Scan barcode
hannaht7f4b9's review
3.0
I remember very little about this book, I read it as a teen. Reading the synopsis again now I would like to reread it one day.
stephybara's review
The first couple hundred pages of this book were very interesting - the French Revolution from the point of view of the vampire several different players (Robespierre, Danton, sans-culotte women and more) but I've really been struggling to read past page 300.
The one thing this is really bringing home to me is how long the revolution took; in school we just kind of learned "blah blah Bastille, blah blah Tennis Court Oath, and then there was a revolution, lots of people died, let's move on to Napoleon."
May 14 2009: I GIVE UP - if I haven't finished this by now, I'm not going to. (And I feel badly about it, because after 300 pages you'd think I could just finish it, but no.)
The one thing this is really bringing home to me is how long the revolution took; in school we just kind of learned "blah blah Bastille, blah blah Tennis Court Oath, and then there was a revolution, lots of people died, let's move on to Napoleon."
May 14 2009: I GIVE UP - if I haven't finished this by now, I'm not going to. (And I feel badly about it, because after 300 pages you'd think I could just finish it, but no.)
olive2read's review
4.0
Really interesting take on the French Revolution. Exciting read - loved how she brought these figures to life. Her women were fantastic!
maddiewagner's review
4.0
Marge Piercy recreates a well-rounded experience of The French Revolution by alternating the point-of-view of different characters: Claire (an actress), Max (Robespierre), Nicolas (an academic), Manon (an artisan's daughter/bureaucrat's wife), Pauline (a chocolatier), and Georges (an aspiring politician).
Through these main characters the reader learns how the revolution affected different groups of people. Pauline and Claire are the closest to the poor people (the sans-coulottes) and the women who protested for the right to divorce, the right to inherit and the right to feed their families.
Manon showed the other side of women's politics - a woman who was well educated and influential but priding herself on staying behind the scenes as a "proper woman."
The men - Max, Nicolas, and Georges lead the reader through the range of revolutionary thought. Maximillian Robespierre was focused on his virtue and his belief that he stood for the people, although he didn't believe they should be making decisions directly. Nicolas struggled for true suffrage and an elaborate governmental set-up to secure those rights against the popular demand. Georges is the new politician - political because he sees a way to move up in the world.
Many of the issues discussed in the book seem pertinent to today's political climate - how the rich pay less to the common cause than the poor, politicians and bureaucrats who are more focused on retaining their power than responding to the will of the people, and how after huge changes are made society seems to take several steps back so that only some minor changes remain.
Through these main characters the reader learns how the revolution affected different groups of people. Pauline and Claire are the closest to the poor people (the sans-coulottes) and the women who protested for the right to divorce, the right to inherit and the right to feed their families.
Manon showed the other side of women's politics - a woman who was well educated and influential but priding herself on staying behind the scenes as a "proper woman."
The men - Max, Nicolas, and Georges lead the reader through the range of revolutionary thought. Maximillian Robespierre was focused on his virtue and his belief that he stood for the people, although he didn't believe they should be making decisions directly. Nicolas struggled for true suffrage and an elaborate governmental set-up to secure those rights against the popular demand. Georges is the new politician - political because he sees a way to move up in the world.
Many of the issues discussed in the book seem pertinent to today's political climate - how the rich pay less to the common cause than the poor, politicians and bureaucrats who are more focused on retaining their power than responding to the will of the people, and how after huge changes are made society seems to take several steps back so that only some minor changes remain.
falconerreader's review
4.0
My favorite Piercy novel is He, She, and It, set in the future, but this historical novel is a close second.
More...