The Elusive Pimpernel (Dover Value Editions) | Baroness Orczy

The Elusive Pimpernel (Dover Value Editions) | Baroness Orczy | THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL

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The Elusive Pimper...

	The Elusive Pimpernel (Dover Value Editions) Baroness Orczy Dover Publications, 2007 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

It's the early days of the French Republic, and Robespierre's revolutionaries find their wicked schemes repeatedly thwarted by the cunning and heroic Pimpernel ? in reality, Sir Percival Blakeney. In this thrilling sequel, the terrorist Chauvelin devises a vile plot to eliminate the Pimpernel and his beautiful wife, once and for all.

The Scarlet Pimpernel does it again!

What a great book! It's a worthy follow-up to the original, with plenty of excitement, loads of humor, world-class table-turning and narrow escapes.

THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL

The Elusive Pimpernel follows closely on the heals of the first book of the series, The Scarlet Pimpernel. It seems to me that Baroness Orczy was pouring out her own heart feelings through that of Lady Blackney. Her excellent use of discription makes your own heart ache till near bursting with devotion, love, passion and even fear. There is never a dull moment in this wonderfully wriiten book. I love it and will read it over and over.

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Fairly good sequel...

"Elusive" isn't my favorite Pimpernel sequel, but it's not bad at all either.

First, the bad: While I can understand that Marguerite is a woman in love, some of her stupidity at the beginning bordered on unbelievable (I don't mean this as an offense to Margot, who is one of my favorite characters, but if you read this book, you'll understand what I mean when I say she makes a bad decision). As usual, Percy becomes a secondary character in his own books, and that bothers me. Lastly, the choice Chauvelin gives Marguerite and Percy gets to be a little too much.

The good:
When Percy is around, he really shines. He has some really great moments in this book (which I won't spoil). The reader gets an idea of some of the emotions that are going on behind the facade. Also, "Elusive" has much more of a climax than some of the other Pimpernel books, which is a nice relief. Lastly, Desiree Candeille is an interesting character.

In all, I would recommend Eldorado between Elusive Pimpernel, but it's still a good read anyway.

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"They seek him here, they seek him there, that demmed elusive pimpernel!"

THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL, the third book in the Pimpernel series by Baroness Orczy, thoroughly establishes the predominant feature that the reader has come to expect in Orczy's novels: faultless cunning and adventurous bravado by the heroic Pimpernel that never fails to foil the nefarious schemes of his enemies, the revolutionaries of Robespierre's 18th century French Republic.

The reader also knows to expect a bit of archaic word usage, such as "lanthorn" for "lantern," as well as a little French slang here and there that will not succumb to most translating dictionaries, such as "calotin," which, by virtue of the context, I take to be a derogatory term for a churchman. Orczy also throws a few quite good but somewhat uncommon terms into her prose, such as "Columbine," a stock character from Italian drama. Merely because I generally feel rather cheated if I miss the full implication of an author's words, I found it comforting to have one of my English dictionaries as well as my French translating dictionary near at hand while reading Orczy, although it is quite possible to enjoy the plot without recourse to such references, especially if one is adept at grasping the general meaning of unusual words from their context in the story.

As in her other novels, Orczy's characters are stereotypes and are "flat"; that is, they remain the same throughout the story and do not undergo any particular development or change. Sir Percy Blakeney remains the stalwart, unshakable and indestructible adventurer throughout. His arch enemy, Monsieur Chauvelin, begins and ends as a dark, despicable creature who constantly connives to bring down Sir Percy. Lady Marguerite Blakeney plays the part of every significant female figure in Orczy's novels: She means well ands her motivations are impeccable, but her "feminine weakness," the fatal flaw that she suffers merely because of her sex, leads her into unwittingly betraying her husband and placing them both in such jeopardy that nothing short of the audacity and swashbuckling daring of the Scarlet Pimpernel can possibly save them.

As stereotyped characters, the actors who populate Orczy's novel are all somewhat larger than life. Sir Percy is invariably heroic and gently but firmly conquering. Lady Blakeney is invariably the pure, honorable but weak woman. Chauvelin and other leaders of the French revolution are invariably terrorists and anarchists. Abbe Foucquet is invariably the naive old priest who constantly murmurs his Paters and Aves in good times and bad. The attraction of Orczy's novels lies firmly in their suspenseful plots, not in the roundedness or the development of their characters.

Thinking of her depiction of the old priest as well as some descriptions in the preceding novel, I WILL REPAY, I find Orczy's attitude toward religion to be interesting. On the one hand, she depicts churchmen as naive and guileless innocents, rather useless and, at best, irrelevant in the worldly struggle that surrounds them. On the other hand, she portrays the revolutionaries in the harshest of lights and sarcastically observes that they have replaced the good God (le bon dieu) with the "Goddess of Reason," who, in being represented by an incompetent actress during her inaugural procession, is shown to be false. Hence, we find criticism both of those who would nay-say the existence of God and of those who would guide the devotions of his followers.

While it is not absolutely necessary to have read the two preceding novels in order to enjoy THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL, the earlier works do establish the background for certain relationships, and a few events in them do receive occasional references in this novel. One's understanding of the third book in the series will certainly be enhanced by an acquaintance with the earlier books. On a final note, which I do hope piques my readers' curiosities, if one is not aware of the differences between the songs "Ca Ira" and "La Marseillaise," a brief Internet search will bring up the historical backgrounds, words and tunes of the two, enabling one to appreciate much more fully Orczy's references to them.

In brief, THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL continues its author's romp through the adventurous fields of a France racked by revolution and invaded by "that demmed elusive pimpernel." It's lightweight reading that mixes fun and relaxation in equal amounts. If we can think of some books on serious scientific or social topics as "classroom reading," then the Pimpernel books are our "recess reading" and should be enjoyed as such.

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Super Reader

You can't catch him! A French agent is sent to England undercover as a French diplomat, to try and capture Percy Blakeney (or, actually, his alter-ego, the Scarlet Pimpernel) and get him back to France where they can lop him for all the humiliation and trouble that he has caused.

Said dodgy Frenchman with the help of a sneaky French actress manages to get his hands on Marguerite, and has her in prison.

This leaves the Pimpernel to come up with a plan that will make the Frenchies look silly again.

Definitely an entertaining adventure.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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