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Рокамбол
Ce roman eut peu de succès, mais introduit cependant dans la série la mutation fondamentale qui va gouverner l’ensemble des épisodes suivants : Rocambole, repenti, revient du bagne pour aider au triomphe du bien. Quatre hommes, Gontran de Neubourg, Lord Blackstone de Galwy, Arthur de Chenevières et Albert de Verne décident de joindre leurs forces sous le nom des Chevaliers du clair de lune, pour aider une mystérieuse jeune femme que l’on ne connaît d’abord que sous le nom de Domino, spoliée de son héritage par le diabolique Ambroise de Mortefontaine, après l’assassinat de ses parents. Apparaissent dans ce récit deux autres personnages, le capitaine Charles de Kerdrel, surnommé Grain-de-Sel, et la courtisane Saphir. Quant à Rocambole, il apparaît comme le mystérieux chef de cette association d’aristocrates. Mais, même au service du bien, il n’hésite toujours pas à employer les moyens les plus criminels, chantage, torture, et abuse sans scrupules de ses pouvoirs de médecin et de magnétiseur.
396 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
10 people want to read
About the author
Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail
803 books62 followersPierre Alexis Joseph Ferdinand, vicomte de Ponson du Terrail (8 July 1829 - 20 January 1871) was a French writer. He was a prolific novelist, producing in the space of twenty years some seventy-three volumes, and is best remembered today for his creation of the fictional character of Rocambole.
Ponson du Terrail’s early works squarely belonged to the Gothic novel genre: his La Baronne Trépassée (1852) was a murky Ann Radcliffe-like tale of revenge in the macabre surroundings of 18th century Germany Black Forest. The novel was translated by Brian Stableford as The Vampire and the Devil's Son in 2007.
When Ponson du Terrail embarked in 1857 on writing the first novel of the Rocambole series, L’Héritage Mystérieux (also known as Les Drames de Paris) for the daily newspaper La Patrie, he merely meant to copy the success of Eugène Sue’s best-selling Les Mystères de Paris. Rocambole’s importance to Mystery fiction and Adventure novels cannot be underestimated, as it represents the transition from the old-fashioned Gothic novel to modern heroic fiction. The word rocambolesque has become common in French to label any kind of fantastic adventures, especially those with multiple new turns in the story.
Rocambole became a huge success, providing a constant and considerable source of revenue to Ponson du Terrail, who continued churning out his adventures. In total, he produced nine Rocambole novels. His other notable novels include Les Coulisses du monde (1853) and Le Forgeron de la Cour-Dieu (1869).
In August 1870, as Ponson du Terrail had embarked on a new Rocambole saga when Emperor Napoléon III surrendered to Germany. Ponson fled from Paris to his country estate near Orléans, where he gathered a group of like-minded companions and began a guerilla-style warfare, not unlike what Rocambole himself would have done. However, Ponson was soon forced to flee to Bordeaux after the Germans burned down his castle.
He died in Bordeaux in 1871, leaving the saga of Rocambole uncompleted and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.
Ponson du Terrail’s early works squarely belonged to the Gothic novel genre: his La Baronne Trépassée (1852) was a murky Ann Radcliffe-like tale of revenge in the macabre surroundings of 18th century Germany Black Forest. The novel was translated by Brian Stableford as The Vampire and the Devil's Son in 2007.
When Ponson du Terrail embarked in 1857 on writing the first novel of the Rocambole series, L’Héritage Mystérieux (also known as Les Drames de Paris) for the daily newspaper La Patrie, he merely meant to copy the success of Eugène Sue’s best-selling Les Mystères de Paris. Rocambole’s importance to Mystery fiction and Adventure novels cannot be underestimated, as it represents the transition from the old-fashioned Gothic novel to modern heroic fiction. The word rocambolesque has become common in French to label any kind of fantastic adventures, especially those with multiple new turns in the story.
Rocambole became a huge success, providing a constant and considerable source of revenue to Ponson du Terrail, who continued churning out his adventures. In total, he produced nine Rocambole novels. His other notable novels include Les Coulisses du monde (1853) and Le Forgeron de la Cour-Dieu (1869).
In August 1870, as Ponson du Terrail had embarked on a new Rocambole saga when Emperor Napoléon III surrendered to Germany. Ponson fled from Paris to his country estate near Orléans, where he gathered a group of like-minded companions and began a guerilla-style warfare, not unlike what Rocambole himself would have done. However, Ponson was soon forced to flee to Bordeaux after the Germans burned down his castle.
He died in Bordeaux in 1871, leaving the saga of Rocambole uncompleted and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.
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