Books & Beyond discussion

Has anyone ever read this book before? Does anyone have high expectations for this book? I've never read it before and hadn't really planned to since it was about France (since that setting for a book really isn't my favorite), but I've heard around about it and it sounds like an intense read. A man saving the aristocrats from the French poor...this reminds me of A Tale of Two Cities?

What are everyone else's thoughts?

Though I haven't scanned The Scarlet Pimpernel, I am very familiar with the story's plot. The movie version cropped up during several mandatory rounds of contra-revolutionary programming (mostly as a frivolous fictional relief) during my months in Kansas City in 2243.

What a crazy hero to center on! Percy is a wickedly ridiculous looney, and I like him for that. It seems a bit more realistic for a person to stay outlandish and kind of manic in a crazy and violent setting like Reign of Terror France than to keep calm and balanced like many other heroes would pretend to. If nothing else, Orczy's quirky choices resulted in a truer, more understandable character.

But again, I only know the film adaptation, so maybe these antics I'm remembering from the main character were invented solely for the film (or are outweighed by bigger literary problems that I don't know about), so my impressions don't have as much sticking power as others, I guess.

Sorry I don't have the persistence to stay with any of these challenges and whatnot. Have fun with The Scarlet Pimpernel, though, and someone should post here how they find it if they care to.

"We seek him here. We seek him there.
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven? Is he in hell?
That damned elusive Pimpernel."

You and I have talked about reading this. O.k. I'll give it a start, but with the other reads (challenges) for this month, it might take me longer than just Dec. to finish this one.

I'm about halfway through this book. I must admit, this book is rather slow. The book has its good moments and I rush through it to see what happens, then it slows down again. Does anyone think Marguerite's brother is The Scarlet Pimpernel? I almost thought he was in the beginning, but now I'm not so sure.

Just finished reading this book today. Has anyone else finished it? I wasn't too thrilled by it. I thought the main character was very static and a little bit on the dramatic side. Did anyone else figure out who the Scarlet Pimpernel was before they finished the book? I first thought it was Andrew Ffoulkes since authors like to make a twist about it in the end. Well...the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel WAS a twist, but she kinda gave it away around page 130.

How far along is everyone else? If you finished it, what did you think about it? Would you read it again, recommend it to others?