The Corsican Brothers [Kindle Edition]

Alexandre Dumas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The author's cinematic brushstrokes brilliantly bring to life the clash of cultures . . . a welcome reminder of [Dumas's] storytelling brio." --"Times Literary Supplement"

"The author's cinematic brushstrokes brilliantly bring to life the clash of cultures . . . a welcome reminder of [Dumas's] storytelling brio."   Times Literary Supplement

--Times Literary Supplement

Product Description

Historical novel set on the island of Corsica. The translator notes in the Preface: "The story of "The Corsican Brothers" is written in an easy, sketchy style, presenting on the one side an interesting picture of the habits, prejudices and superstitions of the Corsicans, and particularly of the "Vendetta," or war of vengeance, carried on between families and connections, sometimes for several generations; while, on the other, it gives a lively outline of the effects of Parisian life upon a sensitive and unsophisticated nature." According to Wikipedia: "Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to 'Senior' in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (1802 — 1870) was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were serialized. He also wrote plays and magazine articles and was a prolific correspondent.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 104 KB
• Publisher: B&R Samizdat Express (January 26, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0013623QY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,705 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise!, July 29, 2001

By 

AvalonSilver - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Corsican Brothers: Corsica - Paris (Library Binding)

As The Corsican Brothers is one of Dumas' less popular works (I'm not sure if I should call it a novella or a short story), I expected it to be fairly dry: either very historical or very travel-oriented. It IS travel-oriented, and one CAN see the travel writer incarnation of Dumas, but it is far from boring and does not lack for interesting characters. The brothers may not have the relentless adventures of D'Artagnan, but they leap off the page and make themselves unforgettable nonetheless. There are some beautifully humorous moments as well (Dumas walks into one brother's library and checks to see if the man has any Dumas books!). If I had to compare this work to a more famous Dumas work, though, I would compare it to "A Masked Ball." Short, quick to read, using Dumas himself as narrator, and brilliant. I very much reccomend this one.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars waiting for the Count of Montecristo, March 1, 2004

By 

Riccardo Pelizzo (baltimore, maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Corsican Brothers: Corsica - Paris (Library Binding)

This short novel By Alexander Dumas is nice and quite interesting in spite of the fact that the plot is not particualrly elaborated.
The plot goes more or less as follows. Dumas is a famous writer undertaking a journey in Corsica, meets one the two Corsican brothers, goes back to Paris, meets and befriends the other brother who enjoying the life Parisian high society. This second brother falls in love, has to fight in a duel and dies. The other brother who had sworn never to leave his mother and his (father)land goes to Paris and avenges the death of his beloved brother.
What is interesting is that Dumas demonstrates a phenomenal understanding of the customs and the institutions of the Corsican society. His treatment of the 'revenge' as a social institution is simply masterful.
Even more interesting is the fact that both the setting (a Mediterranean Island, Paris) and the themes (the journey, the revenge) of the Corsican Brothers are the same that Dumas adopts in the Count of Montecristo.
The reader has the impression that the Corsican Brothers is a study that Dumas made to prepare himself to write The Count of Montecristo. I think they should be read in exactly this order.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a smoother read than i had thought it would be, April 28, 2000

By 

Jonathan Lapin "fletcher rabbit" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Corsican Brothers: Corsica - Paris (Library Binding)

i had always wondered why it was near impossible to find this book, unlike the other dumas novels which had been turned into movies. the reason is apparent; the book has nothing to do with the movie, beyond the notion of sympathetic twins.

yet this is a nice read, more of a novella than a short story -- you should be able to finish it in two hours. and it gives a nice idea of that travel writer that dumas was, tho we barely know him as such. this is a good travelog of 19th century corsica (and certainly more readable than trash like thoreau's bloated "cape cod".)

don't expect d'artagnan or edmond dantes, but settle in for a pleasant afternoon's read.