Judgement of Paris
00:23:30 Credits, thanks and further listening

About the author:
Leonard Merrick (1864–1939) was an actor, playwright, producer and theatre manager, before turning to writing novels and short stories in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. He met with considerable contemporary success as a novelist, although his work has since fallen into obscurity and is little known today. Born Leonard Miller in London, he initially studied law and trained as a solicitor, before spending some time practicing in South Africa as a young man, where he also worked as an overseer of the Kimberly diamond mine.

Returning to England after a severe bout of typhus fever, Miller found work in London as an actor and playwright in the late 1880s – taking the stage name Leonard Merrick. He changed his name formally and legally in 1892. His early writing successes included 'Mr Bazalgette's Agent' (1888) and 'Violet Moses' (1891). He went on to produce a dozen novels over the course of a quarter century up to 1914, as well as multiple short story collections, starting with 'This Stage of Fools' (1896). His background on the stage is clearly reflected in a number of his works, including in 'The Judgement of Paris', which centres on the adventures of a troupe of actors.

Although Merrick's work is somewhat neglected today, he was highly regarded at the time, not least by his peers: G. K. Chesterton, J. M. Barrie and H. G. Wells were among a group of fellow authors who arranged for Merrick's collected works to be published in 15 volumes between 1918 and 1922. Barrie famously described Merrick as "the novelist's novelist". Among later generations, both George Orwell and Graham Greene praised his work. Several of Merrick's novels and short stories were adapted for the cinema in the 1920s.

Leonard Merrick's literary output slowed down after the First World War; his last volume of short stories, 'The Little Dog Laughed' was published in 1930, although he continued to contribute occasional short stories to The Strand Magazine and another periodicals until 1937. He died on the eve of the Second World War in August 1939, after spending some time in a London nursing home.

'The Judgement of Paris' first appeared in the August 1908 issue of 'The Story Teller'.

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2024