Book Twenty-Five

[ellyssian]

Book #25: Revenge By Stephen Fry

I started this Saturday night. I hemmed and hawed: "seems a bit like The Count of Monte Cristo", "look, the blurb says it's a thriller, and I really think most modern thrillers are wastes of the paper they're printed on (even if they do dominate the bestsellers list)", and, finally, "geez, the guy's an actor. I mean, sure he played Professor Bellgrove in Gormenghast, and was brilliant in the role, but he's got to be a hack writer. I mean, come on, Bellgrove, his fictional self, is probably a hack writer."

I finished the book before Sunday appeared.


Within 30 seconds and whatever portion of the opening that included, I remembered that that is exactly why my mother brought the book down for me to read a few weeks ago (for TH'ers, this is, by the way, the book from my then-To Be Read pile that I titled "A Book My Mom Gave Me, by I Have No Clue.") Revenge was never, I remembered suddenly, supposed to be a theft of some of the concepts of Dumas' work. It was a retelling of that tale of, well, revenge - lock, stock, and barrel. My mom brought it down for me because I had just finished reading through Monte Cristo a short while ago. At least I didn't get too far before dawn broke on marble head, as it were.

First off, if Fry is a hack writer, I missed it because I was having too much fun matching up events in the modern retelling set in England (and on the island of Dr. Mallo somewhere, well, maybe north of England) with the classic set in France, and I was just plain enjoying the story and the sense of humor that came in its telling.

The story begins in 1980, as Edward "Ned" Maddstone and his newfound love Portia (they met at a Hard Rock Cafe) exchange love letters... and the perfect romance begins to go perfectly wrong when Ned is betrayed by friends and doomed by a nasty coincidence. When Ned finally escapes confinement - I will leave out all details of how this parallels its predecessor, but it really shouldn't be much of a spoiler to mention that, in the original, Edward Dantes and Mercedes are young lovers split apart, and Edward suffers much as in innocent in a long imprisonment until his eventual escape - he must come to term with developments such as the cell phone and the internet. And, of course, as Dantes did a handful of centuries prior in fictional France, Ned rises as a power... and I found that bit most entertaining, the career arc chosen is absolutely perfect.

I did have some difficulty with the very end. It's disturbing, to say the least, and does veer off of the two varying (i.e. a decent translation and a kids buttery translation) endings I'm familiar with. It may not be the ending that you might want to happen, but it is probably a more deserved ending, and possibly a more realistic ending. I wouldn't have it any other way.


Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge and me own journal.

Comments

[puddock.livejournal.com]

I love Stephen Fry, as Lord Melchett in Blackadder is the one for me. I think he is quite an intriguing person and his autobiography 'MOAB is my washpot' is on my to read pile. I have not read any of his novels though!

[bookgirlwa.livejournal.com]

I read Moab is my washpot a few years back, really enjoyed it. I think Fry is a good author - maybe not great - but very good. Very readable, and he has an excellent grasp of the English language. I liked it enough to keep the book for a future re-read.