Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, Lowell Bair, Eteel Lawson
Narrated by Flo Gibson
Why Listen to This Audiobook?
Rostand wrote this in verse because it was meant to be heard — and four hours later you'll understand why it's outlasted almost everything else from 1897.
- Great if you want: classic romantic tragedy with genuine wit and heartbreak
- Listening experience: intimate and theatrical — feels like front-row seats
- Narration: Flo Gibson brings old-school dramatic clarity to the verse
- Skip if: verse drama feels stiff or overly formal to you
About This Audiobook
In seventeenth-century France, the greatest swordsman in the country is also the most eloquent, the most courageous, and the most selfless, with one catastrophic disadvantage: his enormous nose has convinced him that no woman could ever love him. When Cyrano de Bergerac discovers that his beloved Roxane has fallen for the handsome young cadet Christian, he makes the most quixotic bargain in literature, lending Christian his words and wit in exchange for proximity to the woman he worships from an impossible distance. Rostand's immortal verse play remains one of the great theatrical elegies for the unrequited heart.
Flo Gibson narrates this translation with a theatrical gravity appropriate to the play's elevated register. The verse retains much of its music in Gibson's reading, and the famous balcony scene, where Cyrano feeds his words to the inarticulate Christian while standing in the dark below, translates unexpectedly well to the intimacy of audio. At under five hours, this production is an accessible introduction to one of drama's most enduring works.