The Scarlet Pimpernel (Great Reads)
ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP In 1792, during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, an English aristocrat known to be an ineffectual fop is actually a master of disguises who, with a small band of dedicated friends, undertakes dangerous missions to save members of the French nobility from the guillotine. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: ‚Ä¢ A concise introduction that gives readers important background information ‚Ä¢ A chronology of the author’s life and work ‚Ä¢ A timeline of significant events that provides the book’s historical context ‚Ä¢ An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations ‚Ä¢ Detailed explanatory notes ‚Ä¢ Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work ‚Ä¢ Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction ‚Ä¢ A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader’s experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world’s finest books to their full potential. SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON
List Price: $ 5.99
Price: $ 5.99
Related posts:
God Save the King!,
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic novel, though it is hard to categorize. It is part romance, part adventure, part spy thriller, and part superhero fiction. All of these elements went into the pot and the resulting stew is extremely entertaining.
The book follows the adventures of Sir Percy Blakeney as he seeks to help French aristocrats escape the guillotine during the French Revolution. Since official English policy forbids this, Blakeney adopts a masked identity as the Scarlet Pimpernel to remain anonymous. The French, of course, detest this interference in their affairs and set out to trap and kill the Pimpernel at all costs. As part of his effort to deflect suspicion from himself, he plays the fool in every day life and he does it well. His own wife considers him a useless fop… and that’s where the story really gets interesting.
I won’t give away more of the plot, but she ends up following him into danger in an attempt to save him. This allows the most suspenseful section of the book to be told from Mrs. Blakeney’s perspective. Her terror for her husband’s fate is pure and adds to the tension considerably. If we saw it through the Pimpernel’s eyes, it would doubtless be far more composed and nowhere near as suspenseful.
In closing, The Scarlet Pimpernel is well worth buying. It’s laugh out loud funny, suspenseful, romantic, and generally quite a page-turner.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Great Edition,
This is one of my favorite books. I love the story and was excited to finally own my own copy. This edition is really great because it is lightly annotated. There are one or two footnotes on just about every page, defining french terms or just uncommon words. This makes reading that much more enjoyable because one understands more.
If you enjoy the book, there is a musical with an amazing soundtrack by the same name.
Was this review helpful to you?
|The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel Review,
Suspenseful and realistic, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel leaves the reader wanting more. It all seems so real. Could there really have been an Englishman who helped aristocrats escape out of Paris during the French Revolution? Each of the Scarlet Pimpernel’s plans actually could have worked. Finding out the ingenious schemes the Scarlet Pimpernel used was my favorite part of the book. The plans the Scarlet Pimpernel used to get the aristocrats safely out of Paris included several disguises and even fake passports. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy short adventure stories. These stories include tricky English spies, determined French patriots, scared French aristocrats, and severe consequences.
Was this review helpful to you?
|