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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
i mean if you know the story you know the story. pretty good book all the same
when will your favs steal the identity of another man and live his life for three whole years!!!! that's what I fuckin THOUGHT
One of the classic works of microhistory, The Return of Martin Guerre tells the story of a sixteenth century French case of fraud and imposture. A young man called Martin Guerre, the only son of Basque parents who had moved eastward into France, is married off to a local girl, Bertrande. After a decade of marriage, he disappears—and after another decade or so, he returns. Martin is welcomed back by Bertrande as her missing husband—but within three years, Martin's father has filed suit, claiming the returned Guerre is a fraud and impostor. (If this story sounds familiar, it was the inspiration for the rather turgid Sommersby with Jodi Foster and Richard Gere.)
As a narrative, it's interesting. The story itself is of course fascinating, and Davis weaves in threads about everyday life in sixteenth century southern France which gives us a more complete picture of the world in which the Guerres lived—a world of trade and crafts, of social pressures and close family ties. That said, I found the standard of writing to be disappointing. There is a lack of literary skill here—Davis' prose is often clunky; there is a liberal use of shallow, pointless rhetorical questions; and there are even one or two points where a lack of citations left me unable to tell whether what Davis was saying was based on historical fact or her own imaginings. Interesting, but flawed.
As a narrative, it's interesting. The story itself is of course fascinating, and Davis weaves in threads about everyday life in sixteenth century southern France which gives us a more complete picture of the world in which the Guerres lived—a world of trade and crafts, of social pressures and close family ties. That said, I found the standard of writing to be disappointing. There is a lack of literary skill here—Davis' prose is often clunky; there is a liberal use of shallow, pointless rhetorical questions; and there are even one or two points where a lack of citations left me unable to tell whether what Davis was saying was based on historical fact or her own imaginings. Interesting, but flawed.
A lovely micro-history, quite fascinating, if a little dry at times. The only thing that bothers me is that the author assumed some of the internal motivations of the characters with too much assurance and too little data.
Taken with a pinch of salt or three, it's quite an excellent book.
Taken with a pinch of salt or three, it's quite an excellent book.
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Fascinating microhistory. This book focuses on uncovering the true story behind a French peasant legend and uses the telling of this story to explain what life was like for French peasantry at this time. I appreciated this book on many levels, especially since it returns the art of storytelling to the narration of history, which is an art that has been largely lost in modern history books. I hadn't read any microhistory before, but this book definitely makes me want to read more of those kinds of histories.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Very Good).
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Very Good).
adventurous
funny
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced