The Death of Napoleon [Hardcover]

Simon Leys (Author), Patricia Clancy (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992

A hypothetical account of what could have happened if Napolean had not died depicts the Emperor traveling incognito through Europe experiencing a series of bizarre adventures that bring him face to face with reality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Leys's deliciously sardonic short fable, Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from imprisonment on the isle of St. Helena, where an officer who impersonates him is executed. The exiled emperor becomes a cabin hand on a crayfish schooner, returns to the Continent under an alias, takes a tourist excursion to the battlefield of Waterloo and eventually makes his way to Paris, where loyal Bonapartists are mourning the death of their hero. While coolly plotting his return to power, the deposed ruler lapses into domestic joy and small-time prosperity as a melon merchant, and becomes the live-in companion of a simple, warmhearted widow whom he knows only as "the Ostrich." On his deathbed, he fails a divine test, too enamored of his lost glory to care for basic human ties. Leys, the pen name of Pierre Ryckmans, a sinologist ( Chinese Shadows ) and art historian, writes an elegant, precise prose that ironically evokes the Napoleonic age. His exquisite tale, a gem of a book, can be read as a parable on the folly of hero-worship, the perils of self-justifying notions of destiny and the vanity of all human striving.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Translated from its original French and published previously in England: a novella-length entertainment chronicling the imagined life of Napoleon after St. Helena. Leaving a look-alike behind him on St. Helena, Napoleon is smuggled away on shipboard, passing for a common cabin-hand. That an ingenious international plot is afoot by which the emperor will secretly reenter Europe counts for nothing when Napoleon's ship lands in Antwerp instead of Bordeaux, with the result that Napoleon entirely misses his underground contact, ``a man with a mustache, wearing a gray top hat, sitting on a barrel, holding a furled umbrella in one hand and a copy of the Financial Herald in the other.'' Alone and unrecognized, and passing as a mere tourist, Napoleon revisits Waterloo, embarks by stagecoach for Paris, is detained at the border for nonpayment of a hotel tab in Brussels, is ``rescued'' by a border guard who recognizes the great man and is still faithful to the Napoleonic cause--and who gives him an address in Paris of other die-hard faithfuls. In that capital city, Napoleon will take up with a poor but good-natured widow, reveal his strategic and tactical brilliance by revivifying her retail melon business--and secretly be shown a lunatic asylum (operated by ``Dr. Quinton'') in which all the inmates believe themselves--but of course--to be Napoleon. An ironically parallel fate awaits the too-late-returned emperor himself: when he reveals to the widow who he really is, she of course politely but resolutely considers him mad; and--after getting caught in a soaking rainstorm--he at last sinks into a final illness, pitied for the quaint madness of believing himself to be Napoleon. Tiny, little, miniature, pleasant enough historical fable with a twist. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 129 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T) (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374135657
• ISBN-13: 978-0374135652
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,980,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A short, wonderful novel, January 9, 2000

By 

darren (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of Napoleon (Hardcover)

Simon Leys usually writes histories, but he created an absolute gem in his only foray into fiction--albeit, historical fiction. Death of Napoleon is a simple and spellbinding must-read, a rare thing of masterful beauty from first page to last.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking, July 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Death of Napoleon (Hardcover)

This book is a little gem that examines the different views of people on life. By concentrating wholly on wars and empires, Napoleon "wasted" his life and remarkable mind without ever experiencing the true humanity of exhistence. Love was a complication for him, not a pleasure. To him, what was most important was to make a name for himself, a name that would shine in the annals of posterity. Ley examines the reprecussions of this want of Napoleon. It leaves the "great little emperor" a broken man, a poor farmer, who has never know real happiness. Ley carries his story with color and fevor. I only wish the novelett was longer.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just one word, "Incredible!", December 26, 2004

By 

Solange "solange" (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of Napoleon (Paperback)

WOW, this was a fine example of literary genius at its finest!! I could not put this book down. If you are a fan of "historical ficton", place this book on the top of your reading list!!!