Atar Gull

by Eugène Sue

Classic novel in the original French. According to Wikipedia: "Joseph Marie Eugegrave;ne Sue (20 January 1804 - 3 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joseacute;phine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino (1828). In 1829 his father's death put him in possession of a considerable fortune, and he settled in Paris... His naval experiences supplied much of the materials of his first novels, Kernock le pirate (1830), Atar-Gull (1831), La Salamandre (2 vols., 1832), La Coucaratcha (4 vols., 1832-1834), and others, which were composed at the height of the Romantic movement of 1830. In the quasi-historical style he wrote Jean Cavalier, ou Les Fanatiques des Cevennes (4 vols., 1840) and Lautreacute;aumont (2 vols., 1837). He was strongly affected by the Socialist ideas of the day, and these prompted his most famous works: Les Mystegrave;res de Paris (10 vols., 1842-1843) and Le Juif errant (tr. "The Wandering Jew") (10 vols., 1844-1845), which were among the most popular specimens of the roman-feuilleton. He followed these up with some singular and not very edifying books: Les Sept pecirc;cheacute;s capitaux (16 vols., 1847-1849), which contained stories to illustrate each of the Seven Deadly Sins, Les Mystegrave;res du peuple (1849-1856), which was suppressed by the censor in 1857, and several others, all on a very large scale, though the number of volumes gives an exaggerated idea of their length. Some of his books, among them Le Juif Errant and the Mystegrave;res de Paris, were dramatized by himself, usually in collaboration with others. His period of greatest success and popularity coincided with that of Alexandre Dumas, pegrave;re, with whom he has been compared. Sue has neither Dumas's wide range of subject, nor, above all, his faculty of conducting the story by means of lively dialogue; he has, however, a command of terror which Dumas seldom or never attained. After the revolution of 1848 he sat for Paris (the Seine) in the Assembly from April 1850, and was exiled in consequence of his protest against the coup d'eacute;tat of 2 December 1851. This exile stimulated his literary production, but the works of his last days are on the whole much inferior to those of his middle period. Sue died at Annecy (Savoy) in 1857."

Nook

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

From Wikipedia:

Joseph Marie Eugène Sue (20 January 1804 – 3 August 1857) was a French novelist.
He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joséphine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino (1828). In 1829 his father's death put him in possession of a considerable fortune, and he settled in Paris.
A street in Paris is named for Eugene Sue, in the 18th Arrondissement: Rue Eugene Sue is located near the Poissonnière Metro station, and is not far from Montmartre and the Basilica of the Sacré Coeur.

Reviews

[Julien Lejeune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eugène Sue a écrit un roman d'aventures maritimes en trois parties, chacune basée autour d'un personnage principal mais toutes reprenant celui d'Atar-Gull cet esclave "exceptionnel". On a donc deux parties en pleine mer et l'on sent l'expérience de l'auteur en la matière. J'ai vraiment apprécié les détails maritimes, certaines tournures sont un peu alambiquées car Sue couvre ses arrières et prends clairement ses distances de ce que disent ses personnages pour éviter toute éventuelle poursuite (le livre ayant été écrit en 1831). La troisième partie n'est qu'une longue conclusion.

Je ne sais trop que penser de cette lecture, certes j'ai voyagé dans un monde qui n'existe plus et qui est crédible mais tout est écrit un peu trop naïvement. L'histoire n'a au final pas d'importance, les personnages eux en ont. Le point intéressant soulevé par le roman vient surtout du pirate sanguinaire qui la nuit sous les effets de l'opium rêve d'un monde où tout est beau et lui se retrouve dans le rôle du héro qui fait des cauchemards (la réalité). Et l'on se demande au final qu'en est-il d'un homme qui cauchemarde sa vie, rêve sa bonté et au final passe plus de temps à voir des choses fantastiques en rêve que n'importe quel autre homme normal. Que devient un homme qui est bon la nuit et horrible le jour si sa perception de la réalité est inversée. Un être exceptionnel comme dit Sue (sans être bon pour autant).