web-goddess: Marie Antoinette

Friday, December 15, 2006

I've just finished reading Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser. I picked it up on impulse at Kinokuniya a few weeks ago with the idea of reading it before the movie comes out later this month. It was fascinating! I discovered that I really knew very little about this period in history. As an American, you learn in school about the French who helped us win the Revolutionary War, and you think of all those guys are noble and heroic. But man, some of them were also horrifyingly bloodthirsty. (Poor Princess de Lamballe!) I also thought that once they'd cut the king's head off, that was pretty much it for the monarchy. Not so; France went back and forth for a good seventy-some years. The book isn't just dry history though. Fraser's writing really has you sympathising with Antoinette from the very beginning, which makes some of the later parts of the book (like the flight to Varennes) feel very thrilling and cinematic. I also liked all the illustrations and paintings that were included. (I'm really looking forward to the costumes in the movie.) Coincidentally, just this week the French government announced that the heart of the dauphin (Marie Antoinette's murdered son) would finally be put to rest in the family's crypt. I think I may have to find some more books on the Revolution...

Comments

I'm really looking forward to the film -- I've heard some great comments about it.
» crumpet [www] » 2006-12-15 15:15:39

One I really liked was Marge Piercy's "City of Darkness, City of Light." It's fictionalized, but fascinating in the way it treats real historical figures.
» Tricia [www] » 2006-12-15 17:23:30

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