The Bull-Man and the Grasshopper

by Jean Richepin, Brian M. Stableford (Translator)

The Bull-Man and the Grasshopper, first published in 1876 as Une histoire de l'autre monde, and here presented in English for the first time in a translation by Brian Stableford, tells the story of Jean Pioux and Marius Mazuclard, two bizarre street performers who are arrested for participating in the brief rule of the Paris Commune and sentenced as deportees to New Caledonia.

An eccentric melodrama of adventure and romance, this early and fast-paced novella by the prolific Jean Richepin offers a stirring account of flamboyant grace under extreme pressure.

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1876

About the author

Jean Richepin (4 February 1849 - 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ric...
http://www.jeanrichepin.free.fr/

Reviews

[Patrick.G.P · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bull- Man and the Grasshopper follows the fate of two loveable street performers who are arrested for taking part in the Paris commune and charged with treason and sent to a labor camp in New Caledonia. At the camp, they both fall madly in love with the warden’s beautiful daughter, and when she is kidnapped by the natives of the island, they form a desperate plan to rescue her and escape the island.

Jean Richepin’s novel is fast-paced and an entertaining read, mostly to the very likable main characters, the strong and loyal Bull-Man, Jean Pioux, and his trusty companion Marius Mazuclard, The Grasshopper, whose talents include ventriloquism, body contortions, and impersonations. The plot is melodramatic and not altogether original, but I found myself getting drawn into it because of the fine prose and character depictions. The main character’s hopes, dreams, and friendship are nicely written, and I ended up caring for both of them through their misadventures. The novel is a departure from what I usually read, but that’s a good thing as I quite enjoyed the book.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great characters. Also the first book I've read that's set in New Caledonia.

On thing that I got from the book is a real taste of the Gallic character, maybe set by Vercingetorix Goscinny's The Adventures of Asterix (ooh! Asterix and Obelisk as characters in the cartoon version of this book?), of the ultimate individuality and absurdity of authoritative roles, such as the first scene (the best, to me) of the chuckling court martiallers, or the penultimate scene, when the death of the prison warden is seen as something of a relief by his subordinates.

The last scene of the protagonist threesome united in death is visually powerful to the point of being operatic, which was fitting considering that the Grasshopper was a street performer

I became interested in the author because of this article: https://www.lapl.org/collections-reso...

Admittedly this book was not at all scurrilously salacious in the way that article would lead me to believe