"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad..." Thus begins "Scaramouche", the novel that made Rafael Sabatini famous. The novel follows the adventures of Andre-Louis Moreau through the years immediately prior to, as well as during, the French Revolution. The bastard son of unknown parents, raised by his country-squire godfather and educated as a lawyer, Moreau starts out without any political convictions. However, that changes after he is forced to witness the death of his politically-active best friend in an unequal duel with a powerful aristocrat, a duel contrived by the aristocrat with the specific purpose of killing the young man in order to silence his "dangerous eloquence". Moreau vows to avenge his friend, not with the sword, but by assuming the voice of the dead man, despite the fact that he doesn't really share his friend's convictions. Thus Moreau begins playing the first of may roles that he is to assume in the course of the story; including revolutionary orator, actor, fencing instructor and politician.
This is a fast-moving story that sweeps the reader along through a series of surprising twists. Not least of those twists is Moreau's career as a member of a troop of Commedia Dell'Arte actors. Pursued by the police on a charge of sedition, Moreau persuades the troop to make him part of their company. Among them he assumes the role of Scaramouche, the cold, sly and glib trickster who manipulates the characters and the action without ever taking an active hand himself. It is a part Moreau finds singularly suited to his personality. It is also a role that, to some degree, he continues to play in all his subsequent careers.
On the run once again and broke, Moreau winds up in Paris, where he manages to secure a job as an assistant instructor in a fencing academy. There he hones his skill as a swordsman until fate provides yet another twist. In the National Assembly the Aristocrats have been killing off the proletariat delegates in contrived duels. The proletariat party needs a swordsman to counter them and Moreau, remembered for his fiery oratory and know to be an expert fencer, is the obvious choice. Not a man of action, Moreau at first demurs, until he learns that the man who killed his friend is the leading swordsman on the Aristocratic side.
Andre-Louis Moreau is a fascinating literary character; resilient and versatile, cold and calculating while still romantic, intellectual and at the same time swashbuckling. On one level his story concerns the social and political conditions of the French Revolution. However, on another level, it is a story of self-discovery because Moreau, in a very real sense, does not know who he really is, and so reinvents himself as conditions require.
There are many characters and plot twists of which one need say nothing, since it would spoil the plesure of reading the book and finding out about them for oneself. Suffice it to say that this is a story with many layers and subtleties, and reading it is a rich and satisfying experience.
One final note for those familiar with the Film versions. The 1952 film, while having much to commend it, is so different from the book that Sabatini's novel is scarcely recognizable. In fact, so may characters and plot points were altered or completely omitted in the 1952 movie that it is hardly Scaramouche at all. The rarely-shown 1923 silent film version, produced only two years after the publication of the novel, is much closer to the book, but still had many cuts and alterations. In order to truly appreciate this work, reading the book is a must. Therefore, by all means, read this highly-recommended book.
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Reviews with images
Touché! A great book hits the mark….
As you may gather from the other reviews about “Scaramouche,” this classic book is absolutely fascinating. Beyond the normal adventure, romance, and plot comments, I thought I’d share my thoughts on two other aspects of the book. First, it focuses on the French Revolution time frame of 1789-1792, the year before the “Ninety-Three” Terror. Second, it focuses on the concept of strategy.It is the second concept upon which I’d especially like to comment. As the book progresses, a young law student is drawn into learning drama by playing Scaramouche, the stock “little skirmisher” clown of 1500s Italian theater, with a traveling actor troupe. He then proceeds to learn fencing and swordplay and finally winds up using all these learned skills (law, dramatic/persuasive exposition, and swordplay) as he wins a political post in the French National Assembly. The time the hero spends mastering swordplay is especially intriguing, as he devises an ingenious plan of stringing one attack to another after another while all the time maintaining the initiative to force his opponent into surrender, if not death. At any rate, the hero uses all his strategy-enhancing skills to pursue his nemesis in a revolutionary background with moral tension reminiscent of Victor Hugo’s “Ninety-Three.”Bottom-line, highly recommended!Of possible interest, if you’re interested in strategy and the French Revolution: George Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key – the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul, a best-seller at Mount Vernon, andStrategy Pure and Simple: Essential Moves for Winning in Competition and Cooperation
Top reviews from other countries
Kindle Customer
A Truly Excellent Novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2020
VSK Rao
A classic which should not be missed by book lovers.
Reviewed in India on August 22, 2018