Marie Antoinette: The Journey
1 journaler for this copy...
Finished the Marie Antoinette bio. Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser. Good read. It's written a bit too much as a defense of the queen's character, but it's pretty easy to sort research supported "fact" (Fact is always an iffy term.) from conjecture or author opinion. But, yes, it was worth reading. Antoinette comes across as... a light, somewhat shallow personality who gains strength of character and self-possession through adversity. She's not an intellectually fascinating or personally inspiring figure, but interesting nonetheless. I appreciate the large number of quotes pulled from letters, journals, memoirs, etc. of the period. ...It took me about 4 days (around things I needed to get done etc.) to read 400 pages of it, and 2 months to read the middle 60 pages... Go figure. If you want in depth politics, this book is not the way to go. It is a "starter" choice. If Marie Antoinette had utterly captured my attention, I would seek out other books to round out the picture, including specific works on the overall political environment, specific attacks, etc, entire memoirs (if I could read French and had access to them... or in translation with a grain of salt. Translation is always a wee bit sketchy. Speaking of which, I'm going to start translating Beowulf from the Old English and a Dutch novel soon for amusement. ...And maybe a Chinese Seventeen magazine, but I feel like girly girly Chinese wouldn't be the vocabulary I'd necessarily want to acquire. Yeah! I'll probably alternate so I don't get bored.), etc.
I think the most interesting figure was Count Fersen, a Swedish aristocrat who fought in the American Revolution and was a long time friend of M.A. I just liked that he seemed active more or less all over Europe and America. Sadly, as far as I can tell, it sounds like he's mainly a historical figure because people like to conjecture about *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* with the queen.
Oh. I should note, this is the bio that the new movie is supposedly based on. For one thing, the film ends about half way through the book (I guess political upheaval, imprisonment, and death weren't pretty enough... Most people know how M.A.'s life ended, but the film gave the impression that she and Louis XVI avoid all the unpleasantry they actually went through.). For another, the last line in the film is based on a historical quote, which was not said by Marie Antoinette, but by Madame Elizabeth. Boo, Sophia Coppola, poorly done. You can't reassign historical sayings for increased drama... Even more poorly executed than I originally thought having seen the film. (But, I admit I still own the movie because of the color scheme...)
I may eventually purchase the bio of Mary Queen of Scots by Fraser. I've found the little I've read about her quite interesting. But I think I've had enough female biography for awhile. So... I've got Peter the Great (intellectually fascinating), Frida Kahlo (a quasi-role model), Mao Zedong (another role model... just kidding. very much with the kidding. interesting, though) sitting around; and Louise Brooks and Mary Queen of Scots as potential later reads. Haven't been reading much lately, really.
I think the most interesting figure was Count Fersen, a Swedish aristocrat who fought in the American Revolution and was a long time friend of M.A. I just liked that he seemed active more or less all over Europe and America. Sadly, as far as I can tell, it sounds like he's mainly a historical figure because people like to conjecture about *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* with the queen.
Oh. I should note, this is the bio that the new movie is supposedly based on. For one thing, the film ends about half way through the book (I guess political upheaval, imprisonment, and death weren't pretty enough... Most people know how M.A.'s life ended, but the film gave the impression that she and Louis XVI avoid all the unpleasantry they actually went through.). For another, the last line in the film is based on a historical quote, which was not said by Marie Antoinette, but by Madame Elizabeth. Boo, Sophia Coppola, poorly done. You can't reassign historical sayings for increased drama... Even more poorly executed than I originally thought having seen the film. (But, I admit I still own the movie because of the color scheme...)
I may eventually purchase the bio of Mary Queen of Scots by Fraser. I've found the little I've read about her quite interesting. But I think I've had enough female biography for awhile. So... I've got Peter the Great (intellectually fascinating), Frida Kahlo (a quasi-role model), Mao Zedong (another role model... just kidding. very much with the kidding. interesting, though) sitting around; and Louise Brooks and Mary Queen of Scots as potential later reads. Haven't been reading much lately, really.
