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Bals masqués (Carnets de l'Herne)
Auteur de romans fleuves, Alexandre Dumas a également excellé dans le genre bref du conte et de la nouvelle. Sur le mode de l’anecdote contemporaine, les deux récits réunis dans ce volume témoignent de la vivacité de son style, de son sens aigu de l’observation psychologique et morale. Études de moeurs autant que petits tableaux d’époque, L’Amazone (1845) et Un bal masqué (1835) plongent le lecteur dans la vie parisienne de la monarchie de Juillet. Fantaisiste et sérieux, ces deux histoires démarrent à partir du point de vue de l’auteur pour glisser vers la fiction. Un bal masqué est une histoire de vengeance, Une Amazone, le récit d’un amour fou traité de manière ironique.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1833
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About the author
Alexandre Dumas
6,918 books12.5k followersThis 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 22, 2020
Una historia, entretenida y con giros de trama espectaculares.
June 18, 2019
This is a really short story about a man's infatuation for a mysterious woman that he met in a masquerade party.
March 19, 2021
"Cavaría su fosa y no podría encontrar ya allí los restos con que poder recomponer su cara. ¡Y continúo amándola! ¿Comprendes, Alejandro? La amo como un insensato; y me mataría al momento para unirme a ella si no supiese que ha de permanecer desconocida para mí en la eternidad, como lo ha sido en este mundo".
Que desgarrador, que triste, que bien contado.
Que desgarrador, que triste, que bien contado.
August 20, 2021
El estilo de narración de Dumas es espectacular! Te hace vivir la obra y te engancha, no por nada es mi autor favorito. Él sabe cómo transportarte y meterte dentro de la historia para sentir cada instante hasta en relatos breves como este
June 9, 2021
Otro relato corto de la autor. En un baile de máscaras ocurre un encuentro misterioso entre Anthony, un amigo del propio Alejandro Dumas, y una extraña y atractiva mujer. De este encuentro al protagonista le nace un amor a primera vista, será correspondido?
February 15, 2024
Es un relato muy corto, pero lleno de potencia.
Una historia de amor, de esas de "a primera vista", en las que yo no creo (hasta que se me demuestre lo contrario.
Nuestro protagonista queda prendado de una mujer en un baile, y sin conocerse de nada, ¡Plam! caen rendidos uno en brazos del otro.
Está muy bien escrito, directo al grano, con la ambientación justa y necesaria, y unos personajes sin desarrollar los personajes, pero dado el grosor, no podía ser de otra manera.
Para quitarse un bloqueo lector, va de lujo.
Una historia de amor, de esas de "a primera vista", en las que yo no creo (hasta que se me demuestre lo contrario.
Nuestro protagonista queda prendado de una mujer en un baile, y sin conocerse de nada, ¡Plam! caen rendidos uno en brazos del otro.
Está muy bien escrito, directo al grano, con la ambientación justa y necesaria, y unos personajes sin desarrollar los personajes, pero dado el grosor, no podía ser de otra manera.
Para quitarse un bloqueo lector, va de lujo.
December 17, 2020
Sencillito, rápido de leer, bien
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews