thiswasatriumph's review against another edition
5.0
Charming, hilarious in its overwrought sentimentality, and deeply sympathetic to all those swept up in political conflicts. Dumas shows an innocent pair attempting to lead noble lives amid the Dutch Revolution of the 1670s. Don't let the early political chapters dissuade you. Dumas will surprise with this elegantly structured love story. Give this underrated classic a try!
booksbythecup's review against another edition
"You don’t know, sir, what I suffer. You don’t know the struggle going on in my heart and mind." - The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas
Tulips are a BIG deal in The Netherlands. I discovered that when I visited a few months ago. So when I started reading this book, I felt like I'd been in some of these places before.
The story within the pages are more succinctly crafted than some of the author's more well known works (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers). But don't for one moment be fooled into thinking it doesn't contain a historical backdrop, suspense, love and jealousy.
The Black Tulip is set in The Netherlands (how I regret the missed photo opportunity in the Hague a few months ago) surrounding the 1672 lynching of John DeWitt and his brother Cornelius. I felt carried along in the mobs uproar, not fully understanding why these two men lost their lives. But the stage is set for another story is cultivated, takes root and blossoms, eventually coinciding with the opening scenes.
Cornelius Van Baerle, dedicated tulip-fancier, is determined to grow a black tulip, to win a monetary prize, but more importantly, to have a tulip named after him. Unbeknownst to Van Baerle, his rival, Boxtel, plots and schemes to steal the tulip bulbs, even laying false accusations against Van Baerle leading to imprisonment. Will the hero of this story, the black tulip triumph?
Tulips are a BIG deal in The Netherlands. I discovered that when I visited a few months ago. So when I started reading this book, I felt like I'd been in some of these places before.
The story within the pages are more succinctly crafted than some of the author's more well known works (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers). But don't for one moment be fooled into thinking it doesn't contain a historical backdrop, suspense, love and jealousy.
The Black Tulip is set in The Netherlands (how I regret the missed photo opportunity in the Hague a few months ago) surrounding the 1672 lynching of John DeWitt and his brother Cornelius. I felt carried along in the mobs uproar, not fully understanding why these two men lost their lives. But the stage is set for another story is cultivated, takes root and blossoms, eventually coinciding with the opening scenes.
Cornelius Van Baerle, dedicated tulip-fancier, is determined to grow a black tulip, to win a monetary prize, but more importantly, to have a tulip named after him. Unbeknownst to Van Baerle, his rival, Boxtel, plots and schemes to steal the tulip bulbs, even laying false accusations against Van Baerle leading to imprisonment. Will the hero of this story, the black tulip triumph?
thebelljar33's review against another edition
3.0
"One has sometimes suffered enough to have a right ever afterwards to say, I am too happy"
alyssa_tauber's review
3.0
2.5
"The Black Tulip," is a historical novel by Dumas which mixes fiction into real events. It focus around fictional events set up by the real mod murder of the political de Witte borthers in 1672, and Holland's real tulip mania in which prized tulip bulbs sold for outrageous amounts.
"The Black Tulip" is not Dumas' strongest work -- the plot isn't as engaging as his others (in fact, it is quite predictable), nor are the characters terribly developed. The only character who seems fully rounded is William of Orange, who is both sinister and sympathetic. Everyone else is quite one-note. There is a also a hint of antisemitism in the book; the antagonist is a jealous man names Isaac who, while in disguise, calls himself Jacob. It doesn't go further than giving the antagonist a Jewish name, and the sentiment may have been common for the time, but it is still enough that it feels off-putting.
Overall, "The Black Tulip" certainly has some flaws, but may interest those who like historical fiction, or for fans of Dumas who want to see what he did beyond the Musketeers and Monte Cristo.
Edit: I ended up giving this book away not too long after reading it. It was okay, but didn't merit keeping in comparison with other books.
"The Black Tulip," is a historical novel by Dumas which mixes fiction into real events. It focus around fictional events set up by the real mod murder of the political de Witte borthers in 1672, and Holland's real tulip mania in which prized tulip bulbs sold for outrageous amounts.
"The Black Tulip" is not Dumas' strongest work -- the plot isn't as engaging as his others (in fact, it is quite predictable), nor are the characters terribly developed. The only character who seems fully rounded is William of Orange, who is both sinister and sympathetic. Everyone else is quite one-note. There is a also a hint of antisemitism in the book; the antagonist is a jealous man names Isaac who, while in disguise, calls himself Jacob. It doesn't go further than giving the antagonist a Jewish name, and the sentiment may have been common for the time, but it is still enough that it feels off-putting.
Overall, "The Black Tulip" certainly has some flaws, but may interest those who like historical fiction, or for fans of Dumas who want to see what he did beyond the Musketeers and Monte Cristo.
Edit: I ended up giving this book away not too long after reading it. It was okay, but didn't merit keeping in comparison with other books.
kailey_luminouslibro's review
4.0
Rather slow in the beginning, but wonderfully dramatic in the middle!
thebelljar33's review
3.0
"One has sometimes suffered enough to have a right ever afterwards to say, I am too happy"
grauspitz's review
5.0
19/10/2023
Bumping this up to 5 stars because this was a delight to come back to! Having a bit more knowledge about the tulip mania certainly helped in my enjoyment, as was the realization of just how central Rosa was to the story. Cornelius may have been dubbed the protagonist by Dumas, but Rosa was the protagonist in my heart.
07/14/2018
4.5
While I knew I couldn’t expect this to have the same impact that Monte Cristo did due to sheer size, it still had quite the impact on me! Even though I only have 2 of his books read, Dumas is very quickly becoming one of my favourite authors.
Bumping this up to 5 stars because this was a delight to come back to! Having a bit more knowledge about the tulip mania certainly helped in my enjoyment, as was the realization of just how central Rosa was to the story. Cornelius may have been dubbed the protagonist by Dumas, but Rosa was the protagonist in my heart.
07/14/2018
4.5
While I knew I couldn’t expect this to have the same impact that Monte Cristo did due to sheer size, it still had quite the impact on me! Even though I only have 2 of his books read, Dumas is very quickly becoming one of my favourite authors.
kibbles15's review against another edition
4.0
I have to admit after reading the first few chapters of this book I almost did not continue. Not because the writing was bad (it was excellent), but because of the actions of the mob at the beginning of the book. The description of the brutal murder of two men almost turned me away. However, I decided to keep going and thoroughly enjoyed the book. The author does a good job with covering the effects of mob mentality and all-consuming envy, while throwing in a sweet romance. This is an older novel so the language is a little harder to follow, but it is definitely worth the effort.
msand3's review
3.0
This short Dumas novel is a whimsical curiosity that reads more like an historical fairy tale. The background is the political imprisonment and brutal murder two Dutch brothers during the rise of William of Orange, as well as the 17th century “Tulip Mania” -- two events that couldn’t be further apart in temperament! Set against this background is the fictional godson of one of the political figures -- a mild-mannered tulip-grower who becomes caught up in the deadly political intrigue, mostly due to the machinations of a rival tulip grower who desires to steal his bulb of a black tulip. Who knew the cultivation of flowers could be so vicious!
This is not on the level of [b:The Three Musketeers|7190|The Three Musketeers (The D'Artagnan Romances, #1)|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320436982l/7190._SY75_.jpg|1263212] novels or [b:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126|The Count of Monte Cristo|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309203605l/7126._SY75_.jpg|391568], but makes for an enjoyable read for a couple afternoons. Dumas makes a half-hearted attempt to link the story to a political message, which the author of the introduction is at pains to emphasize in order to raise the story above the level of light entertainment, but one could just as easily see a more humorous metaphor of the tulip representing sexual union (which was probably more in line with Dumas’ thinking, knowing his proclivity for the ladies). Worth a look only if you’ve read some of Dumas’ other works and are looking for an offbeat, shorter read.
This is not on the level of [b:The Three Musketeers|7190|The Three Musketeers (The D'Artagnan Romances, #1)|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320436982l/7190._SY75_.jpg|1263212] novels or [b:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126|The Count of Monte Cristo|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309203605l/7126._SY75_.jpg|391568], but makes for an enjoyable read for a couple afternoons. Dumas makes a half-hearted attempt to link the story to a political message, which the author of the introduction is at pains to emphasize in order to raise the story above the level of light entertainment, but one could just as easily see a more humorous metaphor of the tulip representing sexual union (which was probably more in line with Dumas’ thinking, knowing his proclivity for the ladies). Worth a look only if you’ve read some of Dumas’ other works and are looking for an offbeat, shorter read.