revolution_fr | really terrible historical fiction

...so, in lieu of reading for my exams (what's WRONG with me?!), I've been trying to clear my head by skimming through a historical novel published about a year ago, simply titled Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly. First of all, it's technically for "young adults" (the protagonist is a high school senior). Second of all, its perspective on the Revolution is (surprise) very naive and, well, high school. I started reading it last night and I'm almost done now. But, for all its flaws and blatant royalist sympathies, I can't deny that part of me kind of enjoys it. It's kind of like, The Da Vinci Code only with the French Revolution. So, even while I'm groaning over the history and politics, I can't stop reading because it's a page-turner and I'm hooked on the silly plot! Below is the description from Amazon.com:

BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

If you have some time to waste (not likely, given that you all seem like intelligent, productive people) and are in the mood for some very lightweight, very not-to-be-taken-seriously fiction, then go for it.

EDIT: Please forget that I ever suggested reading this book (unless you're reading it in order to write a vehement, public rebuttal of its contents).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's strange. And she claims in the preface to have done so much "research," too. I guess her inability (or refusal) to understand Robespierre just led her to ascribe to him another thing she obviously doesn't understand (and, sadly, has no empathy for).

And yes, the association of unattractiveness with evil is also frustrating.

Of course, this makes me think of Danton. No one (historian or novelist) seems to be able to resist the opportunity of emphasizing how ugly he was, even when they like him. I remember Gita May's biography of Madame Roland, which suggests that Roland's strong aversion to Danton's physical appearance (and, probably, his personality and behavior) led her to reject his efforts to compromise with the Girondins. If she had been more willing to engage with Danton, May suggests, then maybe the Girondins might not have met their end when they did. Obviously, it was more complicated than this, but I remember being struck by that detail while reading the book.

Stanley Loomis said just the same. He thinks that one of the reasons Mme. Roland rejected Danton was his uglyness... :(

I think at least part of the reason Danton's physical appearance is mentioned so often is that he himself referred to it in a speech, which is pretty unusual. That said, I think Marie-Hélène Huet is right in arguing that Danton, like Robespierre, has been turned into a kind of "revolutionary monster" by historiography and fictional portrayals alike: the "minotaur" to Robespierre's "sphinx," as she has it.

As for Mme Roland, I honestly can't remember whether she mentions Danton's appearance in her memoirs and I haven't read her correspondance, but even if she does, I doubt it had quite the influence it's often claimed to have had.

Did Danton said something over the lines of "my ugliness is my strenght"? I think this was the sentence he mentioned in a speech.

He said, I believe, "Nature has given me the harsh physiognomy of liberty." There is a certain extent to which Danton overemphasized his own appearance - though it was of course further exaggerated later. Interestingly, the commentary the journal the Révolutions de Paris gives to this speech is that Danton's references to his appearance were out of place and inappropriate. Apparently Robespierre's views on the matter were not unique.

They always seem to claim to have done a lot of research, don't they? Carolly Erickson, the one who came up with Robespierre the "Green Ghoul" calls herself a historian. But to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if she had got the idea on a royalist internet forum, which, as far as I can tell, seems to be the place the myth of Robespierre's insanity has the most currency

really terrible historical fiction

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