The Elusive Pimpernel [Spoilers possible]
DiscussionsWe Seek Him Here ...
Rejoignez LibraryThing pour poster.
Ce sujet est actuellement indiqué comme "en sommeil"—le dernier message date de plus de 90 jours. Vous pouvez le réveiller en postant une réponse.
2AdonisGuilfoyle
I've just finished listening to the Librivox audiobook version of this, which is why it took me longer to get through!
Although the plot is not as strong as Eldorado - Chauvelin really has Percy in knots, and should have triumphed over his enemy as he thought - the romance in Elusive is still wonderfully touching and sentimental. This is not really a Pimpernel adventure, in my opinion, but an analysis of a marriage - Marguerite learning to trust a man she doesn't understand and fears she might lose, and Percy starting to appreciate his wife's strengths and how much he loves her. I love how Chauvelin is the first to realise the strength of their bond - "Chauvelin's thin lips curled with satisfaction, the brief glimpse had been sufficient for him, the rapidly whispered name, the broken accent had told him what he had not known hitherto, namely, that between this man and woman there was a bond far more powerful than that which usually existed between husband and wife".
Percy also starts to come alive as a character in Elusive; the Baroness throws in lots of little traits and mannerisms to describe his personality - the inane laugh, and the way he walks around with his hands stowed in his pockets - but never the force and passion beneath the surface. One of my favourite scenes in the series is Percy covering the distance of Chauvelin's office in the blink of an eye to squeeze the life out of the little diplomatist, and just for mentioning Marguerite! "You hound! . . . you dog! . . . you cur! . . . do you not see that I must strangle you for this? . . ." Excellent!
I also had to wonder - is it me, or is this passage in chapter 23, The Hostage, a very euphemistic description of al fresco .. er .. relations?
"Then, when the night was very dark and the air heavy with the scent of roses and lilies, she lay quiescent in his arms in that little arbour beside the river. The rhythmic lapping of the waves was the only sound that stirred the balmy air. He seldom spoke then, for his voice would shake whenever he uttered a word: but his impenetrable armour of flippancy was pierced through, and he did not speak because his lips were pressed to hers, and his love had soared beyond the domain of speech."
'His love had soared'? Anyway!
Do you think that Marguerite is being rather dense in this book, or that she is merely her usual, impulsive self? The first time I read Elusive, I had to agree with Chauvelin's assessment - 'Ye gods! the irony of it all!' - but now I feel that the Baroness got it right with her heroine, and Marguerite is all the more sympathetic and appealing because she isn't perfect and does make mistakes.
Just my ha'p'worth on the book!
Although the plot is not as strong as Eldorado - Chauvelin really has Percy in knots, and should have triumphed over his enemy as he thought - the romance in Elusive is still wonderfully touching and sentimental. This is not really a Pimpernel adventure, in my opinion, but an analysis of a marriage - Marguerite learning to trust a man she doesn't understand and fears she might lose, and Percy starting to appreciate his wife's strengths and how much he loves her. I love how Chauvelin is the first to realise the strength of their bond - "Chauvelin's thin lips curled with satisfaction, the brief glimpse had been sufficient for him, the rapidly whispered name, the broken accent had told him what he had not known hitherto, namely, that between this man and woman there was a bond far more powerful than that which usually existed between husband and wife".
Percy also starts to come alive as a character in Elusive; the Baroness throws in lots of little traits and mannerisms to describe his personality - the inane laugh, and the way he walks around with his hands stowed in his pockets - but never the force and passion beneath the surface. One of my favourite scenes in the series is Percy covering the distance of Chauvelin's office in the blink of an eye to squeeze the life out of the little diplomatist, and just for mentioning Marguerite! "You hound! . . . you dog! . . . you cur! . . . do you not see that I must strangle you for this? . . ." Excellent!
I also had to wonder - is it me, or is this passage in chapter 23, The Hostage, a very euphemistic description of al fresco .. er .. relations?
"Then, when the night was very dark and the air heavy with the scent of roses and lilies, she lay quiescent in his arms in that little arbour beside the river. The rhythmic lapping of the waves was the only sound that stirred the balmy air. He seldom spoke then, for his voice would shake whenever he uttered a word: but his impenetrable armour of flippancy was pierced through, and he did not speak because his lips were pressed to hers, and his love had soared beyond the domain of speech."
'His love had soared'? Anyway!
Do you think that Marguerite is being rather dense in this book, or that she is merely her usual, impulsive self? The first time I read Elusive, I had to agree with Chauvelin's assessment - 'Ye gods! the irony of it all!' - but now I feel that the Baroness got it right with her heroine, and Marguerite is all the more sympathetic and appealing because she isn't perfect and does make mistakes.
Just my ha'p'worth on the book!
