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5.0étoiles sur 5
A difficult start, but well worth it for the finish, Juil 7 2009
It's 1572 and in an effort to ease tensions between the Catholics and the Huguenots Henry III King of Navarre is married to Marguerite de Valois (Margot). Shortly after the marriage the Huguenots are slaughtered at the order of Charles IV and his mother Catherine de Medicis on Saint Bartholomew's Day. Catherine is also bent on destroying Henry as her astrologer has foretold that her three sons will die and Henry of Navarre will rule France through the Bourbon line. Margot's dashing lover La Mole and his compatriot Coconnas are our two heroes and their fates weave in and out of the lives of the French Court.
Outside of that, this is really too difficult of a storyline to describe unless I wanted to write a book report and give it all away, and you know I don't do that. In typical Dumas fashion and flair La Reine Margot overflows with treachery, intrigue, hidden staircases and doors, poison, murder plots, gallant heroes and best of all - Catherine de Medici is the most deliciously over the top villainess I have come across in a long time. What fun! Despite a very difficult start trying to grasp the political complexities and characters, by the halfway mark I was rocking along and had a hard time keeping my nose out of it.
While I loved it to bits, just be warned if you are new to Dumas this is probably not the book for you - the first few chapters will frustrate you so much you'll never want to try him again. I'd try The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers first. The Oxford Classics addition has a very helpful forward and character notes in the back - but be careful reading too much or you'll pick up a nasty spoiler or two.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
fun, great novel on court intrigue, Sep 5 2001
This is a lesser known Dumas novel than, say, the Count of Monte Christo. But it is just as good as the others he did: vivid personalities, attention to detail, and fabulously intricate plots. It tells the story of Margot and her marriage to the King of Navarre, an ambitious Hugenot in constant danger of assassination. With the backdrop of the religious wars, she finds love in a knight that she attempts to cloister from the dangers of court intrigue. It ends in tragedy, hope, and the promise of further adventure.Based on available historical sources at the time and embellished with Dumas' unique sense of drama, it is a spectacular read, full of danger, sudden developments, and psychological depth. While it may not be as deep as Stendhal's best works, it is absolutely first rate as a historical novel, a genre that Dumas helped to develop. It stimulates the reader's desire to plung more deeply into French history as well. High recommendation.
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4.0étoiles sur 5
A historical French soap-opera, Aoû 13 2001
This is a Historical novel that takes place in France, in the XVIth century. There's a very very bad black widow -as a matter of fact, black mother as well this is Catherine of Médicis-, a beautiful and amorous young queen married to somebody she does not love but with whom she forms an alliance just in order not to be a widow herself and go to a convent, a romantic heroe, his true friend -who sometimes loves him a little bit too much and a bunch of intriguers. Alexandre Dumas, in his newspaper serial style - this novel was first published that way-, interweave different stories aboiding boring descriptions and getting to the point: quick dialogue, short chapters, attractive characters, and everything to catch you from the first page, which he achieves. It really is a page turner, with several love stories that never goes with marriage and several marriages that never goes with love but with alliances. I have read that some United States reviewers are a bit confused because of the historical part and that's a problem unless you know European History or have a book with comments and notes. If you end the book and want to know what happened afterwards, read British Enciclopedia or something like that, because all characters are historical, even the Romantic hero La Mole and his friend. To those that have seen the 1990s French movie, you have the advantage of imagining the whole story with the beautiful faces of Isabelle Adjani and Vincent Perez, and the great soundtrack and spectacular staging from his director, which reminds of an opera. To those who doesn't I'd say go to your videoclub and try to find it!! It's not a substitute but a perfect complement.
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