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Chargement... Thunder of Valmypar Geoffrey Trease
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Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. Der Bauernjunge Pierre wird von einer Adeligen Dame aufgrund seiner mit Kohle an die Hauswand gemalten Karikaturen als Maltalent entdeckt und als "Laufbursche" bei ihr angestellt. So lernt der Pierre den französischen Adel kennen und erlebt aus allernächster Nähe die französische Revolution mit. Das Buch vermittelt auf geniale Weise die Zeit der französischen Revolution und beschreibt sehr genau die Zustände und den Ablauf. Wichtige Personen wie Robespierre, Danton und Lafayette bleiben nicht unerwähnt. Die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Pierre und Pauline, einem Bauernjungen und einer Adeligen ist auch wirklich nett zu lesen. Ein absolut gutes historisches Jugendbuch mit fundierter französischer Geschichte! Absolut geniale Art, seine Geschichtskenntnisse zu erweitern!! aucune critique | ajouter une critique
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Also published as Thunder of Valmy, the novel Victory at Valmy is historical fiction at its best, and I marveled at the author's masterful writing, storytelling, wordcraft, historical knowledge, and characterization. The book was full of fascinating, lifelike characters; incredibly vivid and skilled writing; explosive, riveting action and intensity; heartwarming or hostile relationships; endearing main characters; thoughtful themes; and frightening antagonists. While reading, I was floored, mind-blown, and awed in particular by the wonderful main characters, richly woven words, and the power of the antagonist.
Note: There are minor spoilers ahead, especially in my discussion of the premise and characters, so if you've already heard of the book and want to read it, you may want to skip a few parts of my review until after you read the book.
The Premise:
When young Pierre Mercier is caught drawing a lifelike and disrespectful caricature of a nobleman, he has no idea what's in store for him. To his surprise, his punishment is being taken on as an art student by a famous painter--an older woman who is a skilled professional painter. As Pierre grows to be a young man, he develops his great artistic talent with the help of his mentor--and he is eventually caught up in the tumultuous main events of the French Revolution, along with a new friend--the young woman he is hired to paint.
My Thoughts:
I loved and enjoyed this book so much. I cared deeply about Pierre, his mentor, Madame, and his friend, Pauline. I rejoiced in their victories and happiness, and I was frantically worried when their lives were in danger--as they often were. While reading, I was more engaged and riveted than I have been in a book in a long time (due to a reading slump), and I couldn't put it down.
The writing style was masterful--stunning, crisp, fiery, and vivid--and I drank in every skillfully woven word, sentence, paragraph, line of dialogue, metaphor, and description. I loved the colorful, personal voice and narration of the protagonist--which I'll return to later. And I so enjoyed the wonderful wit and humor in the narration and dialogue. It's so rare that I read a book that's as exceptionally written as this one, and I loved every moment of it for that strength, as well as for every other wonderful quality of Victory at Valmy. I love reading authors so skilled that I can study their writing to learn the fine art of wordcraft to develop my own writing.
The historical aspect of Victory at Valmy was incredibly well-executed, as well. The author and the book truly make the setting and figures of the French Revolution come to colorful, electric life. Along with the main character, I was surrounded by and swept up in the explosive happenings of the French Revolution. I normally dislike and don't care about this time period, and I avoid the depressingly bloody horrors of the Revolution. But this author wrote it in such a wonderful way that I was fascinated by and invested in it, without being disgusted. The book never shied away from portraying the reality of the violent events and dangerous spirit, and the author truly conveyed the horror--but it was written carefully enough that it was never too gory, violent, or sickening for me, even though it did vividly portray those very qualities. In addition to this, there was so much fascinating--and never dull--detail about the people, land, and events of this time. The author clearly had a wealth of well-rounded knowledge on the Revolution, and he makes it come alive for the reader. I so appreciate the impeccable historical accuracy, and the vast amounts of careful research that must have gone into this book. I learned so much about the French Revolution, and unlike my college European history course--which this book brought back to my memory--historical fiction allows the knowledge to stay with me, since I connect to and care about the characters and story, and therefore the historical events. I love history, but some periods don't interest me until I read a compelling tale from the era. Victory at Valmy definitely caught my interest and my heart.
The book is engaging and fast-paced, often full of action and excitement, danger and peril. I was caught up in the danger and alarming intensity for most of the book, and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was more intense than anything I've read in a while, in just the right way. My heart was in my throat in many parts, and I was often paralyzed with dread of the threatened danger I knew would be fulfilled. All of this came to a head in the second half of the book, but it petered out for the last quarter of the book, which disappointed me. This was the book's only flaw, in my eyes, and I discussed it more in a later section of this review. The author skillfully built an exciting fictional plot for the main characters, while weaving their experiences into the larger explosive events of the French Revolution, which made for exciting experiences in themselves.
The Characters:
As I always do with stellar books, I enjoyed the characters of Victory at Valmy most of all. It's the most important aspect of any book, for me personally, and connecting with and caring about the characters is the most essential thing that influences my love for a book. Even if it's wonderful in other ways, I am incapable of liking a book if it lacks compelling characters. Of course, this wonderful book more than succeeded on that front!!
Pierre was a fabulous protagonist. He was determined, courageous, intelligent, kind, witty, talented, honorable, clever, artistic, and so much more. I loved watching him grow as an artist and grow into a young man in his wonderful coming-of-age story. I loved the way he took care of, protected, and cared about his dearest friends, Madame and Pauline. And I loved his wisdom, his sense, and his level head--which he so admirably retained even in situations that also filled him with passion or put him and his loved ones in terrible danger. I really, really enjoyed his first-person narration, even though I usually prefer third-person--but with this author, I wouldn't have it any other way, and I loved it. I loved how Pierre's narrative voice reflected his personality and was unique to him. His observant artist's eye, skillful wit, and descriptive ability came out in Geoffrey Trease's skilled writing and vivid, colorful description, which I noticed even more than in Trease's other books--it's appropriate and realistic given Pierre's talent and livelihood. I loved how the narration was so vivid and couldn't be separated from Pierre's character.
The other main characters were just as wonderful. Madame had such a strong and powerful presence. I loved her huge laugh, motherly affection, sudden temper, sharp intelligence, love of light, and far-seeing wisdom--and how her heart was as vast as she was herself. And I loved Madame's relationship with Pierre, as her student who, with time, became her surrogate son--it was so sweet how they cared about, took care of, and looked out for each other. And it was so, so, so refreshing to see an older woman as the sole mentor to a boy or young man! I've almost never seen that in fiction before, and it was wonderful.
Then there was Pauline--I loved Pauline so much! I loved her ready laugh and unfailing good humor, her feminine gentleness and grace, her spirit and spunk, her liveliness and brightness, her determination and strength, and her cleverness, curiosity, and quick-thinking intelligence.
I love everything about the portrayal of women in Victory at Valmy, and how the female characters are at once very strong and very feminine.
In addition to wonderful main characters to care about, there were terrifying, fascinating antagonists, as well. The main antagonist was so well-written, and I was on edge for most of the book as I feared for the main characters' safety and well-being. His presence and the fear he caused through the whole book were powerful and frightening. I can't capture in my own words how chilling and menacing this villain was, but the small and large details of his voice, movements, and especially his actions and threats had me terrified of him. And all this was from a man swathed in extravagant embroidery and lace, who walked daintily--but who had a voice that was both suave and icily, alarmingly threatening. In addition to this man, another prominent antagonist was just as terrifying in his own terrible way--and as with the main antagonist, one of the most terrifying things was this person's connection to the protagonist. Just as importantly, the antagonistic forces of the French Revolution, and their effect on the people of France, were powerfully portrayed. The author did a wonderful job of conveying the frightening madness and monstrosity that caught hold of so many people on both sides of the Revolution.
My Critiques:
There was only one aspect of the book that I disliked, from a writing standpoint. My critique is minor, and I absolutely loved everything else about the book. The one weakness I noticed was that the riveting intensity and steady pacing petered out toward the end of the book. I spent most of the book in terror for the characters, continually waiting for something terrible to happen, knowing that it was only a matter of time before it did--multiple times--and feeling the unbearable agony of anticipating it. But after the book delivered on this threat several times, ratcheting up the intensity and fear more and more, the story reached its greatest climax two-thirds of the way through the book--and then abruptly paused. After all the danger and fear of the book before that point, there was none for quite a while after that, even though there was danger and action in short spurts throughout the rest, with long lulls in between. And after that point, the main personal antagonist--the primary and most personal source of the fear and danger--was out of the picture for quite a while. When he did finally return, he seemed to have no power or danger anymore, and the former urgency of the book did not return in full. I understand that the author had to fit the personal events of the characters' lives around the larger and intermittent events of the French Revolution, which truly were spaced out over several years, but it really undermined the pacing of the book to have the biggest climax two-thirds of the way through. However, it's not the author's fault that there were months and sometimes years in between most of the major events of the Revolution. These events continued after the intensity of the more personal danger to the characters wore off, and the characters had a part to play in the big events later on, as well. But the urgency of the book was lost once the larger events no longer happened alongside an engaging struggle with the main antagonist.
My Recommendation and Rating:
I loved this book, and I can't recommend it highly enough to all readers of historical fiction, whether or not they typically enjoy the French Revolution. (I loved the book even though I don't like that era.) Because of the content mentioned below (mostly violence), I recommend it to a young adult and adult audience--teens and up. I would definitely not allow a sensitive younger teenager to read it, but I'm giving it to my teenaged brother without hesitation, and I know he'll love it.
I'm rating this book 5 stars, because it was absolutely amazing, and I loved it so much. If we're being exact, it may technically be 4.75 stars, because of one single critique I mentioned above that caused the last quarter of the book to be less amazing in some aspects than the rest. But that wasn't enough to dock my rating by much, and I loved it so much that I think it deserves 5 stars.
Content Summary:
Violence: This is a book that accurately portrays the French Revolution. Violence is a given. But unlike most such books, this one portrays it in a way that doesn't go over the top or seek to horrify the reader unnecessarily. It was never too much for me--for reference, I can handle a moderate level of violence but not extreme violence. However, the book does not shrink away from portraying the reality of the violence and horror of the Revolution as it truly was. The author balances these two sides so well. Yes, there is violence, blood, and gore, but it's not gratuitous or unnecessarily graphic. I'm writing this section several weeks after the fact, so I'm only covering what i remember, and I didn't originally intend to write more than a brief summary of the content. Rather than an exhaustive list, here is an outline of the worst instances of violence the book contains, which gives an idea of how bad it gets. Nearly all the rest was more mild, but was present throughout much of the book.
Sexual Content: This book contains no sexual content.
Language: Mild language/swear words. I didn't write down the details while reading--oops. I do distinctly recall that there were a couple of infrequent instances of h**l, usually either in a quote of a common saying of the time, or used in the narration in an accurate, literal sense (e.g. in a metaphor or simile), referring appropriately to the real place--but this was limited to a very few instances, and they didn't bother me (though they would bother someone who minds that). There may also have been a couple of instances of d**n, but nothing much worse than those.
Other Content: A young woman's guardian--her uncle--is cruel to her, and he uses his position of power over her to control her in many ways and to force her to obey his demands. (For instance, controlling who she's friends with, forcing her into a marriage, and threatening her with punishment if she does not obey.) He's cruel to everyone else as well. ( )