Cyrano de Bergerac: Amazon.ca: Edmond Rostand: Books

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Book Description

Cyrano, the gallant soldier and brilliant wit, also is a timid lover, and, because of his nose, woos his love by proxy of a more handsome man.

From the Publisher

This is Edmond Rostand's immortal play in which chivalry and wit, bravery and love are forever captured in the timeless spirit of romance. Set in Louis XIII's reign, it is the moving and exciting drama of one of the finest swordsmen in France, gallant soldier, brilliant wit, tragic poet-lover with the face of a clown. Rostand's extraordinary lyric powers gave birth to a universal hero--Cyrano De Bergerac--and ensured his own reputation as author of one of the best-loved plays in the literature of the stage. This translation, by the American poet Brian Hooker, is nearly as famous as the original play itself, and is generally considered to be one of the finest English verse translations ever written. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
The auditorium of the Hotel de Bourgogne in 1640. Read the first page

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Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Incomparable wit and ingenuity, Mar 10 2004

By

Chris Salzer (Gainesville, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cyrano De Bergerac (Mass Market Paperback)

Edmond Rostand established a name for himself, and a superlative magnum opus, when he wrote this singular and playful work of cunning, heroism, & love. While many may know vaguely of the legendary tale of the real Cyrano, few have surprisingly actually read this delightful gem of a play based only nominally on the man himself. Cyrano de Bergerac incorporates all that is 17th century France in a nutshell: the romance, wit, bombast, refinement, gallantry, and pompousness. Cyrano embodies all of these and more.

Rostand uses a seemingly endless flow of great witticisms and a keen use of wordplay that make the play enjoyable and fun to read. It reads similarly to a Shakespeare comedy -- albeit in a much more fluid and smooth manner. The outlandish tales of Cyrano single-handedly defeating 100 men in battle, of him being a scientist, poet, and warrior all at once make for an outrageously entertaining tale of bombast and hyperbole. Cyrano, when exhorted to seek his true love Roxane by his friend Le Bret, exclaims, "Come now, think a moment: this nose of mine, which precedes me by a quarter of an inch everywhere I go, forbids me ever to dream of being loved by even an ugly woman."

Our hero, who personifies the intrepid soldier on the battlefield, rebuffs Le Bret's persistence by retorting, "So that she'll laugh in my face? No! That's the one thing in the world that I fear!" Cyrano, our affable and valiant swashbuckling hero, reveals that he is, despite the brazen posturing, a mere human after all. And, like everyone else, possesses his own unique set of fears. In the face of awkward human imperfection, Cyrano teaches us the need to transcend -- that love of another's soul must, in order for true happiness to be fully achieved, supersede the shallowness of physical appearance. A great lesson that more people should learn.

"Pardon me for having involved you in a disastrous adventure."
Edmond Rostand to the actor portraying Cyrano minutes before the play's initial performance.

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5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest plays ever written, Sep 11 2003

By

Bill R. Moore (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cyrano De Bergerac (Mass Market Paperback)

Edmond Rostand's masterpiece, Cyrano de Bergerac, is one of the greatest plays ever written. It is a mix of everything: a tragedy, romance, comedy, and pseudo-history, all in one. Like all great playwrights, Rostand weaves highly witty remarks throughout his texts, many of them laugh-out-loud funny; Cyrano's famous lengthy monologue about how he could have been insulted better and Christian's "nosy" berating of Cyrano are classic moments. The play is also highly tragic: the plot twists and turns, not playing out as one would expect, and it leaves one absolutely brimming over with emotion by play's end. Cyrano is one of the great tragic characters in all literature -- a sharp-witted, swashbuckling poet, and a big softy to boot. He is one of the most complex characters ever to appear in a play, his range of emotion and depth of complexity presenting a supreme challenge to the actor. The play is also a great romance, tragic as it is, and contains much magnificent poetry, including many romantic lines that rival the best of Keats and Yates. I referred to the play as a "pseudo-history" because it uses the real Cyrano de Bergerac as a basis for the play's title character, referring to real events in his life and extrapolating from there in the grand Dumas style. Those who disparage the play as unrealistic or idealistic are missing the point, not to mention the heart, of the play. This is an epic play in the grand French Romantic tradition; actions are deliberately fanciful, circumstances abound, and actions and situations are occasionally hyperbolic. This is all by design; therein lays the play's appeal. Rostand, in writing it, shows his complete mastery of the art. His ability to take Cyrano, who comes off as such as so pompously arrogant in the first act, and make him imminently lovable by the end of the play is a testament to his brilliance. The quasi-love triangle is also very effective; through it, Rostand is able to comment on the fleetingness and sometimes randomness of love without being too heavy-handed. The suspense is omnipresent, tragedy always looms just around the corner, but a laugh is never too far away. For those who love poetry or romance, this work is an absolute must. Emotions hit a fever pitch at several points in the play; it will reduce many to tears, as it almost did me. This is an absolute and essential masterpiece that remains a cherished classic in the annals of writing for the stage.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Long nose, May 21 2003

By

chris williams aka the dub (In your wild Fantasies) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cyrano De Bergerac (Mass Market Paperback)

Cyrano De Bergerac is a story that takes place in the 1640's about a swordsman who has a rather large nose who falls in love with his very intellectual and beautiful cousin Roxanne. Cyrano cannot find a way to tell Roxanne the way he fells about her until a foolish man insults his nose. So instead of killing him Cyrano uses the man to his advantage and uses him to translate poems to Roxanne without her knowing that it is Cyrano who is making these wonderful poems of love which Roxanne is intrigued by. It ends up finally that Cyrano cannot keep playing these games and eventually Roxanne marries the other man. Cyrano goes to war and doesn't see Roxanne for years until they meet for one last time.
Overall this book had a great plot but dragged on at parts and the reading was somewhat confusing but if you understand sayings like "Now then, you Picaroons, Perk up and hear me mutter. Here's you bout bustle around some cull, and bite his bung." Then I think you'll enjoy the rest of the text. So If you like love and adventure with great characterization I would definitely recommend this book other wise I would stay far away from this book.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Its ending so sad and yet, it leaves us playing a happy note
Words cannot describe the feeling and soul that the artist put into this work. He was, I believe, a master of writing because he was able to blend comedy along with the grief and... Read more

Published on Mar 17 2003 by benzze64

5.0 out of 5 stars A play as great as its hero
If you want to know what drama ought to be like, read "Cyrano de Bergerac". This play combines all that makes an great play-brilliant humor,heart-wrenching emotions,a good... Read more

Published on Feb 19 2002 by kellytenzin