Carmen Paperback – September 16, 2007

Having never seen the opera Carmen, but recently having occasion to hear the Habanera played by the LA Phil, I was curious to know more about Bizet's work, only to find that it was based on the novella Carmen by Prosper Merimee. Well, that certainly intrigued my interest more than the opera, and I promptly downloaded a copy of the Kindle version. It was a mesmerizing read; first, because it introduced me to the Romani people, of which I had scant knowledge except for the occasional unflattering portrayal of gypsies in movies, and second, because the novella is a fascinating study of raw human emotions and passion in a place and time from removed from the trappings of our modern society. One almost longs to live in such an era among such people, but by the end of the story, one is very glad not to.

The original text was french but the tale is in Spain.There are a lot of words without translation but sometimes the same character explain the meaning. In pos 297 "I call myself Don, because I have a right to it, and if I were at Elizondo I could show you my parchment genealogy"Some other words without translation in this edition you have an explication like the word "Veintiquatro" the editor said that it refer to a Magistrate in charge of the municipal police arrangements, and local government regulations.I find this edition could help to understand some gipsy and spanish old costumes.I recommend this book and this edition when you want to read classics books.

I love this story. I've watched the opera, the musical, the Spanish film, and mtv version. I also borrowed this book from my local library about two years ago read it and was planning to rent it again. But between then and now they sold all there old books. I'm glad I decided to purchase this book for myself after all it is one of my favorite stories. Would recommend this book for anyone whose looking for a quick read and a pretty decent story line.

Surprisingly, for as many years as I have loved Bizet's CARMEN, I had never read the novella until I began researching for a current writing project. It was a fascinating read partly because of my research, but also for the depth of the novella itself. It was interesting to realize some of the choices Bizet made when adapting the book for his opera.

I got interested in reading Carmen from playing a slot game of the same name. I have now read Karanina for the same reason. One doesn't always know what will inspire a search for a great story. Kindle has provided the inspiration.

Carmen is my favorite opera, but Prospere Mérimée novella really came as a surprise for me, because the story is told by Don José, a soldier who fell in love with the sensual and wild Carmen. Everybody knows how the two met and that their relationship had many ups and downs until the tragic end; but the story is page-turning and even more fascinating than the opera. In the last chapter, there is some information about the gypsies, because the French author studied about this nomad population; therefore he shares his knowledge with his readers: gypsy costumes, Romani terms are explained (throughout the novella), their believes, marriage, witchcraft etc.

This is, of course, a translation from the original French. It is the story of a young soldier's infatuation with an enticing Gypsy woman, Carmen, and his stormy relationship with her, causing his ruin and her death. The story is more straightforward than Bizet's opera, a couple of characters are introduced (notably, Carmen's husband), some omitted, such as Don Jose's innocent domestic love, Michaela, and some deemphasized, such as the bullfighter whom we never see in the book but who still figures in the ending.This Carmen is a good and loyal mate to Don Jose in ways other than absolute sexual fidelity, but the disgraced soldier can not deal with her free ways nor the possibility than she might abandon him and, in the end, this jealousy destroys them both. Not a very long read, but worthwhile, entertaining, and a near-tragedy, for both Don Jose and Carmen.

I have seen the opera a couple of times and have a CD of it, it is my favorite opera. But I had never read the story from which the opera is derived, I just read translations of the lyrics to the songs involved and synopsis of the opera. I do not think the story changed anything except to make me wish that Merimee had made it into a novel, so much was left out. Novels permit great detail to be presented, short stories can only present one or two facets of a plot or one, or at most, two characters. The story introduces the narrator, not present in the opera, and both Don Jose and Carmen are presented in their worst moments, this is where the drama lies.The story begins with the narrator chancing upon Don Jose and making his acquaintance, deducing who he is but caring little for tales of him and by being hospitable he shows no fear. The two become friends and the narrator saves Don Jose from being captured. He meets him again later as a prisoner and learns from his own lips the relationship between him and Carmen. This relationship is all that is portrayed in the opera, and Lucas, the picador, is never presented in the story.Carmen is shown as self-willed, a true gypsy, a thief and spy for a band of thieves, of which Don Jose becomes a member. He is torn between his upbringing and his love for Carmen but Carmen uses his love for her, despite reciprocating it, to destroy his morals and personality so that in the end Don Jose kills her. She has foreseen this end and tells him so before her death and Don Jose then turns himself in to the authorities for her murder. This is where the narrator leaves him, sentenced to death by garroting, supposedly a better form of killing due to his societal position. The book is well annotated towards the Basque language and Merimee uses a fourth chapter in the story to discuss the language, this chapter having nothing to do with the story itself.