Product Description

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:

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• 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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76562 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743487740
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

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.

Entertaining but melodramatic
I grew up loving the 1980s movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel starring Jane Seymour. So, I had really high expectations of loving the actual book as well. But to be honest, I feel the movie is the richer more engaging story.
I liked the book fairly well but felt that it had too much "telling" and not enough "showing." Many pages are taken up with Marguerite's rather melodramatic mental reactions to things instead of actually seeing those things happen. Also, it seemed that the only character who we actually get to know is Marguerite. Sir Percy is interesting but not enough time is given to revealing his character.

An Unforgettable Classic
I started reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, expecting it to be uninterested and to not get through the book. However, I found that from the very beginning I was intrigued by the writing style and the story line. Some may say that the book starts out slow, and I can see how they would say that, but I did not find that to be the case. However, the book does get better as the story unfolds. If you enjoy mystery, suspense, and plot twists, then this is certainly a book for you!