Hi:
I am interested in any lit from French revolution time, and any history too. I plan on reading A Tale of 2 Cities once I finish bleak house. Anything else? Also, any recommendations for straight history from this time? I have much less tolerance for history than lit, so something easy to read?
Thanks, I'm new to the forum and am enjoying reading the posts!:
I liked The Days of the French Revolution by Christopher Hibbert, a straight history narrative. Somehow I think I've read other books on the subject (aside from A Tale of Two Cities) but nothing's coming to mind at the moment.
'...A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull.' --Dr. Mortimer, The Hound of the Baskervilles
Dumas wrote a number of things on French history.
The Count of Monte Cristo's start takes place just before the 100 days. Called so because it was the 100 days when Napoleon escaped Elba and conquered France again. After that they got and put him safely on St Helena... La Comptesse de Charny (The Countess of Charny), Les Blancs et les Bleus (The Whites and the Blues). Of the last two I don't really know if they are translated.
Les Misérables of Hugo also plays through the times of the revolution.
1793 is about the period of terror under Robespierre.
The Scarlet Pimpernel looks interesting as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel
Have fun!
Last edited by kiki1982; 03-24-2009 at 01:01 PM. Reason: sorry, meant 1793. By 1893 the French Revolution as long over :lol:
One has to laugh before being happy, because otherwise one risks to die before having laughed.
"Je crains [...] que l'âme ne se vide à ces passe-temps vains, et que le fin du fin ne soit la fin des fins." (Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Acte III, Scène VII)
Balzac's Les Chouans is also about those days.
One has to laugh before being happy, because otherwise one risks to die before having laughed.
"Je crains [...] que l'âme ne se vide à ces passe-temps vains, et que le fin du fin ne soit la fin des fins." (Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Acte III, Scène VII)
Thank you so much for the recommendations! I will definitely look them up.
This period in time seems so irrational and scary, I find it interesting. esp. for the common person experiencing it.
Thanks again -- Stell
Well, I think it must have been as bad as the Stasi in the former DDR, where people spied even on their family members and denounced them. People could be denounced as 'anti-revolutionaries' and be put in prison without trial or just decapitated. Fortunately there was only a short period of total terror under Robespierre. But even then, the ultimate revenge you could take on someone was to denounce him. With a lot of corruption going on, it did not really matter...
I guess all major changes need some convincing behind them. I suppose if Robespierre hadn't murdered all those people, andif such a lot of other had not been left to rot in prison, that the whole thing would have come to nothing... The English and Austrians did their best at least, but did not succeed, fortunately.
Sad and admirable what happened there. Imagine how we would have lived if that hadn't happened...
One has to laugh before being happy, because otherwise one risks to die before having laughed.
"Je crains [...] que l'âme ne se vide à ces passe-temps vains, et que le fin du fin ne soit la fin des fins." (Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Acte III, Scène VII)
G. A. Henty In the Reign of of Terror comes to mind plus Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel novels.
Yeah I was about to suggest The Scarlet Pimpernel too. They are fun to read even if I don't like the character of Marguerite St Just very much.Originally Posted by mtpspur
agreed on the scarlet pimpernel!
Another suggestion might be The Gods Will Have Blood by Anatole France, dealing with the late era of the French Revolution.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe that they are free.
-Goethe
Hey, Stella!
While I was recuperating from my ACL surgery, my sister loaned me a big stack of books to read. One of them was To the Scaffold by Carolly Erickson. I really liked it, and it is a little different and off the beaten path of the usual books. Good luck!
History books I loved about the French Revolution were "Blood Sisters" by Marilyn Yalom (about women in that period) and R. R. Palmer's "Twelve who Ruled", about the Committee for Public Safety, who sent so many people to their deaths during the Terror.
As a young girl, I found Alexandre Dumas's "The Road to Varennes" (about the king and queen's attempt to escape France) an absolute page-turner! Very gripping, even if you already know what happened!
Especially harrowing was Deborah Cadbury's "The Lost King of France", about the fate of little Louis XVII after his parents were executed. Antonia Fraser's "Marie Antoinette: the Journey" is a bit too sentimental sometimes, but still an entertaining and enlightening read.
A Place of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel (Danton/Robespierre conflict)
Scaramouche - Sabatini (Period just before the Revolution)
The Queen's Necklace, Le Chevalier de Maison Rouge - Dumas (Before & during the Revolution)
Voices mysterious far and near,
Sound of the wind and sound of the sea,
Are calling and whispering in my ear,
Whifflingpin! Why stayest thou here?
The Queen's Necklace is good.
Les Miserables
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