These days, it not unreasonable to imagine that more people are familiar with the movie from a few years ago, maybe more than a few now, than are acquainted with the novel itself. I know that this is the first time I have read it and I'm a man who once considered himself fairly well read. How to describe such an interesting novel? With care ...
Being so comfortable with the story, as I knew it then, of the movie and thinking that such an excellent film must have followed the story as it was written, I simply wasn't prepared for the shock of reading the novel. Written in 1844, the author speaks to us from a world long dead and in a fashion long since retired by the modern equivalent of a quality story teller. At times even addressing the reader and explaining things that may not be clearly understood in these modern times.
The main themes of the book, that of betrayal & revenge, are so well described that at times it became truly difficult to put this masterpiece of literature down. I began to read and was soon transported to the France of the early 19th century where, through the eyes of a lover, the story began to unfold. We find, here in the book, references to great world leaders, now almost lost in the mists of time, and romance that is quite unknown even to the most devoted of modern poets. The societies of the time are so well described that even the most avid historian would have a hard time finding fault in the manners and etiquette so often encountered in this epic tale.
The more modern reader may have some difficulty at the beginning of such a classic, however I assure you that the time is well invested and the reader will close the book feeling a bit more refined and with an improved outlook on the life they personally live. It is safe to say that I strongly recommend this to anyone that would enjoy a look into the past or eyes more open to the world of the present.
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