2 h 43 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 43 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a woman who refuses to belong to anyone meets a man who gives up everything for love?
In Andalusia, a French scholar searches for the site of an ancient Roman town. A chance meeting in the hills draws him into a different story: the confession of Don José Navarro, a Basque soldier now held in prison in Córdoba. At its heart stands Carmen, a quick-witted Romani cigarette-maker who lives by her skill and charm.
José falls for Carmen, and his attachment draws him away from his rank and the law. She refuses to belong to anyone; he gives up his name and his peace for love. Prosper Mérimée’s short novel sets freedom against possession, while its layers of storytelling leave you weighing the words of a man explaining himself from prison.
What you’ll discover
- A woman who refuses ownership Meet Carmen, whose wit, charm, and fierce independence unsettle José’s hopes of love.
- A soldier drawn beyond duty Follow José as his attachment to Carmen pulls him further from the law.
- Spain in sharp detail Enter Andalusian hills, Córdoba’s riverside, and the Seville inn where Carmen dances.
- A confession worth questioning Listen closely as a prisoner tells his story to a travelling French scholar.
- Freedom against possession Explore a hard-edged love story that asks what desire can demand of another person.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, sharply drawn stories with a strong sense of place, tales of passion and freedom, and anyone who knows the opera and wants its source.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A scholar meets a stranger in the hills
- A fortune told by the river
- A soldier falls for the cigarette girl
- A prison escape costs José his rank
- Love draws José away from the law
- Freedom, possession and a story told by a prisoner
Who’s who
- CarmenA quick-witted Romani woman who lives by her skill and her charm and who refuses to belong to anyone.
- Don José NavarroA Basque soldier who tells his own story from prison and who gives up his rank, his name and his peace for love.
- The narratorA French scholar travelling in Andalusia to settle a question about Roman history and who becomes the listener to a confession.
- Lillas PastiaThe keeper of a Seville inn where Carmen dances and where she meets those who help her business.
- Carmen's husbandA one-eyed Romani man held in prison, whose existence shapes the claims others make on Carmen.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 43 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Carmen in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Carmen
by Prosper Mérimée · 1845
A Basque soldier risks duty for a cigarette-maker in Seville who refuses to be owned.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Carmen is a short novel by the French writer Prosper Mérimée, first printed in 1845 and issued as a book in 1847. Mérimée was a historian, an inspector of ancient monuments and a traveller who knew Spain well.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A scholar meets a stranger in the hills
The story opens in Andalusia in southern Spain, around 1830. The narrator is a French archaeologist who wants to settle where the old town of Munda stood, near the place where Julius Caesar fought his last great battle in Spain. He rides out with a guide, and the work leads him into rough, empty country.
Tired and thirsty, he follows the sound of water to a hidden spring. There he finds a lean, watchful man with a gun close at hand. The stranger is polite, but he studies the scholar the way a hunter studies the ground. The guide, who has gone pale, makes signs that the narrator reads only later.
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What is Carmen by Prosper Mérimée about?
It is a short novel about a Basque soldier, Don José, who falls under the spell of Carmen, a Romani cigarette-maker in Seville. His love pulls him away from the army and into a life of smuggling.
Is Carmen a true story?
No, it is fiction, though Mérimée drew on his travels in Spain and his study of Romani life. He said he heard part of the tale from a Spanish acquaintance. It was first printed in 1845.
How is the book different from the Bizet opera?
The opera of 1875 is based on this tale but adds characters and softens the tone. The book is shorter and harsher, and it is told by José from prison, framed by a French scholar.
The author
Prosper Mérimée
1803–1870 · French novelist and historian
Prosper Mérimée was a French writer, archaeologist and historian, born in Paris in 1803. He wrote plays, historical works and short stories, including Carmen, published in 1845. He served as inspector-general of historical monuments in France from 1834 to 1860. He died in Cannes in 1870.
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