Reviews for The Scarlet Pimpernel

The average rating for The Scarlet Pimpernel based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-08-21 00:00:00 James Mills Here's my new and improved title for this book... The Scarlet Pimpernel: A Classic That Doesn't Suck Sweaty Balls. I can't usually make it through classic literature. Does this make me a bad person? I think not. There are manymanymany other things I do on a daily basis that make me a bad person, but not being able to force myself to read (in my opinion) outdated and overrated books is not one of them. There are other readers out there like me, I'm sure of it! And it's you guys that I'm talking to now. Rejoice, fellow slackers! There is a classic that you can actually read! Imagine it... You're sitting on a bench engrossed in a book. The person next to you leans over and asks, "What are you reading?". You can finally plaster a smug-ass smile on your face and say, "Why, right now I'm thoroughly enjoying Orczy's classic, The Scarlet Pimpernel.". See?! Doesn't that sound awesome! And when someone asks you what you've recently read, you won't have to admit to the fact that you're deep into a series about an alien who falls in love with his human neighbor, your extensive comic book collection, or all of that erotica that's hidden neatly away on your Kindle! Now is this book really a four star novel by my 'real-book' standards? Fuck, no! It's old as shit. The copy I got didn't even have anything on the cover. You know it's old when it has got that black cover-thing going on. The pages were creaky, it smelled weird, and I think there's a possibility I should have had it tested for mold before I brought it into my house. But. It's a readable book. Go get it, and for a few blissful moments, you can pretend that you're an intellectual giant.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-09-06 00:00:00 BRIAN COLE Odd's Fish ! Is this book an action adventure, a romance, historical fiction? Baroness Orczy has provided us with all that. Tis a fun romp, I say. Had I known how much of this story was romance, I might not have read it but then I would have missed out on how good an all round story it really is. Baroness Orczy was a playwright and this book was adapted into a play or the play was adapted into the book. I know not which was first. It does have it's faults but still deserving of it's place in literary history. Sir Percy Blakeney is an English dandy in his normal life. But it is when he takes on the guise as The Scarlet Pimpernel that he becomes a hero to the French aristocrats. Crossing the English channel on his yacht, The Day Dream, in order to save .these aristocrats from their adjudged doom upon the guillotine. "Tally ho! - and away we go!" This book's disguised hero story-line, first published in 1905, has been accredited with giving inspiration to several other literary heroes such as Batman, Zorro and The Shadow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Now I know not where those writers received their inspiration but surely there had been other, earlier, similar stories. First comes to mind, The Bible. Josiah disguised himself in order to make war with Neco, King of Egypt. This adventure didn't turn out good for Josiah. So close, but not quite. Then I look to ol Willy Shakes. You gotta know Shakespeare couldn't, wouldn't leave this type story-line alone. Measure for Measure, fitting title I believe, is a play written by Shakespeare back in 1603. In this play Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, lets everyone know that he is leaving the city on a diplomatic mission. What he does then is stay in the city disguised as Friar Lodowick in order to observe the governing of the city in his absence. At the end of the play The Duke reveals himself in order the save an innocent man from the guillotine.