Scaramouche

Scaramouche is not only Rafael Sabatini's crowning literary achievement, it is one of the most engaging, thought-provoking and exciting historical novels ever written.
Andre-Louis Moreau, (or Scaramouche, as he later becomes known), is a fascinatingly complex protagonist. Courageous, intelligent, quick-witted and intensely moral, Moreau is a character whose personal quest for revenge against the villainous Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr is a masterfully-woven story of swashbuckling action, romance and social conflict during the turbulent years of the French Revolution.
Well-born lawyer. Fugitive. Dramatic actor. Expert swordsman. Impassioned, mob-inciting orator. Revolutionary politician. Sabatini sets Moreau upon an intriguing path of fate, development and discovery, a fictionalized yet compelling account of a single man's ultimate test of human character as the world around him spirals into madness.
Sabatini has often been compared to Alexandre Dumas (author of the Three Musketeers, the Count of Monte Cristo) as a master of historical fiction. Though I believe Dumas to be the finest action-adventure writer of all time, and though some of Sabatini's other works (which I have not yet read) have been criticized as overly melodramatic, Sabatini has created in Scaramouche an historical action-adventure novel that transcends Dumas (and all modern action-adventure writers, for that matter) in that Moreau, his protagonist, is a thoroughly multi-dimensional character. Though Moreau is driven by his hatred and his quest for revenge, the spirit of his character is not defined by them, and the conflict of these passions with his ideals brings depth and substance to his exploits on the Theatre Feydau, the fencing halls of Paris, the floor of the National Assembly and his pursuit of the beautiful Aline de Kercadiou.
Duels. Intrigue. Romance. More duels. Moral and political introspection. Its all here. Enjoy!

Notwithstanding my fellow readers' rave reviews, I thought this standard in historical fiction was just average, and despite the author's incredible vocabulary, I did not find the writing itself to be particularly fine. It was hard to actually much like or root for the protaganist, which, in itself, is not a requirement for enjoying a book. However, I never felt as if the provocation for pursuing his relentless vendetta rang true or was supported by what I understood of his basically cynical and dispassionate character. Supposedly, he vows revenge for the murder of his dear friend in a one-sided duel, which underlies the ensuing plot line. But I never saw indications in our hero's character that he cared much about anything or anyone in particular, and certainly not to the extent of single-mindedly pursuing his enemy as he does. His feelings for his lady loves were likewise lukewarm and unconvincing, and I saw the startling revelation as to his ancestry coming a mile away. Sabatini's editorializing about politics, government and human nature was likewise tepid to my mind. Nor was his depiction of pre-Revolutionary France particularly evocative. Overall, I found myself reading this book to finish it and out of moderate interest in how the plot line would resolve. But I never particularly cared one way or the other, and a disinterested reader is not a good sign that the novel has succeeded. Literate, deemed a classic, but pretty humdrum overall.

This is my first Sabatini novel (just finished it last night), but it won't be my last - I found Scaramouche excellent.

Scaramouche is set during the years leading up to and including the French Revolution, and follows the exploits of one Andre Louis Moreau, a lawyer, a bastard, and a Frenchman with close connections to the ruling class. Moreau begins the story without an inkling of support for the Republican cause, but this changes early in the novel when Moreau's best friend, an outspoken Republican with a "dangerous gift of eloquence", is wrongly and permanently silenced. With that event, Sabatini not only changed the course of Moreau's life forever, he also had me hooked less than 30 pages into Scaramouche - an impressive accomplishment given my attention span, or lack thereof.

Moreau, or Scaramouche as he's eventually known, is a complex and unique character. Moreau's motives are often contradictory and hard to understand yet, at least to me, remain believable. He devotes his life to a cause he (at least initially) doesn't believe in. He seems to have little care for those around him, and is even called heartless by his friends and peers numerous times, yet he possesses loyalty worthy of admiration. An admitted hypocrite, he despises the emotion of hatred whilst himself dedicating a good portion of his life to vengeance. I found this unique character memorable and also worth liking and rooting for.

If there is one negative worth pointing out, it's that Scaramouche (the novel, not the character) is, at times, highly predictable. In particular, there is a revelation relating to Moreau's linage revealed at the end of the story that I saw coming from a mile away - and I'm pretty dense, there's generally a lot I don't see coming from a mile away that many other readers would. The story also is peppered with a number of fairly unlikely coincidences - but I think it's reasonable to consider these not coincidence, but Providence, or fate, and their prevalence is common to other works that I'd consider within the same category as Scaramouche, including everything I've ever read by Dumas or Hugo.

However, aside from what I'd consider a good to very good story, any negatives I can point out are, in my opinion, more than offset by Sabatini's excellent writing. This is clearly a matter of opinion, but I like his writing style better than just about anything I've read in the recent past, and I've read works by some pretty well regarded authors in the recent past. And in my opinion it's much more than a good vocabulary, the entire 350 pages are dotted with more great one-liners than I could possibly count or keep track of (beginning with the opening line of the novel, but this is far from the only memorable line). I was laughing out loud multiple times while reading this, moved to laughter by the overweight Pantaloon's "ponderous yet curiously noiseless gait" and, crap, countless other lines that make me wish I'd read with a highlighter nearby so I could quote more than one of them in this review and elsewhere - I never do that (read w/ a highlighter next to me) but do wish I had in this case and will when I read future works by Sabatini. The comical nature of the book is also bolstered by Moreau's cynical, dry humor that I find appealing.

As for my highest praise for this piece, I can offer two examples. The first is that I will read more works by Sabatini (in fact I just received a copy of Captain Blood today). The second is, if asked by a random friend to recommend a single book I've read over, say, the last six months as an easy, entertaining (yet nonetheless thought provoking) read, my answer would come easily and immediately: Scaramouche.

This was one of my favorite books... some 60 years ago, and I loved the movie with Stewart Granger [[ASIN:B007XTDW4W Scaramouche]] As it was free for my kindle, I decided to read it again. I am surprised how poorly I remembered it: my memories have been contaminated by the movie. The story is exciting, yes, but it is also very rich, the characters are very complex.

The hero: Andre-Louis Moreau
The book describes him in the first sentence:" He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad." This is a young man raised by an old aristocrat, he does not know who his parents are. He is guarded and does not show his emotions. His friends think that he is cold-hearted, but in truth he always wants to stay in control.

The time:
The whole story starts just before the French Revolution. The first 20 pages or so are full of details that all French people know (the equivalent to the Boston Tea Party over here). It is enough to remember that 1) The French revolution started as a request from the new bourgeoisie, industrials and businessmen (not the populace) to have a role in government; it degenerated later into a blood bath. 2) The Bourgeoisie tried (and failed) to work its requests through the Tiers-Etat (Third Estate, as opposed to Nobles and Clerics) which regrouped various classes of the French Cities, and was mainly represented by lawyers. It did not work, hence the revolution.

The story:
Andre-Louis' best friend Philippe, a young seminarist, is full of revolutionary ideals. He is killed in a duel by the marquis d'Azyr. The political ideas of Philippe are very similar to those of real-life Abbé Sieyès. Andre-Louis is more skeptic and moderate, but he pledges to avenge his friend. He talks for him and makes political enemies. He evades them by joining a group of comedians (hence his new name: Scaramouche, from the Commedia del Arte). Later he will become a fencing master. Expect to meet the parents and untangle a strong - if discrete - love story. It comes as a surprise. The various feelings and decisions of the women in the book are described with exquisite psychology.

Scaramouche-the name of a stock character in classical Italian comedy, a buffoon, a rascal. That André-Louis Moreau chooses this as his character when, fleeing the hangman's noose, he joins a traveling theatrical troupe, is but one of the many ironies in Sabatini's captivating novel, for André-Louis is anything but a buffoon, and only those of the Privileged class would have called him a rascal-or worse.

André-Louis is a complex protagonist, and he exudes irony throughout this novel in which neither suspense nor action ever lags. He adamantly refuses to see himself as a man of action, yet his speeches incite the restive crowds in both Rennes and Nantes, adding his powerful voice to the other catalysts of the French Revolution. He insists that he himself does not hold these dangerous republican views and is merely giving voice to his murdered friend, Vilmorin, yet he finds himself a republican member of the Assembly and instrumental in hastening the downfall of the Privileged class.

On a personal level, despite André-Louis' acute awareness of the madness of the world around him and his skillful artistry in manipulating that madness to achieve his ends, he is obstinately blind to the love that Aline holds for him, attributing her actions to a non-existent love for his nemesis, Monsieur de La Tour d'Azyr. Perhaps the ultimate irony, at least on such a private level, envelops the relationship between André-Louis and d'Azyr, but the revelation of that is saved for the final chapters of the novel, and I'll not destroy that suspense by revealing it here.

Sabatini's novel seamlessly interweaves fiction with history, and the window of history that he has chosen as his backdrop is a stirring one. The social injustices perpetrated by the French Privileged classes upon the commoners of the country have reached a climax. Violent revolution is at hand. If, Good Reader, you have not had the fortune to attend a live performance of Boubil and Schönberg's musical Les Misérables, go now and purchase the videocassette recording. While hardly equivalent to the stage production, the recording will still heighten your understanding of and empathy for the emotions of the "canaille," the rabble, as they become ever more violent in their opposition to the Privileged class that rules their society. Nor would it hurt to have a recording of the Revolutionary song Ça Ira and its successor, La Marseillaise, sounding their messages of revolt against societal wrongs as you read Scaramouche!

Sabatini's novel remains as intriguing and, yes, as stirring to the emotions of the reader as when it was newly published eighty-three years ago. Read it for its atmosphere of revolt against the wrongs perpetrated by the minority elite against the common majority. Read it for its cover-to-cover collection of delightful ironies. Read it to discover the complex character of the consummate actor André-Louis. Read it to learn the incredible and shocking secret of Madame de Plougastel. Read it to enjoy the hypocritical yet endearing godfather of André-Louis, Monsieur de Kercadiou. Read it because it is an entertaining and well-penned story. Now, uncork the Burgundy and let us toast this most delightful novel!

Rife with nineteenth century melodrama and a plot riddled by coincidence, Rafael Sabatini's SCARAMOUCHE is a tale of passion and adventure on the eve of the French Revolution. Andre-Louis Moreau, a low born young man who has studied the law and enjoys the patronage of a local nobleman, M. de Kercadiou, falls afoul of yet another highborn gentleman when this other takes it upon himself to entice Andre-Louis' best friend into a duel he cannot win. Moreau's friend, Philippe de Vilmorin, is a hotheaded idealist preaching the overthrow of the established order and his highborn antagonist, the Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr, is a man who cannot abide that. Goading the hapless Philippe into a one-sided duel which must result in his death, the Marquis ultimately refuses to respond to the angry demand of Andre-Louis that he kill him, too, leaving the young man clutching the dead body of his friend and swearing to become the voice of revolution that Philippe would have been had he lived.

Aiming to make good his oath, Andre-Louis soon turns his talent for oratory into rabblerousing against the Marquis, and those of the King's officers who protect him, and is forced to become a fugitive as the established order turns against him. Fleeing the gendarmes with the aid of Aline, beautiful niece of M. de Kercadiou, Andre-Louis joins an acting troupe and begins the first significant transformation of his life. But it will not be his last as he finds his calling in playing the scandalous rogue "Scaramouche" in the series of plays he soon devises to win fame and fortune for his little troupe.

Yet trouble haunts the troupe as Andre-Louis discovers a passion for Mademoiselle Binet, the beautiful daughter of the troupe's leader, only to find his hopes thwarted when he again crosses paths with the deadly Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr. Angered at the decision of M. de Kercadiou's niece, Aline, to refuse to foreswear the attentions of the ubiquitous Marquis, who seeks to win her with his worldly wealth and gentlemanly charm, Scaramouche soon resurfaces as a political dissident once more, bringing to an end his love affair with the theater and the actress, La Binet, who first drew him to it.

But Andre-Louis still has another transformation before him and, fleeing to Paris, he secures a position with a fencing master and is soon well on his way to mastery of that still vital martial art. As the Revolution gains steam, Andre-Louis, who continues to see himself as the rogue, Scaramouche, finds himself sucked back into the maelstrom of disorder and violence that the conflict in France is fast becoming. When, at last, he learns of an opportunity to square accounts with the man who slaughtered his friend, tempted Kercadiou's niece, and derailed his own planned marriage with the lovely Binet girl, he is quick to act and is soon brought face to face with d'Azyr in the Assembly of the newly formed French constitutional monarchy.

But the constitutional monarchy cannot endure and little else is as it seems in the escapades of Scaramouche. If one surprise is amply telescoped there is yet another, waiting in the wings, which comes so suddenly but seems so natural that I was astonished I had not anticipated it. Of course, the tale is entirely derived of the magnificent coincidences, nineteenth century style, that keep the story boiling as M. Moreau, the Scaramouche, learns the secrets of his own history, one revelation at a time.

If you like good old fashioned historical action tales and have a tolerance for the archaic conventions that enriched Sabatini's writing in the period (he wrote in the early twentieth century though his style resounds with the accouterments of the nineteenth), then I'm betting you'll like this one. Here are a few others that might appeal to you:

[[ASIN:0142180106 Captain Blood (Penguin Classics)]]

[[ASIN:0393323315 The Sea-Hawk]]

[[ASIN:0345501748 Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure]]

[[ASIN:0738801526 The King of Vinland's Saga]] (this one's mine, by the way.)

SWM

An adventurous romance in the best pot-boiler tradition; all the clichés are here, and all handled marvelously well. André-Louis Moreau, of unknown parentage, is brought up as the godson of a minor Breton nobleman and educated to be a lawyer. The godfather, naturally, has a beautiful young niece, Aline, who has been brought up as if a cousin to André-Louis. It goes without saying that he loves her but has not yet realized it. Aline, ditto, although she is tempted by ambition to marry the Evil Marquis next door. ('Nuff said.)

André-Louis's best friend--a true-believer in all the noblest revolutionary ideals--is murdered by the Evil Marquis for being "dangerously eloquent." André-Louis swears over his friend's body that he will be Philippe's voice and speak out in support of the revolutionary ideals which he himself does not believe in. Of course he turns out to be a natural-born orator, gives a couple speeches in nearby cities, and stirs up the mob sufficiently to advance the revolution another step. Then he runs for his life.

Our hero hides out in a cheap travelling theatrical company which performs Commedia del l'Arte in the old Italian style. He ends up playing the part of Scaramouche--the trickster, the trouble-maker, the "little skirmisher." It is only during his theatrical phase that André-Louis is actually called Scaramouche, but he comes to think of the name as emblematic of his own role in real life. He turns out to be a natural-born actor and playwright, and after a complex set of events and entanglements, raises a riot in the theatre from which the Evil Marquis barely escapes being ripped to shreds--which was the fate André-Louis had in mind. "Little Skirmisher" indeed!

André-Louis has to go to ground again, this time in Paris. Having taken a few fencing lessons during his acting days, he manages to wangle a job as assistant instructor at a fencing academy where he turns out to be (you guessed it!) a natural-born swordsman. But never mind.

Revolution-wise things are getting hotter and hotter. The Assembly are supposed to be writing a constitution for France, but the aristos are interfering through various means, including killing the politicians of the Left in trumped-up duels that bourgeois are not qualified to fight but cannot in honor refuse. And the leader of the aristos is... Anyway, André-Louis does not kill the Evil Marquis in their duel; due to an accident he only wounds him.

Soon the Bastille is stormed, the King escapes from Paris, revolutionaries man the barricades, aristocrats are slaughtered in the streets, and the beautiful young Aline (remember Aline?) and another noblewoman (who is secretly Very Important to our hero) are trapped in Paris with no way to escape. André-Louis appears to rescue Aline. The Evil Marquis shows up, running for his life. There's a confrontation! The Very Important Noblewoman reveals a Very Important Secret. What happens next? Find out for yourself. But André-Louis does eventually marry Aline, which should tell you something.

I write this message to announce my great good fortune to have discovered at last the novels of Rafael Sabatini.

Those written before 1930 are available for free download from gutenberg. org

I have read so far on my Kindle these three:
Captain Blood
Scaramouche (not about a pirate!)
Sea Hawk.

They are all three emotional rollercoaster rides,
Written in language florid, antique but thoroughly convincing,
About heroes and villains, betrayals, loves lost and regained, great injustice and final satisfaction,
Epic action and adventure, tiny misunderstandings that change the course of lives, twisting plots hung from cliffs,
Complex characters who struggle with life, waver, try a different path, lose faith and regain it.

Among the very best of Capital R Romantic fiction.

Background:

If you know of Sabatini at all, your knowledge is likely as vague mine was: as the old author of pirate novels which inspired the making of the 2 great Errol Flynn swashbuckler Movies: Captain Blood and Sea Hawk. I certainly enjoyed these movies, but as much for Korngold's music as any other reason.

Having by then checked Wikipedia under "Rafael Sabatini"
I had several of my illusions corrected:
No, he was not writing in 1750 or 1820: He wrote in the first half of the 20th century.
No, these were not Italian translations: He lived and wrote in England.
No, the Errol Flynn Sea Hawk was not based upon the Sabatini novel (although a 1924 silent movie was).
And wow! there are lots more still to read!

No movie, I suspect can do justice to these books.

After reading Captain Blood, I thought this would end up being a let down...but it was even better. A fascinating historical backdrop, richly developed and nuanced characters, and a riveting plot--what more could you ask for. It is tragic that this brilliant author, who is part storyteller and part philosopher, has been lost to time. Far superior to any novel you can find today.

Published in 1921, Scaramouche was swashbuckling historical novelist Rafael Sabatini's breakout novel, after over two decades of writing. My first encounter with Sabatini, however, was reading his 1922 release Captain Blood last year, and so many of my thoughts on Scaramouche are in comparison to Captain Blood, which I enjoyed immensely.

In Scaramouche, Sabatini introduces as our hero Andre-Louis Moreau, a provincial lawyer of uncertain parentage, raised by his godfather (wink wink, nudge nudge, say the locals), a minor noble. Andre-Louis' best friend Philippe de Vilmorin, a clergyman with a revolutionary bent and - unfortunately - a horrible swordsman, is goaded into a duel by the Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr, since - this being 1788 France - the nobles aren't keen on revolutionary talk. The Marquis easily kills Philippe, and thereby earns the role of antagonist for this novel. Andre-Louis, though not a revolutionary himself, swears to take up his friends cause to overthrow the likes of the evil Marquis. Along the way to his eventual final confrontation with Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr, Andre-Louis takes on many roles - orator, actor, swordsman, politician - as his fortunes rise and fall, while France itself is in turmoil.

The adventures Andre-Louis finds himself are intriguing and entertaining on their own. However, at times they seem to take him fare afield from his quest and the main thread of the narrative before eventually circling back around to it. They do eventually tie into things, and they have a part in making Andre-Louis the man he is at the end, but they nonetheless felt a bit tangential to me.

Andre-Louis himself is a fun character. He has a sharp wit and a clever tongue. At times he's almost too capable, but he almost as often is held back by his flaws, which help keep him more human and believable than he might otherwise be.

The setting itself is a great choice by Sabatini. There's a lot going on in revolutionary France, and Andre-Louis as often as not finds himself in the thick of it.

Overall, Scaramouche is a good book, and I enjoyed it. My main problem with it is, really, that I liked Captain Blood quite a bit more. Peter Blood and his pirate adventures were more fun, more consistently entertaining, and more action-packed, while still having much of the political intrigue found in Scaramouche. Had I, like the reading public of the 1920's, read Scaramouche first and then Captain Blood, I probably would have enjoyed Scaramouche more. But, as it was, it kept coming up a bit shot of Captain Blood for me. If you're only going to read one, read Captain Blood. If you want to read both, I'd suggest Scaramouche first, so you can enjoy it without the comparisons to Sabatini's next novel.

I listened to Scaramouche as read by Robert Whitfield (who also records as Simon Vance, audio book fans). Whitfield is up to his usual standards of audio excellence, bringing Andre-Louis and the rest to life, and putting on a good French accent when using the occasional French phase included by Sabatini. Whitfield is always a pleasure to listen to.

Overall, I recommend Scaramouche. However, it just isn't quite as good as Sabatini's Captain Blood. Still, I remain a fan of Sabatini, and plan to read The Sea Hawk and other books from Sabatini, because - in the end - Sabatini's great at historical fiction, intrigue, swashbuckling, and is a lot of fun.