Clisson and Eugénie

by Napoléon Bonaparte, Armand Cabasson (Introduction), Peter Hicks (Translator)

Automne 1795. Un jeune général d'origine corse laisse derrière lui son premier amour pour faire face à son destin. Tiraillé entre le coeur et la raison, il s'en remet à sa plume et compose un petit récit, esquisse d'un amour parfait, gâché par la traîtrise mais ennobli par la guerre. Ce sera l'ultime tentative littéraire de Napoléon Bonaparte.

La découverte de nombreux fragments inédits permet de révéler dans cette première édition intégrale la version la plus aboutie du roman et de corriger les multiples erreurs de transcription antérieures.


Un essai de Gérard Gengembre et des commentaires de Peter Hicks et Émilie Barthet replacent le roman dans son contexte historique et littéraire, ce qui permet d'apprécier la part d'autobiographie et celle de fiction qui font la trame de ce roman d'amour.

Genres: Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, France, French Literature, Literature

77 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1795

About the author

Napoleon I, originally Napoleon Bonaparte and known as "the Little Corporal," a brilliant strategist, overthrew the directory in 1799 and proclaimed first consul and later emperor of the French and king of Italy from 1804; his military and political might gripped Continental Europe, but after a disastrous campaign in Russia in winter 1812, people forced him to abdicate in 1814 and exiled him to the island of Elba, whither he escaped and briefly regained power before they ultimately defeated him at Waterloo in 1815 and he lived on Saint Helena, yet his code still forms the basis of civil law.

Josephine de Beauharnais wed Napoleon I Bonaparte in 1796 and from 1804 served as wife and empress of the French to 1809; her alleged infertility caused annulment of the marriage in 1810.

Near Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, Napoleon decisively defeated the armies of Alexander I, czar of Russia, and of Francis II, emperor of Austria.

Napoleon I Bonaparte later adopted French soldier and statesman Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Josephine, as viceroy and then heir apparent to the throne of Italy in 1806.

A mother bore Charles Louis Napoleon III Bonaparte, a nephew of Napoleon I Bonaparte, in 1808.

Trained in mainland as an artillery officer, he rose to prominence as a general of the revolution and led several successes against the arrayed coalitions. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état and installed for five years. In the decade of the 19th century, he turned the armies and dominated almost everyone through extensive alliance systems and a lengthy streak of major victories, epitomized through battles, such as Austerlitz and Friedland. He appointed close friends and several members of his family as monarchs and important government figures of dominated states.

Napoleon developed relatively few innovations, although virtually all large modern armies accept his doctrines that placed artillery into batteries and elevated the corps as the standard unit. From a variety of sources, he drew his best tactics, and he scored several major victories with a modernized army. Academies over the world study this widely regarded greatest commander of history. Aside from achievements, people also remember Napoleon for the establishment that laid the bureaucratic foundations for the modern state.

This leader significantly affected modern history. He, a general during the revolution, ruled as premier of the republic, mediator of the Swiss confederation, and protector of the confederation of the Rhine.

The invasion marked a turning point in fortunes of Napoleon. The wrecked grand army never recovered its previous strength. In October 1813, the sixth coalition at Leipzig then invaded. The coalition triumphed over Napoleon in April 1814. After less than a year, he returned and controlled the government in the hundred days prior to his final demise on 18 June 1815. Napoleon spent the six years under British supervision.

Reviews

[Oliver Kim]

Really glad the author didn't quit his day job. Blech. Though on second thought, perhaps it would have been better if he had.

[FlibBityFLooB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know that General Napoleon Bonaparte wrote a romantic novella in 1795? I’m not exactly sure how I stumbled across this audiobook on audible, but when I saw that it was a novella written by Napoleon, how could I resist? I think I was especially intrigued enough to read it because of the title – Clisson and Eugénie. I had a love affair in my youth with the book Desirée by Annemarie Selinko, a historical novel about Napoleon’s first love Eugénie Desirée Clary. Napoleon and Desirée had a love affair before she later became Queen of Sweden and he became enamored with Josephine. I wondered just how much of the story he wrote would be auto-biographical in nature.

The character of Clisson seemed like it could easily match up to a young Napoleon and his dreams of grandeur of heroism and battle. Eugénie and Clisson fall in love in the novella, but there is a very lackluster and somewhat melancholy ending.

In the end, this was a *very* short novella, and it’s not something I would rush out to read unless you already had an interest in the life of Napoleon. The analysis of the novella found in the forward and afterward of the audiobook were more interesting to me than the actual text of the novella itself. The only reason I would recommend it to somebody is if they were puzzled enough to look for auto-biographical aspects like I was.

[Oz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not actually judging the short story itself here - which, let's be clear, is quite awful, but in an interesting way since it's essentially Napoleon writing a self-insert story about his own love life and career. But the introduction, afterword, and other attempts at padding out the text are worse. They try to convince you that this is a paragon of the Romantic and Pastoral genres, that the story is an example of Napoleon's genius and worth reading for its literary merits. They seem to believe that Napoleon's clumsy prose and obvious leanings on his favourite books were intentional and radical marks of style, put there to Say Something about his society and about the human condition. Also, they keep calling the 20 page short story, pieced together from 6 different manuscripts discovered posthumously (which largely contradict each other on the plot), a "novel".

My best guess is that the academics involved just read Clisson et Eugénie so many times that they went a bit insane.

[Carole Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all this is a novella...so it is rather short. Things do happen rather quickly.

Okay...I was utterly stunned that this had been written by the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte and it is a romance! What? Who would have known that the war-hungry man would have written a tragic love story. He's French, so I guess he has some romance naturally in his blood.

I utterly adored this novella. It was quick and simple and it was tragic. Ah. And you all know how I LOVE my tragic tales, eh? I feel that the author did a lovely job, but it did seem a little rough around the edges. Perhaps it was the translation to blame. The descriptions were good and the ending took me for a loop. I totally thought that I knew what was going to happen. My theory was partially right, but not in the way I thought it would be...well, I can't say much else without giving away any spoilers.

All-in-all, I adored this novella. It was fascinating how well Napoleon wrote. Perhaps he could have been great if stayed off the war-path! Ah, the what-ifs in life....but yeah, I recommend this book if you have any interest in the author or if you like novellas. Sorry the review is so short, but I had to limit what I shared for fear of being a dirty, rotten spoiler. *lips sealed* I grant this novella 5 stars. ^.^

Favorite Character(s): Eugenie and Clisson
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Berville

[Sarah Holz · Rating 3 out of 5]

One’s tolerance for Napoleon the novelist is in direct correlation to one’s tolerance for the sentimental novels of the late 18th/early 19th century. Just as Caesar writes in the rhetorical narrative style of his era, Napoleon writes in the dramatic romanticism of Goethe and Rousseau. Clisson is a Werther clone, full of melancholic longings, touched up with a dash of the author’s own martial inclinations. Eugenie is a classic Richardson-style heroine, a wide-eyed ingenue led about by worldly forces beyond her weak womanly impulses. While not mentioned as an influence by the copious (and interesting) translation notes, Clisson & Eugenie is also a Troilus & Cressida transplanted from the Greek heroic age into the post-Enlightenment. A comparison I feel the egotistical Little Corporal would be satisfied with. This micro-novella, barely seventeen pages scraped together from several incomplete drafts, is short enough for even the disinclined to breeze through and offers a brief glimpse at a side of Napoleon that is rarely touched upon in the standard sphere of discussion about the preeminent figure of his time - that of a lonely young soldier, disappointed in his career, in love with a pretty merchant’s daughter - before he improbably became the emperor of Europe and she equally improbably became the queen of Sweden. Such an interesting, strange time to be alive...

[Nicolas De Laet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clisson et Eugénie is één van de weinige onderdelen van het litteraire oeuvre van Napoleon Bonaparte (naast o.m. Le Souper de Beaucaire).

Hoewel het een uiterst kort verhaal betreft, dat bovendien niet gespeend is van de nodige grammaticale fouten en spellingsfouten, biedt Clisson et Eugénie een belangrijk inzicht in de psyche van de keizer. De roman is immers semi-autobiografisch. Het is duidelijk dat een groot deel van zijn inspiratie uit zijn relatie met Désirée Clary werd geput.

Het boek toont ons dat het verheffen van vaderlandse plicht boven de liefde een wezenskenmerk is van Napoleon.

Wie op zoek is naar een onderhoudende roman kan wellicht beter elders op zoek gaan. Daarentegen is het boek wél een interessante bron voor diegenen die een dieper inzicht in Napoleon wensen te verwerven.

[Emma]

I do want other people to read this, but only have you have read at least 1/2 of a Napoleon biography because it is so so funny to read his vision of romance and his self-insert hero, Clisson.

I won't spoil all the good lines, but the opener is literally "From birth, Clisson was strongly attracted to war."

[The Idle Woman · Rating 2 out of 5]

During a hard-fought game of Trivial Pursuit the other day, I discovered that Napoleon Bonaparte had written a romantic novel. Obviously, I decided that I had to get my hands on this as soon as possible. I had visions of balls and the language of fans, of brooding heroes, comic misunderstandings and smart-tongued heroines. This was foolish, I admit. In fact, this isn’t a novel so much as a short story, barely more than twenty pages long. It’s also very clearly Romantic rather than romantic. And Napoleon may have been a great general, but he wasn’t all that good as a novelist. Personally, I don’t believe this would have received any critical attention whatsoever were it not for the identity of its author; but that is interesting enough to warrant a bit of discussion...

For the rest of the review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/02/21/c...

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.0 - Yup, this melodramatic, edgy, 'tragic' love story about a self-inserted, brilliant military hero torn between his duty to his nation and his private life was actually written by Napoleon 😂

To be honest, I only give it two stars because I can't think of anything funnier than Napoleon writing fanfiction about himself. So if you need a good laugh, this is the perfect short story for you 😂

[Heledriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising how Napoleon could write! Liked the story very much and the unexpected ending. Somehow you could see his power-asserting nature reflected on the character too. Very beautifully written, i recommend!

[Brendan McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not particularly well written, it was never intended to be published so I will give Napoleon some slack. The story itself is a simple tragic love story, and Clisson, the main character, is an obvious stand in for Napoleon himself, and a surprisingly honest one at that. The story is interesting though as it gives a window into the mind of one of history’s most influential individuals, and for that alone it’s worth a read.

[Kin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ความรักและชาติบ้านเมืองเป็นพล็อคร่วมสมัยมากๆ ในยุคนั้น แน่นอน มันลงเอยด้วยการเลือกออกรบ สงคราม เกียรติภูมิ ชาติ ทว่าหัวใจของเขาไม่เคยห่างจากคนรักเลย? เรื่องแบบนี้เป็นไปได้มากน้อยแค่ไหนไม่รู้ แต่ก็ดูเหมือนนิยายทำนองนี้ ชายชาตินักรบมักต้องประสบชะตากรรมเดียวกัน เช่นเดียวกับคนรักของพวกเขาที่ต้องทุรนทุราย เจ็บปวด และห่างไกล ช่วงท้ายเต็มไปด้วยความรวดร้าวของคลิสซง เมื่อไม่มีจดหมายจากภรรยาส่งมาถึงเขาอีก ข่าวคราวทั้งหลายหายไปพร้อมๆ กับศัตรูหัวใจที่เขาเองเป็นคนส่งให้ไปติดต่อกับเธอ ท้ายที่สุด เขาตัดสินใจเขียนจดหมายฉบับสุดท้าย จดหมายลาตาย ก่อนรุดหน้าไปยังสนามรบ เป็นพิธีกรรมแห่งความกล้าหาญ และหมดอาลัยตายอยากโดยแท้

"[...]ความทรงจำเหล่านี้ฉีกทึ้งดวงใจข้าเป็นชิ้นเล็กชิ้นน้อย ขอให้เจ้าจงใช้ชีวิตอย่างเป็นสุข มิต้องคิดถึงคลิสซงผู้เคราะห์ร้าย! จุมพิตบุตรของข้า และขอให้พวกเขามิได้ครอบครองดวงวิญญาณอันรุ่มร้อ���ของบิดาเขา ผู้ตกเป็นเหยื่อของชายชาตรี เกียรติยศศักดิ์ศรี และความรัก"

หากสงครามคือการฆ่าฟันผู้อื่น คลิสซงเกิดมาพร้อมสงคราม เขาตายพร้อมกับสงคราม สงครามในหัวใจเขา เขาชนะหรือแพ้ หรือสงครามคือการฆ่าฟันตนเอง?

สั้นๆ ง่ายๆ ไม่น่าเบื่อเท่าไหร่ บทความตอนท้ายน่าสนใจดี ไม่มีอะไรให้คาดหวังมากนัก ทำให้อ่านแล้วไม่ผิดหวัง แถมยังแอบเลี่ยนกับประโยคทำนอง "เมื่อทั้งสองมองตากัน ก็รู้ได้ทันทีว่าพวกเขาเกิดมาเพื่อรักกัน"

Ah, Vive l'amour romantique!

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally written way back in 1795, 'Clisson and Eugenie' is a short romance written by Napoleon Bonaparte. This edition is an English translation first published in 2007. The story makes up a mere 20 pages, whilst the remainder of this edition comprises an Introduction, an Afterword, and some appraisals of the work and its manuscript source material. Throughout the additional text, the story is repeatedly referred to as a novel, an exaggeration in my opinion. The story - lets call it a short story - is actually quite good. However, when the appraisal tries to use it to gain some kind of insight into the authors character, I really have doubts. I don't doubt that an author will use personal experiences to add colour to his writing, but the appraisal goes further than that. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story and the additional text, different opinions are always worth reading and thinking about.

[rottenrosette]

It's hard to judge a book that was written by an amateur writer, that was found in fragments which had to be pieced together, and that was clearly never intended to be published to begin with. I almost feel kind of bad, except Napoleon was kind of a horrible person in many ways, so I don't really feel that bad. The writing is extremely average and very melodramatic in its sensibilities, as most 19th century literature tends to be (although I don't doubt that it sounds a bit nicer in its original French). Napoleon's arrogance and self-pitying is also evident from the very first page, whereupon he describes Clisson, his self-insert (literally), as a talented and distinguished general, which earns him the ire and jealousy of many. He goes on about what a genius Clisson is, how cool he is in the face of adversity, and how even his best qualities, such as his generosity, and most impressive triumphs are rewarded only with increased criticism from his enemies. It isn't very subtle, but again, this is a personal work, to be completely fair; and this was in all likelihood Napoleon's way of venting his frustrations.

I wanted to read this after learning about its existence when I finished Annemarie Selinko's Désirée, so in that context, this was fairly interesting to read, although it really doesn't provide all that much insight into Napoleon's romance with Désirée. It's a bit surprising that he took the time to write this tribute to her at all; considering the way he ditched her for Joséphine, you don't really get the impression that he cared for her that much, but this little story seems to suggest that he did at least have some genuine affection for her. Even then, however, Napoleon doesn't write about Eugénie in the most flattering light. In the short story, after Clisson and Eugénie have married, Napoleon writes, "Life with a man as talented as Clisson had been the making of Eugénie. Her mind had become cultivated and her exceedingly tender and weak emotions had taken on the strength and energy required of the mother of Clisson's children" (22). He does go on to say that marriage with Eugénie also made Clisson a less cynical and more gentle man, but I wouldn't really consider that high praise, since that kind of expectation was put on just about every woman and wife. Regardless, I'm glad I read it and I'm thankful that the translation exists.

[Maged Mossalam · Rating 2 out of 5]

تمهيد لابد منه

قرأت نسخة عربية لأقصىوصة نابليون ترجمة دكتور مروان إسبر و نشر الدار الليبرالية في السويد

الطبعة تشمل الاقصوصة القصيرة جدا و تعليقات و حواشي عن كتابات بونابرت الاخرى و تحليلات أدبية و نقدية للاقصوصة و عرض للنسخ الست المتوفرة ل كليسون و أوجيني و الاختلافات بينها و شرح لكيفية إعتماد نسخة نهائيه اعتمد عليها المترجم في ترجمته للحدوتة و محاولات قراءة النسخ اليدوية التي توفرت لمن نشر او تعرض للقصة قبل ذلك خلال قرنين من الزمان

اولا أود ان أحيي المترجم على أمانته الشديدة و على هوامشه الوافية شديدة التدقيق و أحيي دار النشر على التحرير الاحترافي و الاخراج المميز للكتاب باقل كمية ممكنة من الاخطاء التحريرية و الاملائية التي تعج بها الكتب المكتوبة بلفة الضاد


- [ ] أما فيما يخص الراحل الجنرال الطاغي نابليون بونابرت و حكايته الرومانسية اللطيفة البسيطة المبسطة حيث الحب و الحرب و الخيانة و الموت فهنا تصبح الامور رمادية قليلا فالقصة إعتيادية و رعوية جدا كأنها حلم يقظة طويل حيث كليسون (نابليون) الرائع الجميل النبيل الملئ الحياة الخ الخ و لقاءه بفتاتين و شغفه بالاقل جمالا و زواجه منها الى اخر الحكاية و لكن ما ان تعلم ان القصة المبسطة ( الركيكة و المبتذلة اذا شئت) مستوحاة من واقعة حقيقية و هي عشق نابليون ل أوجيني ديزيريه كلاري و التي رفض شقيقها زواجة منها و قالت والدتها يكفي بونابرت واحد في العائلة حيث كانت اختها جولي متزوجة بشقيقه جوزيف و قد تزوجت ديزيريه فيما بعد جنرال فرنسي اصبح ملك السويد و النرويج و بالتالي اصبحت ملكة السويد و النرويج و ان نابليون كتب كليسون و أوجيني متخيلا انه تزوج من حبيبته و انه تركها من أجل ان يلبي نداء الوطن و من ثم خانته و مات كسير قلب ما زال يهواها في ميدان المعركة حتى تتوقف مفكرا و متأملًا هذا الرجل كتب ما كتب في محاولة أخيرة للنسيان أراد الانتصار في الحب كالحرب هادما المعبد على رأس الحبيبة (التي لم يحصل عليها) جاعلا منها خائنة ضعيفة لكن صادقة في حب نابليون العظيم و رأسه هو (صريع الحب) و شهيد الوطن و الامة تماما كما يليق برجل جبار انتصر في ساحات الوغى و مواضع العشق او انه و هذا هو الاوقع و الارجح انهزم و صرع في الميدانيين و الدليل مصرع كليسون الاغريقي و ذهاب أوجيني

[Michele Bonomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this novel in an Italian edition of "Collected Works" of Napoleon Bonaparte (not present on goodreas, amazing app 😞) and our versions might be different.

Napoleon's own novella is just a brief summary of his ideas for a bigger story, therefore there's not a lot to comment regarding the story itself.

Even before the romantic glory of XXth century, common patterns are recognisable: the Byronic hero before Byron himself, the sublime of nature and the melancholy of the tormented romantic heart of the protagonists. Very very basic plot, similar to the 99% of romances of the time.

Napoleon is highly influenced by Rousseau and Goethe in his writings and even if this is his last "piece of fiction" (1995, 1 year before his brilliant victory in Toulon) these influences are recognisable.

Why giving 3 stars to this terrible story? It's an important piece ot historical significance, crucial to track the character of young Napoleon and his tormented Byronic phase; lacerated around doubts on his military career, nostalgia of Corsica, egoistic ambition, devotion to the Jacobin club and a young failing love with the real Eugenie.

An interesting source to support the study of a complex young character.

[Evi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, this really is a romance short story written by the one and only Napoléon Bonaparte. Was it good? Not as bad as I thought it would be. It was very very short, so that also makes it hard to rate. But it was nothing special. Clisson seems to be a bit like Napoléon himself. I'm just interested in what made him write this. It was at the beginning of his military career and shortly after the publication of this story he started to become successful, so he's not yet the person he will become. He was however engaged to Désirée EUGÉNIE Clary, who'll become the queen of Norway and Sweden. That can't be a coincidence? But this was also the year that he met Josephine, for whom he left Désirée. But in the book it happens the other way around. So not sure if he wanted to change his own story and make Désirée the bad guy or maybe he was just inspired by his own love life?

2 stars

[Raquel · Rating 2 out of 5]

(French edition)

This is a historical curiosity—nothing more. Napoleon’s “novel” is really an unremarkable <20 p short story, which itself is REALLY a compilation of six different manuscript fragments of his unpublished drafts, stitched together by editors to give the credible appearance of a complete story. I find it somewhat disingenuous to bill this as a novel, and I can’t help but wonder why it was published in isolation—rather than, for instance, alongside other collected fragments of Napoleon’s attempts at fiction (which the accompanying essays describe). I wouldn’t recommend it, but it was worth a read to me because, well, we all know I subsist on historical curiosities.

[YNAH LEDA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plenty of wisdom for anybody interested in taking the path of glory. It would be very helpful if you watched or read a lot about Napoleon already as it gives much more surface area to contemplate and understand.

The translator notes are an integral part of the book in my opinion, and I recommend taking notes with each paragraph to contemplate, understand, and think, because it is a very dense and compressed work, and would essentially be nothing more than a short love story without doing the prior.

[meg b · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He was a success at everything; he exceeded the hopes of the people and the army; indeed, he alone was the reason for the army’s successes.”

Napoleon's semi-autobiographical romance novel was so great. Is the writing good? Not particularly. Is the plot developed? Nope. But I found it highly entertaining because it's Napoleon. Totally iconic.

[monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok ok so from a creative perspective this book is a literal shitshow. no character development, bad pacing, and honestly just a very bizarre ending. however, i think its honestly kinda cool as sumone with an intrest in napoleon. honestly a good meme among the girls

[Sophie Zavaglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prose itself is pretty terrible. It's overwrought and mawkish. As insight into Napoleon's psyche, it's fascinating.
Story: 2/5
Insight 5/5

[Antoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

very dreamful and nostalgic... en emperor's poem !

[Sharon Buchanan]

Loved the book. Would love to have seen an example of the actual handwriting.

[Jonathan Van Den Brink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een prachtig inkijkje in het brein, de gevoelens en beweegredenen van de grootste strateeg en staatsman die ooit geleefd heeft.

[Joan Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy read about love. It’s a very short story, but the commentary in the novel,provides information about Napoleon, and in some ways, is more interesting than the story itself.

[Eden · Rating 1 out of 5]

I swear, Twilight was a better love story.

[Sara Siekkinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 😬

[Barack Obama · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the romance novels of all time

[Marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars