Beautifully written book that tells the story of a man in love (or rather obsessed) with a courtesan. Even though it is far from a mature healthy relationship, it is a passionate one. For me, the most remarkable thing is the heavy stigma that a courtesan carried in that time for her licentious life. However, the men who use "her favors" are much lightly judged... Unless they truly fall in love with her. Although those were other times, I doubt that has changed much. Although the love story is obsessive, I bet that many people would recognize some of the childish attitudes that one tends to have in the first romances of our life (like swearing to be in love after few days of knowing someone).

The story is written with mastery. This book makes you not wanting to put it down until it was finished. I have to say that it is the second time that I read it and I enjoyed it as much as the first time. Moreover, it made me tear a little in a couple of scenes. The story became more dear to me after learning that it is inspired in real characters, including Alexander Dumas son himself and Marie Duplessis, the courtesan.

I read this for my AP European History class, but it is genuinely one of the best classics I've read. Despite never having heard of either Dumas fils or this book before being assigned it, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. The translation was beautiful -- the prose was so layered and dramatic that I felt I could drown in it. I found myself highlighting nearly every line because everything was so well-written. 

I typically don't love books with frame narrators who just listen while some other person yaps for two hundred pages, but I found myself really enjoying this. The narrator did a good job of setting up the context and the plot, but Armand's storytelling was the true highlight; it was so densely, richly romantic and beautiful. I normally find myself getting weighed down about halfway through a classic, especially one of this era, but I found the style of writing and storytelling made this a light, relatively easy read. 

This was a great book to kick off the year with (although I technically started it last year), even if it was required reading. 4.5/5 stars. 

"We must have done something very wicked before we were born, or else we must be going to be very happy indeed when we are dead, for God to let this life have all the tortures of expiation and all the sorrows of an ordeal.”

La dama de las camelias, un relato secretamente moralista que es presentado como una tragedia de amor frustrado, pero que realmente es una carnicería emocional donde se prueban los puntos ciegos y la misoginia de quienes se llaman a sí mismos morales. Marguerite, una verdadera víctima de un mundo cruel e injusto, es llevada por un infierno en vida y por un amor falso e hipócrita que le quita lo poco que podía llamar suyo, todo en nombre de una "expiación" de pecados que no eran suyos. Manchando, al mismo tiempo que inmortalizando, la memoria de la que otros  llamaban "Divina Marie", es un libro que te confronta con la verdadera hipocresía, una que es disfrazada en versos melosos y dulces adjetivos. "No tenemos amigos. Tenemos amantes egoístas que gastan su fortuna, no por nosotras, como dicen, si no por su propia vanidad".

Alexandre Dumas hijo fue, ante todo, un hombre que vivió bajo la sombra de su padre, uno que además de este libro, no tiene ninguna otra obra remarcable, y uno que creció con el rencor de haber nacido bastardo y no reconocido como fruto de la vida bohemia de su padre. Por lo mismo, al crecer se volvió profundamente moralista, lo que suele ser sinónimo de tener un  complejo de superioridad, y sentirse en el lugar de juzgar a otros como quien se sienta en un alto estrado; parecido al caracter inicial de Javert en Los Miserables. Bajo esta mentalidad, conoció y tuvo una relación con una mujer célebre de París, solo que no célebre por los medios generalmente clasificados como virtuosos: Marie Duplessis. 

Marie realmente había sido una mujer víctima de circunstancias que nunca estuvieron bajo su control, siendo fruto de una familia aristocrática arruinada por la Revolución Francesa y siendo vendida como prostituta por su padre alcohólico. Con los recursos que pudo manejar, logró hacerse un nombre propio y volverse la cortesana mejor pagada de todo París. Pero su vida no solo se reducía a ser cortesana, siendo popular entre los literatos por ser anfitriona de tertulias literarias donde se rodeaba de escritores, filósofos, poetas, actores y demás, quienes la llamaban Divina Marie. Para el final de su vida, a diferencia de lo que Dumas afirmaba, se casó con un conde y, al morir, su entierro fue muy concurrido, y en su tumba nunca faltan camelias. Sin duda, alguien que logró mucho más, sin ayuda de un nombre de familia y una educación, a diferencia de Dumas.

Al terminar su breve relación con ella, por lo que algunas fuentes aseguran que era un miedo mortal a contagiarse de tuberculosis, y descubrir su muerte, afirmó que esta fue trágica y solitaria. Pero no solo se quedó ahí, inmortalizó para siempre el nombre de Marie con el suyo, y escribió La dama de las camelias, una obra bellamente escrita que a la vez revuelca por el lodo la memoria de la muerta. Marie pasa a ser Marguerite, una triste pero bella prostituta que ni para ella misma tiene valor "No exageréis lo que valgo, porque no valgo gran cosa", sin más personalidad que ser "diferente a las otras" por ser capaz de tomar gran sacrificio por un amor "real".

Es justo decir que la narración es exquisita, y la manera en que es contado te mantiene al borde hasta el mero final de la historia. Conectas de una manera con los personajes que su dolor se vuelve el tuyo, haciendo del penúltimo capítulo una agonía emocional, que se alarga con cada carta que Marguerite manda. "Marguerite todavía tiene conciencia de lo que pasa a su alrededor, y sufre con el cuerpo, con el espíritu y con el corazón. Grandes lágrimas corren por sus mejillas, tan flacas y pálidas que no reconoceríais ya el rostro de la que tanto amasteis si pudierais verla". Sin embargo, tiene un pecado mortal, el cual es irónicamente querer moralizar la vida de quien en la vida real no lo necesitaba; y en la ficción del relato ya era la mejor persona de todos los personajes. Hay decisiones que pueden hacer o romper una historia, y en este caso, la rompió, haciendo muy díficil poder ignorarlo.

El punto se mantiene cuando la adaptación de Verdi, un hombre que la conoció solo por la obra, tuvo más respeto por su memoria en su propia re-adaptación: La Traviata. En la ópera, la historia se mantiene casi igual, pero al momento de llegar al final se le da un final más digno, uno más acorde a la "bondad" del personaje del padre que el autor tanto quiso recalcar. No por ello pierde valor emocional o si quiera dramático, teniendo momentos que provocan lágrimas y hasta aceleran el corazón. Llegando a ser incluso un poco mejor que el libro, se confirma que las cartas del final fueron gratuitas y no acordes al carácter que se afirmaba que tenían los personajes.

La dama de las camelias es una historia que, sin querer, te recuerda la hipocresía de la vida real y el sufrimiento que puede causar el dar tu corazón a la persona equivocada. Uno que, si tienes los sentimientos en el lugar correcto, te empuja a recordar las batallas de otros y las historias detrás de sus vidas, las que quizás no sepamos a primera vista. "Volved junto a vuestro padre, amigo mío, id a ver a vuestra hermana, joven casta, ignorante de todas nuestras miserias, y junto a ella olvidaréis muy deprisa lo que os habrá hecho sufrir esta mujer perdida llamada Marguerite Gautier, a quien habéis querido amar un instante y que os debe los únicos momentos felices de una vida que espera no será larga ahora."

As someone who prefers contemporary literature over classics, i wanted to read at least one old book this year to feel "cultured". (I was also ahead of my reading goal so even if i'd not finish the book, i wouldn't feel guilty) 

The book was slow but i still finished it which is an accomplishment. The book is basically about a delusional man falling in love with the "idea" of a women and then critcizing her for not living up to his expectations. The writing was smooth though, it was super easy to read. 

I didn't find the characters lovable bu they were still interesting to read about. I would recommend this book, and will probably read it again sometime, but it couldn't reach to my heart, was satisfying for my brain though.

Less of a romance and more of a psychological and social study expressed through poetry. Every choice is messy and inextricably linked other people and pressures. 

They can never make me hate you, Marguerite Gautier.

Review of The Lady of the Camellias

By: Alexander Dumas Jr.

            This is the novel that inspired the movie musical Moulin Rouge. Our narrator is told the story of man who falls in love with a “kepted” woman, and the tragedy of their doomed love.

            The Lady of the Camellias is a tragedy that looks at the lifestyle of a “kepted” women and how it was impossible for her to have real love, though she tried to.  Marguerite is someone who has to sell herself to have a decent life, but she meets a man, Armand who does love her for her. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have enough money to provide for her and she still has to be with Dukes and Counts. This creates jealously and paranoia with Armand making their love unstable.  A relationship like this is shown as messy and realistic and couple struggle to fight against the consequences of this. They’re judged and trust is lacking between them.   It felt realistic at first until they got to the romance, which felt unbelievable.  Armand kept saying he loved her even before he started spending time with Marguerite and got jealous too easily. It didn’t feel subtle, but over dramatic on his part.  I do believe men shouldn’t be afraid to cry, but he cried too much.  I felt sympathy for Marguerite as she never knew love until Armand and her being a kepted woman is for survival.  Prudence was my favorite character, because she is honest and blunt as she tries to help the couple, but neither will listen to her.  She is also a funny character.  I think if the story had someone who was an actual threat to their relationship as an antagonist than it would have been more exciting, but her other lovers were passive and the father came off as a reasonable person.  Any “threats’ were reasonable and valid to keeping them apart and I wasn’t inspired to root for them.  I can see how this book influenced Moulin Rouge’s plot, but I like Moulin Rouge better, though this wasn’t a bad story. 

Originally I picked up this book because of how it inspired the plot for La Traviata, one of my favourite operas. 

Romance (at least of this kind) is not my preferred genre, so it was hard to really fall in love with the novel. Although, there were some aspects of the story that I found compelling, not the least of which was the dignity in which Marguerite, a sex worker, was presented in a 19th century setting. 

I also feel like there was a subliminal commentary on the stringent morality of the contemporary French society. Dumas fils explores whether morality can be reduced to something physical, such as one’s condition in life, and whether one even has the right to condemn another (“when have we become more strict than even Christ?”). 

I found the characters quite charming, especially Marguerite, but found the language itself to have been somewhat lacklustre. Occasionally—especially in the series of letters near the end—the literature shines through. 

Overall not my favourite, but I still got something worthwhile out of it.