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A review by legallois
Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
1.0
It's a condensed form of narrative that gives the impression of a story overview. Even though it reads as a condensed story, the narrative is so repetitive that it's the length of a full length novel. Nothing about the world in which the characters live is ever described in any real detail and even the characters themselves are completely flat. I kept wanting to be drawn in by the author's words, the plot or the emotions derived from the scenes but it never happened. I read half the book in French and half in English. Neither the original or translation is enjoyable.
The thing I can't excuse is that upon the death of a major character in the climax, the narrator basically says "and I was so overwhelmed that I'm not going to describe this tragedy". Upon the deaths and murders of other characters, we are treated the to the same indifferent "and they died". I'd get the same sense of emotion by simply reading a plot summary of the book.
Then we have the romance element, which is what attempts to drive the entire story along. It's never described properly. We're continually told by the narrator about how much he loves this woman but we never understand why, apart from the fact that she's pretty. For all the betrayal and harm she puts him through, the repetitive declarations of love aren't enough.
The thing I can't excuse is that upon the death of a major character in the climax, the narrator basically says "and I was so overwhelmed that I'm not going to describe this tragedy". Upon the deaths and murders of other characters, we are treated the to the same indifferent "and they died". I'd get the same sense of emotion by simply reading a plot summary of the book.
Then we have the romance element, which is what attempts to drive the entire story along. It's never described properly. We're continually told by the narrator about how much he loves this woman but we never understand why, apart from the fact that she's pretty. For all the betrayal and harm she puts him through, the repetitive declarations of love aren't enough.