revolution_fr | Entries tagged with mantel hilary

acolnahuacatl.livejournal.com

ALL OTHER ISSUES ABOUT THIS BOOK ASIDE, I have made an important observation about Marat's presence in A Place of Greater Safty, citizens.

( Let me share it with you )

Current Mood: uh huh

victoriavandal.livejournal.com

As in" "Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution" BBC2. Review . (I put that word in in the hope a random googler will stumble here...) Let's put it this way: it uses scenes from "Orphans of the Storm' like documentary footage. It intercuts images of Pol Pot, Stalin, Khomeni (oddly, not of Israel, a threatened democracy, surrounded by enemies, that uses violence to protect itself, and of which Simon Schama is a staunch supporter!!!!) with the acted bits. The CSP only seems to have 6 members - no mention of General Security. Carnot is the voice of reason, and Collot the bloodthirty one with a working class accent to denote cruelty (think Danny the Drug Dealer in Withnail and I, or the Cockney Orcs in LOTR) - though of course, Collot's role in Thermidor isn't mentioned: that wouldn't fit with the story the BBC are telling, you know, where Thermidor is the spontaneous overthrow of a cruel dictator (cue death to the tyrant type images from Gance's"Napoleon') - Fouché, Fréron, Tallien, Billaud and co don't even get a mention. Danton is killed because he's nice, Desmoulins is killed for writing vieux Cordelier no3, Herault's killed because he's posh, Fabre for no reason at all, Brissot and co for no reason at all....
And so on.
Contributions were from David Andress, Hilary Mantel, Zizek, Ruth Scurr (briefly), some other chap, some other chapess whose name I know but forget, and of couse old scrotum face Simon Schama, who cackles that he'd love to have been there on 9 Thermidor.
Frankly, if you knew nothing much about the Revolution, you'd end up as confused as you were at the start. And if you do, you'll be shouting "Oy! What about the Hébertistes! You haven't even mentioned ANYTHING about them!" and similar things at the screen all the way through. Like Mark Steel said, it's like saying in 1940 the British blacked their windows out for no apparent reason.

Lots of bedroom scenes with Robespierre and Saint-Just (with earring), though...

Current Mood: NNNNNNNG

everworld2662.livejournal.com

First and foremost, I am quite nervous about this first-time post. So, hello to you all, and please be gentle with me.

I discovered this comm only today and it has successfully distracted me from exam-studying for seven plus hours. No mean feat! I am very grateful. However, I also fear I am turning into Stanislawa Przybyszewska, so I've decided to make this post and then slowly back away from the Robespierre/French Revolution related websites.

While we're on the subject of that wonderful, wonderful man, however...I assume most of you will have already read this, but just in case you haven't, I wanted to link you all to this incredible review written by Hilary Mantel of a collection of Robespierre's essays. It actually doesn't discuss the collection much, if at all, and is more a meandering commentary on Robespierre's various historical depictions. I cannot describe how much I enjoyed reading it. I actually teared up at the end. I haven't been this obsessed since I stumbled across Arthur Rimbaud's poetry.

And, on that note, happy obsessing, all. Having found this comm, I feel a little less alone now in my insane adoration. So again, thankyou. <3

estellacat.livejournal.com

So, as promised, I'm finally (about a month late, but better late than never, I suppose) posting what I have as far as the portrayal of Éléonore Duplay in literature goes. The following links will only lead to English-language excerpts, but if anyone feels like browsing my journal there are a few French ones posted there too.

In case anyone missed my explanation of why I'm doing all this for as minor a historical personage as Éléonore Duplay, I'll just briefly sum up my reasons: the first, is that--as many of you know--I'm planning of eventually writing a novel in which Éléonore will be the protagonist, so it's useful to me personally to know what others have written about her. The second is, quite simply, that it's actually possible to compile all the excerpts of novels and plays that feature Éléonore, whereas, if I were trying to do the same for say, Robespierre, well, there are entire books from his perspective... Needless to say, it would be pretty near impossible. Third, I figure since I'm making this compilation in any case, I might as well share it, since a little knowledge is unlikely to do anyone any harm. (In fact, at some point, I'll probably post some non-fiction excerpts as well, just to add some more *useful* knowledge to the mix.)

Also, while I'm not particularly fond of stating the obvious, I think it might be a good idea to note that since these are novels and plays, it's a good idea to take whatever notions the authors might get into their heads to represent, with a grain of salt. Or a whole shaker. Or a whole salt-mine. But you get the idea: when it comes to accuracy, some of these are better than others.

So, the links:

Burlesques, William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847
http://estellacat.livejournal.com/32147.html
http://estellacat.livejournal.com/32486.html
British Artists from Hogarth to Turner: A Series of Biographical Sketches, Walter Thornbury, 1861 and The Atelier du Lys, or an Art Student in the Reign of Terror; Margaret Roberts; 1877
Macmillan's Magazine, John Morley, 1888
Longman's Magazine, Charles Longman, 1890 and The Journal of a Spy in Paris During the Reign of Terror, Charles Fletcher, 1895
The Friend of the People: A Tale of the Reign of Terror, Mary Rowsell, 1895
Robespierre: The Story of Victorien Sardou's Play Adapted and Novelized Under His Authority, Ange Galdemar, 1899
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, Emmuska Orczy, 1922
Mon ami Robespierre, Henri Béraud (Translator: Slater Brown), 1928
Jacobin's Daughter, Joanne Williamson, 1956 (Part I)
Jacobin's Daughter, Joanne Williamson, 1956 (Part II)
The Incorruptible: A Tale of Revolution and Royalty, Helma de Bois, 1965
A Place of Greater Safety, Hilary Mantel, 1992
A Place of Greater Safety (2)
A Place of Greater Safety (3)
City of Darkness, City of Light; Marge Piercy; 1996
(City of Darkness, City of Light again)
The Ninth Thermidor, M. A. Aldanov, 1926
The Gods Are Thirsty, Tanith Lee, 1996
The Danton Case, Stanislawa Przbyszewska, translated by Boleslaw Taborski in 1989
http://estellacat.livejournal.com/41024.html

One last thing: I had to make the font size very small on some of the entries in order to fit everything. I'm sorry for any annoyance/inconvenience that might cause, but it is possible to change the font size.

And as always, it would be interesting to see any comments any of you might have, either here or at the entries themselves. Happy reading!

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Werther - Massenet

toi-marguerite.livejournal.com

In honor of our monthly topic of Saint- Just, I pose the question of how Saint Just should be portrayed in fiction, and what everyone thinks of Saint- Just's representations in fiction.

In the books/movies/animes I've seen:

( Cut- just like fictional!Saint just likes heads to be in relationship to bodies. )

Any other books/movies/TV shows/animes? Does anyone have any other opinions on the fictional representations listed here?

trf-chan.livejournal.com

(In Spanish, Un Lugar de la Seguridad Grande - I have no idea why that amuses me, but somehow it does)

Well, I've finally gotten around to finishing Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety this weekend. Overall, I thought it was quite wonderful, especially compared what is usually offered up in the catagory of French Revolution books - fiction and nonfiction. At least Mantel doesn't think Robespierre was green. ;)

The only thing that irked me was her unecessarily harsh (IMO) treatment of the Duplay family and Philippe Lebas. The whole Babette thing was just completely...O.o;. Saint-Just wasn't too nicely handled either, but that at least had a more understandable basis than with the poor Duplays and Lebas.

That's what irks me about what is written on the FR, honestly. No author seems content to evaluate all personages involved honestly - someone's always got to be The Source of All Evil or That Idiot Who Got in the Way of Everything.

Other than that, though, I thought it was an excellent book. Mantel has stated that she came into it loving Camille and came out of it loving Maxime. I had almost the opposite experience, oddly enough. XD; I still love Maxime, of course, but I'm definitely more interested in Camille now than I was before.

What are everyone else's opinions on the book?

P.S. - For my Speech class (not the team - I decided against doing that the moment I stepped foot in the class), we have to write a speech describing a certain setting. I've decided on revolutionary Paris. We need to hit up at least ten locations. I've already got The Jacobins, the National Convention, Place de la Revolution, Palais Royal, Tuileries, and the Bastille. Does anyone have any other suggestions of places that I should use? Please note that I'd like places that you can find pictures of as they looked at the time (or a description) or that have remained mostly unchanged. Thanks. :)

trf-chan.livejournal.com

So, I'm going to be joining the school Speech team this year, and one of the categories I'll be in is Entertainment. Basically, you present a bunch of misinformation on whatever subject it is that your speech is about. I decided to do mine on Robespierre. 8D

I've been writing up a list of the ridiculous things people believed about him or put about after his death (green skin, beheading little birdies, etc.) If anyone here has heard anything else that's particularly juicy, I would love to hear it.

On another note, I'm reading Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety right now. Awesomeness. I'm not much a fan of the prose itself, but overall, I like it a lot thus far. I also read Piercy's City of Darkness, City of Light not long ago. It was all right, but nothing special. I got a bit confused several times when reading. She...did not seem to like Lucile Desmoulins much. Or Charlotte Robespierre (mind, it seems Charlotte really was rather a...bitch, let's say, but every time I read a scene with her in that book, I was like, "Christ, did she run over your puppy or something? What do you have against this woman?!" For some reason, even though she superficially acts quite the same in Mantel's book, it seems much more...I dunno, probable, natural, something. All I can get out of Piercy's is that Charlotte brutally axe murdered her in a previous incarnation [probably for ogling Maxime] and she's trying to get revenge. XD;).

Ooh, um, wow. That's a longish paragraph.

trf-chan.livejournal.com

I was messing about on Google and I found an article from this April, by the author of A Place of Greater Safety, about a new book that came out, Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution (which can be purchased here). I thought it was an interesting article, so I thought I'd share.

If you'd seen his green eyes

cachecache.livejournal.com

Salut Citoyens et Citoyennes! New member! Well...I guess we're all new members to this comm, aren't we? I took a class on the French Revolution and Napoleon last quarter so I'm a bit of a plebe, but I think I know a decent amount (my notes for the final ending up being 13 pages!) about revolutionary matters. I've also been taking French for the past seven years, so I'll be available if anyone wants some translation work for speeches or anything.

I'm currently reading A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel which is a semi-fictional account of the period through the eyes of Robespierre, Desmoulins, and Danton from their formative years to their respective deaths. The writing style leaves a lot to be desired (very anglicized, moderning sounding dialogue and the such), but the plot line is pretty good.

I'm also a big fan of musical theatre and I highly recommened La Révolution Française, the first collaboration by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the creators of Les Misérables (which was, in fact, not about the French Revolution like many high school history teachers think, but the student uprisings of 1832!) and Miss Saigon. It's in French and they were both pretty young and inexperianced when they wrote it, but it's still a great time. Maybe I can upload a couple songs for you guys sometime, if you want.

My current revolution-related loves are Saint-Just, Robespierre and basically the entire Committee of Public Safety, using the French Republican Calendar at every possible opportunity, what happened on the night of Varennes, and a young Napoleon Bonaparte (pre-Egyptian Campaign).

And now for some pimping: I'm the mod of

little_corporal which is a Napoleon comm for all you Bonapartists, although I notice that a lot of people from over there are already here (Hi guys!). For World Cup fans out there: Allez les Bleus!!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: World Cup: CZE vs. USA

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Entries tagged with mantel hilary

Marat in 'A Place of Greater Safety'

That programme's just been on...

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Portrayal of Éléonore Duplay in Literature

"Our revolution has made me feel the full force of the axiom that history is fiction."

A Place of Greater Safetly

Pssst.

Found via a Google search

le 24 Prairial an CCXIV

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