La suite de «La reine Margot». Deuxième partie de la trilogie sur les guerres de religion, entre La Reine Margot et Les Quarante-Cinq. Henri III a succédé à son frère Charles IX sur le trône de France. Henri est un roi superstitieux et indécis qui laisse gouverner sa mère, Catherine de Médicis. Le pays est toujours divisé par les luttes entre catholiques et protestants et le roi ne peut compter que sur quelques amis : ses mignons, Saint-Luc, et surtout son bouffon, Chicot, en qui il a toute confiance. Il doit notamment sans cesse composer avec son frère le duc d'Anjou et se défier de nombreux ennemis, dont les Guise qui ont créé une Ligue de catholiques. Extrait : Et, tandis que David se tordait dans les convulsions de l'agonie, Chicot courut au lit, souleva le matelas et trouva, sous le chevet, un petit rouleau de parchemin, que David, dans l'ignorance de la catastrophe qui le menaçait, n'avait pas songé à cacher mieux. Au moment même où il le déroulait pour s'assurer que c'était bien le papier qu'il cherchait, David se soulevait avec rage, puis, retombant aussitôt, rendait le dernier soupir. Chicot parcourut d'abord d'un œil étincelant de joie et d'orgueil le parchemin...
This note regards Alexandre Dumas, père, the father of Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). For the son, see Alexandre Dumas fils.
Alexandre Dumas père, born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a towering figure of 19th-century French literature whose historical novels and adventure tales earned global renown. Best known for The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and other swashbuckling epics, Dumas crafted stories filled with daring heroes, dramatic twists, and vivid historical backdrops. His works, often serialized and immensely popular with the public, helped shape the modern adventure genre and remain enduring staples of world literature. Dumas was the son of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a celebrated general in Revolutionary France and the highest-ranking man of African descent in a European army at the time. His father’s early death left the family in poverty, but Dumas’s upbringing was nonetheless marked by strong personal ambition and a deep admiration for his father’s achievements. He moved to Paris as a young man and began his literary career writing for the theatre, quickly rising to prominence in the Romantic movement with successful plays like Henri III et sa cour and Antony. In the 1840s, Dumas turned increasingly toward prose fiction, particularly serialized novels, which reached vast audiences through French newspapers. His collaboration with Auguste Maquet, a skilled plotter and historian, proved fruitful. While Maquet drafted outlines and conducted research, Dumas infused the narratives with flair, dialogue, and color. The result was a string of literary triumphs, including The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, both published in 1844. These novels exemplified Dumas’s flair for suspenseful pacing, memorable characters, and grand themes of justice, loyalty, and revenge. The D’Artagnan Romances—The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte of Bragelonne—cemented his fame. They follow the adventures of the titular Gascon hero and his comrades Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, blending historical fact and fiction into richly imagined narratives. The Count of Monte Cristo offered a darker, more introspective tale of betrayal and retribution, with intricate plotting and a deeply philosophical core. Dumas was also active in journalism and theater. He founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris, which staged dramatizations of his own novels. A prolific and energetic writer, he is estimated to have written or co-written over 100,000 pages of fiction, plays, memoirs, travel books, and essays. He also had a strong interest in food and published a massive culinary encyclopedia, Le Grand Dictionnaire de cuisine, filled with recipes, anecdotes, and reflections on gastronomy. Despite his enormous success, Dumas was frequently plagued by financial troubles. He led a lavish lifestyle, building the ornate Château de Monte-Cristo near Paris, employing large staffs, and supporting many friends and relatives. His generosity and appetite for life often outpaced his income, leading to mounting debts. Still, his creative drive rarely waned. Dumas’s mixed-race background was a source of both pride and tension in his life. He was outspoken about his heritage and used his platform to address race and injustice. In his novel Georges, he explored issues of colonialism and identity through a Creole protagonist. Though he encountered racism, he refused to be silenced, famously replying to a racial insult by pointing to his ancestry and achievements with dignity and wit. Later in life, Dumas continued writing and traveling, spending time in Belgium, Italy, and Russia. He supported nationalist causes, particularly Italian unification, and even founded a newspaper to advocate for Giuseppe Garibaldi. Though his popularity waned somewhat in his final years, his literary legacy grew steadily. He wrote in a style that was accessible, entertaining, and emotionally reso
Taustal, milleks on Pärtliööle järgnenud nn. «kolme Henri sõda» ja Valois’de dünastia mandumine selle viimase esindaja Henri III ajal, saab alguse kauni Diane de Meridori ja vapra krahv de Bussy armastuslugu.
Minu kommentaar: Seikluslik ajalooliste sugemetega romaan. Dumas'le omane jutustamisstill oleks ehk minu teismeikka paremini sobinud, aga sellegipoolest ühendab see raamat mulle mitmeid meelepäraseid nüansse :)
Povestea de iubire dintre Bussy si Diana mi-a ramas ca o dulce amintire.. Pacat ca finalul nu a fost cel asteptat! Dar amandoua volumele merita citite! Recomand!