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Right. I'm just going to go ahead and take my time over this one, da? Because I am head over heels.
First thing you do. Read the book. La Dame de Monsoreau/Chicot the Jester, whichever language is easier. I cannot recommend the book highly enough! I think it is online for free, too, but the version looks shaky. I got hold of the 1910 Everyman's Library version, which seems much better translated. Anyway.
Then what you do, is you go here, which is where you'll find all 26 episodes of the Russian serial Grafinya de Monsoro, in russian with english subtitles. It is GORGEOUSLY done. Follows the book almost exactly, down nearly to the dialogue, in all but a couple of areas, and it is acted superbly (my favourites would be Aleksei Gorbunov, as Chicot, and Yekaterina Strizhenova as Jeanne de Saint Luc). Plus the costumes, and the sets (I think you can only get sets like that in Eastern Europe), and the gorgeous, gorgeous language ... who knew russian was so damn sexy?
First, the book. I *adore* Dumas' language, the rhythm and flow of it. So beautiful. Then the story, the characters ... oh, the characters! And here I have to admit that I spent most of my childhood browsing the 'boys' section in bookshops, because while the romance between Bussy and Diana is nice, it was frankly the least interesting part of the story for me. What I loved was the political intrigue, the sword fights, Chicot's scheming, the duel at the end (oh, my poor boys), Henri's foolishness and strange poetic greatness, Bussy's honour, M. de Quelus, who grew on me so very slowly ... Basically the male end of the package. There is an exception, and that is the Saint Lucs, whose romance and joy is infectious and far more compelling than Bussy and Diana's, at least for me.
But the characters. Chicot, my favourite, by a great length. I just have this thing for the character of the wise fool, the honourable but decadent jester, and Chicot's love for his king despite his acute knowledge of just how corrupt and foolish Henri was just hits me right in the heart. Plus. He was handy with a sword, and Gorbunov was beautiful in the series. Just beautiful, with all the mannerisms and quirks that you just can't get down on paper, that you have to see live. Awesome.
Bussy, then. A bit Lancelot for my tastes, but hell on wheels in a fight, and damn pretty.
Diana. Eh. She was a strong woman, I suppose, in a hell of a situation, but I just can't like her for some reason. Too ... mopey.
Henri III de Valois. Love the beard. Shallow, I know. And I love the mix of pride and arrogance and naivety and scheming in him, this king born under a fatal star, raised by a mother who encouraged her sons to kill each other for the throne. His desperate clinging to friends, to the point that he can't bear for them to marry, his pettiness, his surface devoutness, his loyalty and his bone deep love for his men, all of them spoke to me.
Duc d'Anjou. He didn't deserve the loyalty his men gave him. He didn't deserve Bussy, d'Antragues, Livarot, Ribeirac. Not a one of them. He may have deserved Aurilly, but they were as bad as each other. He may also have deserved d'Epernon, but it was his brother who got stuck with that little coward, unfortunately for all concerned.
Gorenflot. The comic relief, yes. Blunt foil to Chicot's wit. Glutton and drunkard, all these. But his genuine rage, and the conviction he carried from his days as a soldier spoke well of him, and I can see why Chicot stuck by him. Aside from someone to get drunk with and use to weasel secrets out, I mean.
The Saint Lucs. I adore Jeanne. Her husband is a little bit dim. Honourable, cautious, truly romantic, but a little dim. Still. They're perfectly suited to each other, and beautiful together. I couldn't even ship Bussy/Saint Luc, not with Jeanne there. He just would never leave her.
Count de Monsoreau. You know, I actually felt somewhat sorry for him. Okay, he's a scheming, kidnapping bastard who picked the wrong side of the war (which is basically whatever side Chicot is not on, apparently), but he did love her. As an object, in some ways, as a beautiful thing one puts on a dresser to show the world, but it was love in its way. His jealously was justified, too. She was his wife.
Quelus, Schomberg, Maugiron, d'Antragues, Livarot, Ribeirac. *shakes head* Just young, arrogant, noble, loyal, hot-blooded idiots, to a man, and so terribly beautiful for it. Bastards for most of the book, people you love to hate, I defy you not to cry for them by the end!
After that, it's just a matter of following the plot, getting caught up and adoring every swashbuckling, romantic minute of it. Truly, truly gorgeous. I desperately need fanfiction, or preferably another book, or for the Russians to do the sequel (an inferior book, in many ways, but worth it for Henri de Navarre).
First thing you do. Read the book. La Dame de Monsoreau/Chicot the Jester, whichever language is easier. I cannot recommend the book highly enough! I think it is online for free, too, but the version looks shaky. I got hold of the 1910 Everyman's Library version, which seems much better translated. Anyway.
Then what you do, is you go here, which is where you'll find all 26 episodes of the Russian serial Grafinya de Monsoro, in russian with english subtitles. It is GORGEOUSLY done. Follows the book almost exactly, down nearly to the dialogue, in all but a couple of areas, and it is acted superbly (my favourites would be Aleksei Gorbunov, as Chicot, and Yekaterina Strizhenova as Jeanne de Saint Luc). Plus the costumes, and the sets (I think you can only get sets like that in Eastern Europe), and the gorgeous, gorgeous language ... who knew russian was so damn sexy?
First, the book. I *adore* Dumas' language, the rhythm and flow of it. So beautiful. Then the story, the characters ... oh, the characters! And here I have to admit that I spent most of my childhood browsing the 'boys' section in bookshops, because while the romance between Bussy and Diana is nice, it was frankly the least interesting part of the story for me. What I loved was the political intrigue, the sword fights, Chicot's scheming, the duel at the end (oh, my poor boys), Henri's foolishness and strange poetic greatness, Bussy's honour, M. de Quelus, who grew on me so very slowly ... Basically the male end of the package. There is an exception, and that is the Saint Lucs, whose romance and joy is infectious and far more compelling than Bussy and Diana's, at least for me.
But the characters. Chicot, my favourite, by a great length. I just have this thing for the character of the wise fool, the honourable but decadent jester, and Chicot's love for his king despite his acute knowledge of just how corrupt and foolish Henri was just hits me right in the heart. Plus. He was handy with a sword, and Gorbunov was beautiful in the series. Just beautiful, with all the mannerisms and quirks that you just can't get down on paper, that you have to see live. Awesome.
Bussy, then. A bit Lancelot for my tastes, but hell on wheels in a fight, and damn pretty.
Diana. Eh. She was a strong woman, I suppose, in a hell of a situation, but I just can't like her for some reason. Too ... mopey.
Henri III de Valois. Love the beard. Shallow, I know. And I love the mix of pride and arrogance and naivety and scheming in him, this king born under a fatal star, raised by a mother who encouraged her sons to kill each other for the throne. His desperate clinging to friends, to the point that he can't bear for them to marry, his pettiness, his surface devoutness, his loyalty and his bone deep love for his men, all of them spoke to me.
Duc d'Anjou. He didn't deserve the loyalty his men gave him. He didn't deserve Bussy, d'Antragues, Livarot, Ribeirac. Not a one of them. He may have deserved Aurilly, but they were as bad as each other. He may also have deserved d'Epernon, but it was his brother who got stuck with that little coward, unfortunately for all concerned.
Gorenflot. The comic relief, yes. Blunt foil to Chicot's wit. Glutton and drunkard, all these. But his genuine rage, and the conviction he carried from his days as a soldier spoke well of him, and I can see why Chicot stuck by him. Aside from someone to get drunk with and use to weasel secrets out, I mean.
The Saint Lucs. I adore Jeanne. Her husband is a little bit dim. Honourable, cautious, truly romantic, but a little dim. Still. They're perfectly suited to each other, and beautiful together. I couldn't even ship Bussy/Saint Luc, not with Jeanne there. He just would never leave her.
Count de Monsoreau. You know, I actually felt somewhat sorry for him. Okay, he's a scheming, kidnapping bastard who picked the wrong side of the war (which is basically whatever side Chicot is not on, apparently), but he did love her. As an object, in some ways, as a beautiful thing one puts on a dresser to show the world, but it was love in its way. His jealously was justified, too. She was his wife.
Quelus, Schomberg, Maugiron, d'Antragues, Livarot, Ribeirac. *shakes head* Just young, arrogant, noble, loyal, hot-blooded idiots, to a man, and so terribly beautiful for it. Bastards for most of the book, people you love to hate, I defy you not to cry for them by the end!
After that, it's just a matter of following the plot, getting caught up and adoring every swashbuckling, romantic minute of it. Truly, truly gorgeous. I desperately need fanfiction, or preferably another book, or for the Russians to do the sequel (an inferior book, in many ways, but worth it for Henri de Navarre).
