napoleon complex pt 3

book: the last great dance on earth

author: sandra gulland

completion date: 07/08/10

method: borrowed (debbie)

this is one time where i would not want to live. it seems like no matter who you are you are either being betrayed or betraying. in this final novel, you see how few friends the bonepartes had.

when napoleon was an emperor, he was revered. adored. going out became a hindrance to him and josephine because they were so adored by there people, if they went to the theatre they were accosted with so many cheers and bouquets. but once he was fallen its like no one cared about him anymore. he was forgotten and rejected. the people who once loved him forgot him. and that just made me so sad.

i mentioned before how horribly the boneparte family treated josephine. i think its because they were a pack of spoiled brats who recognized how wonderful and kind josephine and her children were and resented it (at least thats the skewed view we get from gulland). the people of france called josephine napoleon's good luck charm and it feels true. while they were together he was almost immortal. once he separated from her, he lost. he lost his power over the people and his battles. however napoleon feels like a brat compared to his angel of mercy. along with his family, who quite frankly sucked. hard. they were bratty and snotty and a bunch of dirty turncoats. harumph.

i was sad when this series was over though. i wanted more more more. i couldn't chew through these books fast enough and was hungry for more about josephine after they were finished. i'm going to have to see what else gulland has in her arsenal.

josephine went threw menopause when she was 30 because of the terrible things that she underwent during the terror, and thus when she married napoleon she was unable to have any more children. and this is what drove them apart, because it was all her fault. napoleon sent her to spa after spa and she underwent some horrific treatments for him with the hope of reigniting her system (so to speak). and because infertility is the female's fault, she had to pay for all of it.

vive la revolution!

napoleon complex pt. 2

book: tales of passion, tales of woe
author: sandra gulland
completion date: 05/08/10
method: borrowed (debbie)

i really found myself absorbed by these books. when the third one was over i wanted more- i even wanted to buy another bio fiction book just to keep going, but i know it wouldn't be the same. this book, like most middle books, was my least favourite in the series. i always like the beginning and middle the most, whereas the middle book in a trilogy seems to be the most stagnant. you can't advance too far, but you don't want nothing to happen at all. we have to be engaged so that we want to keep reading, but it can't be the peak of the story.
what i love about bio fiction is that it feels like you're doing research. i feel that i could talk intelligently about josephine's life but its all really drivel. caroline boneparte is portrayed as a selfish bitch but i don't actually know what she was like. however as in the last novel this book is very well researched, an many events are made stronger by the addition of footnotes that either quote writings or history books. it may not all be true, but it feels so real.
its rough to read about how difficult this time was for everyone. the people don't seem to know who to love or trust because the french kept executing all their leaders. and this is what makes josephine such a sympathetic character- she is not a tyrant. she doesn't lust after power or wealth, she seeks to live within her means. she is happiest surrounded by her children and friends. the french people called her the angel of mercy and she feels like one. her attempt to win over bonaparte's mother is adorable, because madam has little love to give to anyone who is not blood. all the bonepartes call josephine the old woman (josephine was 32 when they married) and plot to get rid of her, and still she treats them with love and affection. her grace is never faltered, even to her rash husband.
boneparte seems like such an ass in these novels as well, but because this is only a part 2 i don't want to give everything away!
xo-ellebee

napoleon complex pt 1

book: the many lives and secret sorrows of josephine b

author: sandra gulland

completion date: 05/08/10

method: borrowed (debbie)

let me preface this with the fact that i am a HUGE sucker for biofiction. i loved philippa gregory's novels and really any other novel based on a real person but is a fictional account of their lives (as a girl there was this royal diaries series i was into about cleopatra and elisabeth and mary). i think i just love when some things have a spark of reality to them, because it feels like you're reading non fiction but its a bit more fun. i also like knowing whats going to happen to the main character at the end of the book without asking anyone.

what i like about this trilogy so far after the first instalment is that it focuses on the lessor of the two heros. many books have been written and stories told about napoleon and his conquests, but gulland focuses on his wife, josephine, who is fascinating. this instalment starts when josephine is a young girl on the island trois-olets, martinique, almost 20 years before she is married to napoleon. something that i didn't know about josephine is that she led an extremely hard life before napoleon and becoming the empress (although i'm sure it wasn't a cakewalk). her fist marriage was miserable. she was married to someone who did not love her and who kept trophies of his conquests both before and after their wedding. luckily for josephine though, his family was kind and loving, and after his death they still helped and supported her as much as they could.

i don't know a lot about the french revolution. i know that it was very messy and very bloody and pretty horrifying to be anyone. peasants had no money (and the revolution didn't really help this) aristocrats couldn't hold onto their heads long enough to style their hair, and no one could be trusted. i also know that the revolution was just followed by an emperor which i think is the last thing everyone wanted.

something about gulland's books that i am totally amazed by so far: they are impeccably researched. they feel so authentic and are backed by an impressive bibliography. there is of course lots and lots of padding (it is fiction after all) but it is so convincing and well put together that it feels like josephine's true account of her life.

its funny to hear a description of napoleon from someone who grew to love him. a tiny man with short little legs and long, stringy hair. exactly the person you'd want after you'd married a gorgeous letch.

xo-ellebee