The Greater Journey

Americans in Paris

By: David McCullough

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann

Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.

After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked on a greater journey in the City of Light. Most had never left home, never experienced a different culture. None had any guarantee of success. That they achieved so much for themselves and their country profoundly altered American history.

As David McCullough writes, “Not all pioneers went west.”

Nearly all of the Americans profiled here - including Elizabeth Blackwell, James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Harriet Beecher Stowe - whatever their troubles learning French, their spells of homesickness, and their suffering in the raw cold winters by the Seine, spent many of the happiest days and nights of their lives in Paris. McCullough tells this sweeping, fascinating story with power and intimacy, bringing us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens’s phrase, longed “to soar into the blue”. The Greater Journey is itself a masterpiece.

©2011 David McCullough (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

A History and Fine Arts Course in a Book

Like all McCullough's books, reading The Greater Journey is an educational experience couched in excellent historical non-fiction writing. It would probably be very surprising to many people to learn how much the French contributed to literature, science, the arts and architecture in the 19th and early 20th century. I have not visited Paris but I will have no problem navigating when I do next year. McCullough makes the city alive in my mind and I will be able to picture all of our country's early artists and writers sitting on their stools in the Louvre or on the benches of the parks or in the small studios tucked away on the Left Bank.

The fact that this book is so long made me happy - I did not want it to end!

Listening pleasure

Any additional comments?

David McCullough manages to weave the biographies of a dozen 19th century American painters, writers, physicians and diplomats into an engaging and totally pleasurable experience. The only disappointment was that it ended; the only shortcoming was that it lacked photographs and pictures.

Would liked to have given it 6 stars!

Exceptional insight into the influence of Paris and its culture upon the Americans of the 19th and early 20th century. Narrative by Edward Hermann is world class. Plan to listen to and read it again before next trip to Paris.

Fairly interesting, very informative.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book to anyone with a passing interest in the 19th century artist and scientist of America, and the role France had to play in their development. In scope it is not on par with 'John Adams' or Truman', but enteretaining.

Would you be willing to try another book from David McCullough? Why or why not?

Absolutely. he is one of the best biographer and story tellers today.

What about Edward Herrmann’s performance did you like?

His performance was very good, but for some reason I cannot figure out, part of the narration is done by what sounds like a computerized monotone female voice. Her part of it is very small and poorly done that does make one wonder which why Edward Hermann did not narrate the whole thing? Where they just being cheap??

Any additional comments?

overall good. not on par with the greats of David McCollough. Good reader except for small snippets done by monotone computerized female voice.

Great preparation for a trip to Paris!

This was a terrific introduction to nineteenth century Paris history as I knew virtually nothing! I made many of the sights I saw on my trip to Paris come alive!

Delightful!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Greater Journey to be better than the print version?

While I really enjoyed listening to The Greater Journey, and would recommend it for any one who loves to listen to their books, I also felt that there were so many interesting historical ideas and threadsI wanted to pursue, that I would like to own the book in a print copy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Greater Journey?

While there are many memorable moments in the book, they all seem to flow together like a string of pearls: intriguing, and lovely separately-- delightful as a piece.

What does Edward Herrmann bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Listening to the book allowed me to experience the 'essence of French culture' through the flow of the Herman's voice, instead of focusing on the details of history in a drier way. What came through is that the beauty of French culture had an affect on the American's who lived there, and so does Hermans delivery on us.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The beauty of this book was that it worked on me like a lilting French melody, instead of creating an extreme reaction.

Any additional comments?

While I knew about this period of history, it really came alive for me through the book's description of the characters lives in France. I was delightfully surprised by its effect.

Wonderful!

There are tons of things to learn from this lovely book. Extremely well written and narrated.

Oh, To Be In Paris!

David McCullough is a marvelous historian and this book on Paris is just terrific. It will be of particular delight to those who love the arts, as I do. The writing is so vivid, I felt I was back on the streets of the city of lights again!

If you love 19 century art history, listen

The read was smooth and very accurate history. The artists history on how they come to be, interesting.

I wanted to be in 19th century Paris too!

Would you listen to The Greater Journey again? Why?

Yes I will, because I want to come back to the historical passages I am not as familiar with such as the remarkable story of US Ambassador Elihu Washburne, the tribulations of the medical students in Paris, or simply the rise of all those American artists who did their training in Paris.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Oh publishers what were you thinking? Yes Hermann is a good narrator but he butchers French in a book that takes place in Paris! This is the usual complaint about a narrator who does not know the language or regional peculiarities of where the book takes place. There is a passage in the book in which an American's awful accent got him out of a pickle, the joke there got quite lost I can assure you. Fortunately there are long passages in American where one can appreciate Hermann's narration.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

David McCullough does know how to build up tension. There are artist so well known still today that we know how well or poorly they did, but many more whom we are not so sure about and McCullough knows how to take the reader along on the discovery of the outcome of the life of Augustus Saint Gaudens and many others.
There are places such as the Cathedral in Rouen, (on the way from the harbor at Le Havres to Paris), that entranced so many visitors that you want to go see it too, there is the Louvres and you want to discover for yourself what Harriet Beecher Stowe found so mesmerizing in the Raft of the Medusa and go see what James Fenimore Cooper and his friend Morse saw.

Any additional comments?

The book starts off a bit dull, but hang in there by the time you get to the chapters on the Americans students in medicine you will not be able to put it down.