The Black Tulip (Penguin Classics) New Ed Edition, Kindle Edition

by Alexandre Dumas (Author), Robin Buss (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition

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ISBN-13: 978-0140448924

ISBN-10: 0140448926

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Length: 292 pages
Word Wise: Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled
Age Level: 0 - 99
Grade Level: 12 and up

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Set at the height of the "tulipomania" that gripped Holland in 17th century, this is the story of Cornelius van Baerle, a humble grower whose sole desire is to grow the perfect specimen of the tulip negra.
When his godfather is murdered, Cornelius finds himself caught up in the deadly politics of the time, imprisoned and facing a death sentence. His jailor's daughter Rosa, holds both the key to his survival and his chance to produce the ultimate tulip.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) was the son of Napoleon’s famous general Dumas. A prolific author, his body of work includes a number of popular classics, including The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Robin Buss (1939–2006) was a writer and translator who worked for the Independent on Sunday and as television critic for the Times Educational Supplement. He was also the translator of a number of volumes for Penguin Classics.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002RI9H52
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin; New Ed edition (April 24, 2003)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 24, 2003
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2129 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #548,353 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #72 in 19th Century Literary Criticism (Books)
- #243 in French Literary Criticism (Books)
- #632 in Historical French Fiction

Customer Reviews:
125 ratings

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Alexandre Dumas
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Alexandre Dumas (English /duːmˈɑː, djuː-/, French: [alɛksɑ̃dʁ dyma], born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie [dyma davi də la pajətʁi]; 24 July 1802 - 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas, père, was a French writer. His works have been translated into nearly 100 languages, and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of high adventure were originally published as serials, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later. His novels have been adapted since the early twentieth century for nearly 200 films. Dumas' last novel, The Knight of Sainte-Hermine, unfinished at his death, was completed by a scholar and published in 2005, becoming a bestseller. It was published in English in 2008 as The Last Cavalier.
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Robin Buss
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Customer reviews

5 star		68%
4 star		21%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Lydia

Entertaining Classic

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2021

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Although shorter than many novels by Dumas, “The Black Tulip” is no less compelling of a story. The brevity of the novel even gives a greater sense of urgency to the plot. There is also a playfulness to the narration, as it addresses the reader directly, that creates an intimacy and emotional connection to the story. Overall, I would highly recommend this novel!

2 people found this helpful

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D Lynnsor

A classic

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2015

A classic

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2016

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A great writer, nice story, and a classic.

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Naro

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2017

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The translation does not flow. It is very difficult to read with the current translation.

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Katy

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2017

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Not much good to say. Very disappointed compared to the other Dumas books I have read

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Paula Vince

Zany bit of nineteenth century jealousy and fun

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2019

What a madcap tale of fanaticism, passion and jealousy this one turns out to be. Here's my most valuable tip straight off. Please don't let the somber nature of the first few chapters deter you from persevering, as I almost did more than once. It's a bit like shaking the plug of congealed tomato sauce from the neck of a bottle. Once you've passed that point, the entertainment flows perfectly. The purpose of the tough and sad beginning is to ground the story to a real, historical event, as you'll see. It's something Dumas liked to do. In this case, he retells a tragic event in which two noble statesmen are falsely accused of treason and savagely mauled to death by an angry mob while they attempt to flee for safety. Whew, once we get over that hurdle, the fun begins.

Cornelius Van Baerle is a good-natured young doctor who enjoys a bit of gardening in his spare time. He's introduced as a 'happy mortal' which extends to his tulips, since he has an incredible green thumb. A contest offering 100 000 florins for the creator of a perfect black tulip is announced, and he rises to the challenge, pouring his heart and soul into it. It's a very tough call from the Horticultural Society, who don't really expect anyone to pull it off. They are willing to offer such a huge prize because black tulips are rarer than hens' teeth. But our boy Cornelius is quietly confident.

Little does he know he has a mortal enemy in his next door neighbour, Isaac Boxtel, a fanatical gardener himself. Cornelius has made some home renovations which unintentionally messed up the direction of sunshine on Isaac's tulip garden. He also unknowingly knocked Isaac's name off an illustrious list of tulip growers from their town. Now Isaac is out to get him! He's so intent on keeping an eagle eye on whatever Cornelius is doing that his own tulip beds suffer from neglect. Obsessing over his young neighbour becomes Isaac's whole life. It's the classic jealous guy's mistake of forgetting what pursuing goals is really all about, but it doesn't matter to him. Because when he bumps off Cornelius, he'll steal any bulbs or black tulips he manages to leave behind.

Boxtel manages to pull some crooked strings to get Cornelius arrested on false charges of high treason, but his sentence is reduced from execution to life imprisonment. Cornelius now has one ace up his sleeve which neither man even realise the full value of at first. He's won the love of Rosa, the daughter of Gryphus the jail keeper. She thoroughly supports Cornelius' quest for the perfect black tulip and does her utmost to help him achieve his goal. Meanwhile Isaac sneaks around in the background, trying to thwart them. At this stage, pouring the same creative effort into growing his own tulips doesn't even enter his head.

'Tulip mania' was a real thing. Dumas simply used the historical time period, when the price of bulbs soared sky high, as a backdrop for his story. The fervour of these Dutch tulip growers gets me grinning every page. They hold fast to a creed of logic. 'To despise flowers is to offend God. The more beautiful the flower, the more God is offended by contempt of it. Now the tulip is the most beautiful of all flowers, therefore he who despises the tulip offends God exceedingly.' Proof that it's possible to fit anything into a logical framework if you feel passionately enough about it, hey?

The watery landscape features are interesting too. We are told you can't ever go as the crow flies in Holland, 'a country which is more cut up by rivers, streams, rivulets, canals and lakes than any other country in the world. I've never been there, but have been told by people who lived there that it's precisely what it's like. So I enjoyed my bit of armchair travel.

I imagine books playing out as movies on my mind's screen while I read, and this one is definitely an animation! Cornelius is a Prince Charming look-alike, while I picture Boxtel to be something like Aladdin's Jafar, with all the extreme, twisted facial expressions. But within all the exaggerated fun, good object lessons abound. Some researchers believe an individual's set point of happiness has a way of re-adjusting itself to circumstances. That definitely seems true of these two characters.

For the unlucky Cornelius, life soon becomes sweet and full of hope again. Even while he's being led to the scaffold, he consoles himself with the anticipation that in a matter of mere moments, he will get to witness all the beautiful tulips of the world from the height of heaven. 'One stroke of the sword and my beautiful dream will commence.' Saved on the spur of the moment, he's just as optimistic behind bars. But Isaac Boxtel, in his intense focus on what's slipping through his fingers, ignores every other good thing he has. It's easy to tell who is the real prisoner. The morals are in our faces, but still easy to take on board. Coupled with his bitter jealousy, Isaac is a man who's into name-dropping and hobnobbing with bignobs. 'He takes from everyone a little of his importance to add it to his own' just as he's not above stealing flowers. That sort of person doesn't always get what he deserves in real life, so it's satisfying when he does in a story.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys a zany bit of fun.

9 people found this helpful

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Nemo

A Lesser Dumas Novel

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2016

2.5
"The Black Tulip," is a historical novel by Dumas which mixes fiction into real events. It focus around fictional events set up by the real mod murder of the political de Witte borthers in 1672, and Holland's real tulip mania in which prized tulip bulbs sold for outrageous amounts.
"The Black Tulip" is not Dumas' strongest work -- the plot isn't as engaging as his others. In fact, it is quite predictable; Rosa is given the letter which clears the main character of all wrong doing, but she can't read. However, she learns how to read, leading to the obvious conclusion. The characters are also not terribly developed. The only character who seems fully rounded is William of Orange, who is both sinister and sympathetic. Everyone else is quite one-note. There is a also a hint of antisemitism in the book; the antagonist is a jealous man names Isaac who, while in disguise, calls himself Jacob. It doesn't go further than giving the antagonist a Jewish name, and the sentiment may have been common for the time, but it is still enough that it feels off-putting.
Overall, "The Black Tulip" certainly has some flaws, but may interest those who like historical fiction, or for fans of Dumas who want to see what he did beyond the Musketeers and Monte Cristo.

2 people found this helpful

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William S Jamison

fun

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2013

Finished reading this on May 14, 2013 and the event in the book climaxes on May 15, 1673! This was a cute book. I am not sure I want to watch the movie but I know there is one. (There are several by this title I believe.) Turns out none based on this book are recent. In any case, the book is similar in many respects to the other two popular Dumas' novels, though those I read so long ago they just seem a distant memory. Call it light reading. One fun item I noticed was the reference to Argus with regard to Rosa's father which put me in mind of imagining him as being much like Argus Filch from the Harry Potter series. Makes me wonder if JKR got the idea of his name from that or the Greek myth - more likely the myth. But seeing it in the book made me connect the dots. I love when the dots are connected!

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Lee Price

The Black Tulip

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2018

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Found my nan's memoirs book stating this was her favorite book as a young girl. I decided to have a read myself, and wasn't disappointed. I have never read a classic before so I was amazed by how descriptive and totally absorbed I became in each page. I thoroughly enjoyed this and without having to make myself read it for the sake of my nan.
The story highlighted the difference between the have and have nots of the time. How people love and hate can influence some many outcomes, similar to so many things happening today. Great story I do definitely recommend you to read it.

One person found this helpful

Anthony

Absolutely brilliant service from this bookseller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2021

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This was an excellent book delivery service.
The company have been extremely considerate...the book arrived in good (as expected) condition and seems every bit as good as other books by Dumas.
I recommend this particular online book seller wholeheartedly.

Kindle Customer

The BlAck Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

The purchase of this book was an attempt to look back at an experience during World War 2 when we read this book for the first time.
I remembered it as a "gory" book when compared to The 39 steps which we had at about the same time. The style of writing was rather
heavy for teenagers and I found this still to be the case - now that I am considerably older than a teenager - I am having to read this book carefully over again to fully appreciate it.

One person found this helpful

Daisy

It was a gift

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2021

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It was a gift

anthony r bold

The Black Tulip

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2017

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This book is an old classic .it is very easy to read with an unusual theme of growing a prize tulip. I did enjoy the book as the storyline is very simple and there are only a few.
Characters which keeps it easy to follow .It is also well translated .

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