Carmen (Art of the Novel) - Softcover

Prosper Merimee; George Burnham Ives

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1612192262 ISBN 13: 9781612192260

Publisher: MELVILLE HOUSE PUBLISHING, 2013

Synopsis

Prosper M rim e (1803-1870) was an author by hobby, not necessity, being the son of two talented and highly successful artists. He was also a lawyer, a public official, a senator, a painter, an authority on Russian literature and a member of the French Academy. As a public official, M rim e travelled through France and Europe, from which he drew inspiration for his stories and novels. Quite indifferent about his literary popularity, M rim e claimed he wrote his 1845 novella, "Carmen," because he was in need of a new pair of pants. The novella introduced the character of Carmen, one of the most unforgettable figures in literature and the basis of Bizet's 1875 opera. She is a beautiful, clever young gypsy, who embodies the not the French femme fatale, as Bizet portrays her, but the indifferent, independent spirit of the Roma. Carmen's allure draws the handsome young cavalryman, Don Jose, into a torturous love affair which can only end in tragedy.

About this title

Product Description:

Carmen is the basis of one of the post popular operas in the world, one that has been filmed more than any other. Yet even many fans of the opera don't know that this classic story is based on an equally exciting novella. Set in 1820s Spain, it tells the tragic tale of Don Jose, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. Carmen contains all the key events in the opera, including gripping Zorro-like action scenes with sword-fights and horse chases. It even contains plot lines that never made into the opera.

About the Author:

Prosper Mérimée was born into a family of artists in Paris in 1803. He studied law and languages in school, and in 1825, he published his first book, Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul--a purported translation of plays written by a Spanish actress and translated by one Joseph L'Estrange. He followed this up with another "translation" of a selection of folk ballads under the title La Guzla. No less a personage than Pushkin was convinced, quoting a few of the ballads in his own work. In 1834, Mérimée was appointed inspector-general of historical monuments, a job for which he was uniquely suited with his linguistic and scholarly skills. He successfully led a protest movement to save the medieval walled city of Carcassonne from destruction and, with his friend George Sand, rediscovered the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries lying neglected in a provincial château. On a journey to Spain he became friendly with the Countess of Montijo, whose daughter Eugénie would marry Napeleon III. When the emperor acceded to the throne, Mérimée was made a senator. His correspondence with such figures as Stendhal and Anthony Panizzi, the librarian of the British Museum, was legendary for its wit and intelligence, and Mérimée's novellas on historical and supernatural themes, including Colomba and La Vénus D'Ille, are some of the finest of the romantic era. He died in 1870 in Cannes.

George Burnham Ives (1856-1930) also translated the work of George Sand and Honoré de Balzac.

About this edition

• Publisher: MELVILLE HOUSE PUBLISHING
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1612192262
• ISBN 13: 9781612192260
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64