Soyons clairs, soyons brefs, soyons francs: it was amazing. Nothing beats Catherine de Medicis for intrigue! ;) ( )

A hidden gem of Dumas. ( )

Como corresponde a una novela de Dumas, cualquier parecido con la historia se puede considerar coincidencia pero la novela es entretenida, Margarita de Valois (La Margot del título, es un personaje anodino) pero Enrique de Navarra es un personaje interesante y carismático y, aunque La Mole y Coconnas (los verdaderos protagonistas) son un tanto flojos, la trama es ágil y el libro se lee con agrado. ( )

Como corresponde a una novela de Dumas, cualquier parecido con la historia se puede considerar coincidencia pero la novela es entretenida, Margarita de Valois (La Margot del título, es un personaje anodino) pero Enrique de Navarra es un personaje interesante y carismático y, aunque La Mole y Coconnas (los verdaderos protagonistas) son un tanto flojos, la trama es ágil y el libro se lee con agrado. ( )

I watched the 1994 film version of 'La Reine Margot' years before I discovered it was based on a book by Dumas. The film is incredibly gothic, melodramatic, and gory, so I loved it. Naturally I had to read the novel too. As it turns out, the book is even more overwrought and violent, with the addition of wit. I found it a wonderful romp, absolutely full of non-stop intrigue. The pace is fantastic, as befits a novel originally published as a popular serial that had to keep readers hooked from installment to installment. Characters are constantly hiding in cupboards from the Queen Mother, escaping into secret passages, getting into sword fights, narrowly escaping being poisoned, swearing deadly revenge, swearing eternal love, falsely pledging allegiance, plotting against the King, plotting against the Crown Prince, hunting dangerous boar, shooting at enemies, disguising themselves, climbing out of windows, hiding secret messages, being stabbed, and being imprisoned. Meanwhile, the St Bartholomew's Day massacre and subsequent unrest! Now and again someone sits down to eat an omelette, although most meals are interrupted by at least one dramatic event. Once I worked out which of the three Henrys was which and stopped constantly reading the endnotes, I was joyfully carried along by the momentum of events. There is such a vivid excitement and propulsive tension to the story, despite the eventual outcome not being in doubt.

Dumas adeptly juggles the machinations of Catherine de Medicis, Henry of Navarre, his magnificent wife Margot, her best friend, the Duke d'Anjou, the Duke de Guise, and the Duke d'Alençon. Many of their plots involve de la Mole and Coconnas, a pair of handsome young men who always choose the most melodramatic and excessive course of action in any situation. They meet coincidentally, become friends, realise they are on opposite sides of France's bitter religious divide, attempt to kill each other, both nearly die, recover, try to kill each other again, both nearly die again, recover together, and swear eternal friendship. The comparisons with Orestes and Pylades are many, not only in the narration but also in Coconnas's letter resigning from the service of a Crown Prince because his friendship with de la Mole is more important. It is difficult not be delighted by these two, indeed by every character, despite nearly all of them having a strong penchant for murder. While this Renaissance Pylades and Orestes are little more than thugs, they have such style and panache that I cared about them anyway. I was sad when Coconnas chose to be executed with de la Mole, rather than taking the chance to escape with his ladylove. The pair die holding hands, which reminded me of Enjolras and Grantaire in [b:Les Misérables|24280|Les Misérables|Victor Hugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411852091l/24280._SY75_.jpg|3208463]. Then Margot retrieves de la Mole's severed head from the executioner, an action apparently attested by historical record.

The endnotes helpfully explain where Dumas played fast and loose with historical events. He constantly compresses timescales, re-attributes actions to keep the cast of main characters manageable, and gleefully invents and embroiders upon people's motives. Margot is of course at the heart of the book, a fascinatingly subtle and clever woman. In many ways the central conflict is between her and the Queen Mother, both working through men. Margot has a clear agreement with her husband to act as allies while finding love elsewhere. Catherine de Medicis plans carefully and ruthlessly for her sons, although her cruel methods eventually backfire in horrifying fashion. The king of France is childish and capricious, so power revolves around him while he has limited awareness of and control over events. This is particularly obvious when his mother strong-arms him into signing an arrest warrant. The king's brothers aren't a great deal better at plotting; clearly none of the sons inherited their mother's strategic mind. By contrast, Henry of Navarre and Margot de Valois are both blessed with a cool head and quick thinking. Both traits are essential in order to survive the Louvre in the 1570s, evidently. When de la Mole and Coconnas are compared with their respective ladyloves, it is clearly the women who do the thinking while the men look decorative and get into lots of fights.

I had a great time reading 'La Reine Margot' and found the endnotes helpful for historical context, albeit to be read in batches rather than every time one appears. The introduction provides some very interesting background to the novel's composition. Dumas apparently wrote it in three months, while working on four or five other projects. That really puts my three month PhD thesis draft in the shade. I also learned from the introduction that the 1997 Oxford World Classics edition I read is based on an 1846 translation, which edited the text! The Victorian translator removed some historical digressions that they felt would not interest a British audience. As I adored the chapters in [b:Les Misérables|24280|Les Misérables|Victor Hugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411852091l/24280._SY75_.jpg|3208463] on argot, Waterloo, and the history of the Parisian sewer system, I respectfully disagree with this choice. I wonder if there's a more comprehensive English translation to be found? If I had the patience and a French dictionary, I could try reading the original. 'La Reine Margot' was such an appealingly escapist reading experience that I'll keep the possibility in mind, despite my usual disinclination to reread. Now I want to rewatch the film, for comparison and because I love the visuals and music. Truly, there is nothing to match the capital-R Romantic melodrama of mid-19th century French fiction. ( )