The Romance of a Poor Young Man

by Octave Feuillet, C. G. Compton (Translator)

The Romance of a Poor Young Man is a novel written by Octave Feuillet, a French author, and playwright. The book tells the story of a young man named Raoul, who comes from a poor family and dreams of a better life. Raoul falls in love with a wealthy woman named Blanche, and despite the social and economic gap between them, they begin a romantic relationship. However, their love is challenged by the societal norms and expectations of their respective classes, and they face numerous obstacles in their pursuit of happiness. The novel explores themes of love, class differences, and the struggle for social mobility. It is a poignant and emotional tale that captures the complexities of human relationships and the challenges of navigating social hierarchies. The Romance of a Poor Young Man is a classic work of French literature and a must-read for anyone interested in the romantic and social struggles of the 19th century.1902. With a critical introduction by C.G. Compton. With a critical introduction by Henry Harland. A Frontispiece and numerous other portraits with descriptive notes by Octave Uzanne. Romance of a Poor Young Man is a fairytale wholly and absolutely. The personages of the story are the invariable personages of the the prince disguised as the woodcutter, in the Marquis de Champcey disguised as a farm-bailiff; the haughty princess, who will not love, yet loves despite her will, and is rewarded by the woodcutter�������s appearing in all the prince�������s splendor at the proper time, in Marguerite Laroque; the bad prince and the bad princess; the good magician; and the most delightful of conceivable fairy godmothers. The progress of the story is that of the traditional fairytale told in the witty manner and style of Feuillet. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Classics, France

Paperback

First published November 30, 2010

About the author

Octave Feuillet (11 August 1821 – 29 December 1890) was a French novelist and dramatist.

Reviews

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me just say right now that this could very well deserve more than three stars but three is all I can give it. I was reading a public domain epub version riddled with typos and typos do not mesh with French names. Honestly, I'll probably never know what the character's real names were. I identified them with £ signs and asterisks.

Anyway, its about a young gentleman who is left destitute on his father's death and forced to make his own way. He goes hungry for a while and then gets a position as a manager of sorts at a country estate.

There's a rather uppity daughter whom he falls in love with in spite of himself and in spite of herself (she really isn't a very nice person, but of course she cant help it, its the curse of being rich and beautiful, who to trust?) and there are some pleasant minor characters as well.

I enjoyed the scenery descriptions in this. One boating scene took them down a small river through meadows and woods and culminated in a waterfall with a near death experience. That really got my imagination going! Theres also a very cool tower ruin and escape, but to be honest, a lot of the story was lost on me because of transfer issues. Very sad.

The blurb calls it a fairy tale. I suppose it could loosely be classified as such but just so you know there are no fairies, no fairy godmothers, and no magicians. But it is a "rags to riches on the stroke of midnight" kind of tale and there just might be a happily ever after in store for some.

CONTENT: G

FYI: It has come to my attention that Project Guttenberg has this digital book and is free of formatting issues. I just downloaded it to see for myself and it reads perfectly. (and you can download the epub with images too) I highly recommend you use the P.G. copy. I wish I did!

[Suze Fields · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very, very beautiful novel in French, very romantic and so sweet! You simply can't love Maxime through the whole story. I still take one star off because it's a transparent novel, very foreseeable and it could have had a deeper plot but it hadn't.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable tale from the French. The blurb is misleading; it is more a romance in the classic sense than any fantasy. It's pure fiction. The story itself is quite interesting, and I enjoyed following the hero as he tries his best to live up to his good name despite his hardships.

[Jose Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comedia de salón de 218 páginas, publicada en 1857, y obra más famosa del autor. Se trata de un folletín romántico, con el típico exceso de adjetivos y florido que tanto gustaba a la aristocracia de la época. Feuillet escribió "vaudeville" y pequeñas obras de teatro que se representaban el los salones de los nobles bajo el Segundo Imperio francés. Me ha resultado una lectura muy simpática, con los típicos giros poco creíbles, pero que te hacen disfrutar de un texto con olor a alcanfor. Recomendada para una sola lectura por curiosidad.

[Riccardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Credete a me, ciò che, in questo mondo, assomiglia maggiormente alla felicità, l'avete in voi, e, grazie al cielo, vedo che l'avrete sempre. La pace della coscienza e la maschia serenità d'un'anima interamente dedita al dovere."

Soggetto sentimentale e di maniera, certo, ma Feuillet dà l'impressione di poter fare quello che vuole con la penna, consegnando al lettore un romanzo di forma e equilibrio non comuni.

[Ernesto Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermosa novela de amor

Con su lenguaje propio de la época, muy lírico, lleno de descripciones e imágenes de campiñas, castillos y gente, contiene una historia muy tierna, algo cursi, de honor y amor sincero.

[Sílvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

História de um romantismo clássico, com uma bonita mensagem final!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une histoire charmante à la Dickens

[antonio brito · Rating 2 out of 5]

Por que este romance foi um sucesso? Teve edições com 40.000 exemplares vendidos. Convertido em peça teatral teve 150 exibições em 1859 em Paris, e uma crítica favorável de Machado de Assis. Se você quiser conhecer um fouilleton, o folhetim Francês, este é o romance típico. Dividido em vários episódios foi publicado na Reveu de deux Mondes em 1859. Cada episódio conta com uma reviravolta na situação de Máximo e um gancho de continuidade. Um nobre perde a fortuna e tem que trabalhar, suprema humilhação, porém um reconhecimento típico de uma anti-tragédia, o serviçal é descoberto pelos sinais de nobreza nos gestos. As descrições da Bretanha, parecem-se com a Tourine de Balzac. As cenas de aventura semelhante a Dumas. Pleno de moralismo e honra, onde a riqueza é o bem supremo, em uma época em que a nobreza sobrevivia com dificuldade, atinge em cheio o público burguês curioso pela vida dos nobres pobres. De início o texto captura a compaixão do leitor. Exceto se voce for obrigado a lê-lo, como eu,reconhecendo que a vida é breve, que temos tanto livros para ler, invista seu tempo em um Balzac, Flaubert ou Stendhal.
antonio brito - unicamp - estudos literários

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a non-fiction reader coming back to fiction after a long break, I must say this frankly old work got me hooked in more ways than i expected. The beautiful archaic way that the characters have to write and to speak; the applicability of their thoughts about poverty, luxury, virtues and fate; the nature and personality descriptions that so vividly evocate an Art Nouveau atmosphere. With this last point I mean a mix of nature, art, phantasy, romantic idealization and melancholy for the things that were or could never be.
The moral dilemmas posed by Feuillet are framed in another society and on different values as those of today's France, so even if the problems themselves are not particularly useful to today's readers, they certainly are amusing to read and to ponder.
Sadly, some of the beauty in the language is lost in the translation and the ebook edition I read was not particularly the cleanest I have seen, but thankfully it does not interfere considerably in the reading.

[Saleeha Nandan · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you’re planning on reading the original version in french and you think that you know french, well you don’t. It’s a wonderful novel, when you understand it completely. Social classes and the hierarchy in the 19th century are well presented. Definitely a simple classical romance.

[ShortShanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! I did not really like the main female character though. She was very annoying.

[María · Rating 4 out of 5]

El mensaje final es buenísimo, muy bonito libro para quienes adoran el romanticismo y el heroísmo clásico.

[Wyyknot]

Le Roman d'un Jeune Homme Pauvre by Octave Feuillet (`904)