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    The Scarlet Pimpernel
    The Scarlet Pimpernel
    The Scarlet Pimpernel
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    The Scarlet Pimpernel

    Written by Baroness Orczy

    Narrated by Simon Williams

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Paris, 1792 and the French Revolution. The guillotine claims lives each day. But working in ever-changing disguise is the Scarlet Pimpernel and his band of meddlesome Englishmen.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAudio Holdings
    Release dateJan 1, 2009
    ISBN9781601360533
    Author

    Baroness Orczy

    Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Hungary in 1865. She lived in Budapest, Brussels, Paris, Monte Carlo, and London, where she died in 1947. The author of many novels, she is best known for The Scarlet Pimpernel.

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    Reviews for The Scarlet Pimpernel

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      A rousing adventure story that's by turns suspenseful, romantic and funny. Our hero fights to save folks condemned to the guillotine during the French Revolution.
    • 5/5
      An underrated classic. A definite must read for young adults especially.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the "race against the clock" quality of this- being an audio book made it even more apoarent, as it underscored the recurring motif of ear witnessing already present in the text.
    • 5/5
      The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic novel, though it is hard to categorize. It is part romance, part adventure, part spy thriller, and part superhero fiction. All of these elements went into the pot and the resulting stew is extremely entertaining.The book follows the adventures of Sir Percy Blakeney as he seeks to help French aristocrats escape the guillotine during the French Revolution. Since official English policy forbids this, Blakeney adopts a masked identity as the Scarlet Pimpernel to remain anonymous. The French, of course, detest this interference in their affairs and set out to trap and kill the Pimpernel at all costs. As part of his effort to deflect suspicion from himself, he plays the fool in every day life and he does it well. His own wife considers him a useless fop... and that's where the story really gets interesting.
    • 5/5
      An underrated classic. A definite must read for young adults especially.
    • 1/5
      I have no idea why some people classify this novel as a classic piece of literature. Just because it was written over a hundred years ago doesn't automatically make it a great novel. Orczy is not in the same league as Tolstoy or Dickens or Shakespeare. She did not write a number of brilliant works that hold up to the passage of time and remain relevant. She did, I think, write the first superhero novel. I read that the creators of Batman were influenced by The Scarlet Pimpernel and I totally see that. At times I felt like I was reading the pulpy novelization of an action movie. I'm sure at the time of the release of this book (and the accompanying play) the plot seemed fresh and daring. Now, of course, it's just one long cliche and common trope. The comparisons to a Scooby Doo episode are not far off the mark.The plot is extremely far-fetched and the characters one dimensional. I kept waiting for a supernatural element to be introduced in order to explain the disguises the S.P. used. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough - there is no way he could turn himself into a petite elderly woman. Just....no. He's supposed to be huge. How does he hide his height and girth? Hmmmm. And Marguerite -the cleverest woman in Europe! - spends hours with him while he is disguised and doesn't notice? Hmmm. The S.P.'s superhuman strength is also over the top. He is beaten so severely he loses consciousness yet he is still able to walk a mile and a half in the pitch dark through the rough countryside carrying Marguerite? Hmmmm. Orczy is a mediocre writer. If I read the word "inane" one more time I was going to scream. Were thesauruses not invented when she wrote the book? She tells the reader, she doesn't show the reader. Don't tell me Marguerite is "the most clever woman in Europe" over & over & over. Show me! Instead, Marguerite is incredibly dense throughout the book. I couldn't get over how she kept forgetting people - forgetting her husband, forgetting her brother, forgetting that guy that helped her get to France. Where was the cleverness? The romance between Marguerite and her husband befuddled me. They got secretly married after a whirlwind courtship because he was sexually attracted to her and she really enjoyed how much he desired her. She didn't love him but loved that he loved/wanted her so much. Then, after the marriage, they almost immediately have a falling out and never talk about it because both are too proud. Marguerite suddenly decides she passionately loves her husband because.....um, that wasn't totally clear to me. Because she found out he was secretly the S.P.? Or something like that.Finally, that crazy antisemitic chapter of the book "The Jew" - what the hell!?!? That came out of no where. It was like talking to someone at a party, thinking they are cool, when suddenly they start talking about n*ggers and f*ggots. Whoa! Didn't realize how horrible you were! Thanks for sharing that tidbit about yourself! It wasn't just that Orczy was showing some of her characters to be bigoted towards Jewish people. She, the third person narrator, was writing these horrid descriptions."His red hair, which he wore after the fashion of the Polish Jews, with the corkscrew curls each side of his face, was plentifully sprinkled with grey- a general coating of grime, about his cheeks and chin, gave him a peculiarly dirty and loathsome appearance. He had the habitual stoop, those of his race affected in mock humility in past centuries, before the dawn of equality and freedom in matters of faith, and he walked behind Desgas with the peculiar shuffling gait which has remained the characteristic of the Jew trader in continental Europe to this day.""She felt as if he held Percy's fate in his long, dirty hands.""The eyes of the Jew shot a quick, keen glance at the gold in his interlocutor's hand.""With a final, most abject and cringing bow, the old Jew shuffled out of the room."Talk about a buzz kill. I was already having issues with the book and that chapter was like the final nail in the coffin. I give the book 2 stars because it does have a historical interest in the sense that Orczy created a Batman/Superman sort of hero and that is intriguing. Also, I am a sucker for books set in that time period. Even mediocre books like this one.
    • 4/5
      Well, this was really fun. The unknown man known as the Scarlet Pimpernel is a master of disguise. His creative plots to save members of the nobility from the French revolutionaries were tremendously entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The narration by Ralph Cosham of the audio book was very good.
    • 5/5
      I don't know how or when I learned about this story, but I've known the basic plot for a long time. It's never been part of my reading plans because I thought it just wasn't for me, that it would be just a silly melodrama. And yes, it is kind of silly, with Lady Blakeney being so clever, such tiny exquisite hands, so perfectly beautiful. The writing isn't great, with much repetition - the word "merrily" is used often, very often. Despite all this, I loved the book. It's a swashbuckling adventure story, a romance. It has a fabulously brave, clever, handsome hero, and of course the aforementioned beauty of Lady Blakeney. All this and a setting of the French Revolution as a bonus. Excellent!
    • 5/5
      This is one of my all time favourite books.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite all-time classics.
    • 4/5
      One of the better romance/adventures. The book is more Marguerite's story than the Scarlet Pimpernel's, unlike every stage and screen adaptation (so far as I'm aware). It leans towards melodrama at moments- to be expected of a book that follows the Tale of Two Cities version of the French Revolution, with numbers of executions happening daily in 1792 which weren't reached except for the worst parts of 1794- but the original duel identity hero who has influenced everything from Zorro to Batman holds his own in the test of time.
    • 3/5
      The original Scarlet Pimpernel story suffers from having become so well known. Its twists and reversals are utterly unsurprising to the modern reader simply because they have been imitated in every conceivable form of genre fiction since the book's publication. The book itself is not at fault, it does everything you expect from it but, unlike other evergreen genre blockbusters – such as the masterworks of Dumas or the more inventive Beau Geste novels – it has little else to offer.
    • 4/5
      This is such a cheesy, sentimental book, and yet I'm always drawn in to the Pimpernel's adventures.
    • 5/5
      Despite knowing the plot well from previous reads (and the classic film version), I still found the book caught me up in the thrills. There were many little details that I had forgotten.
    • 3/5
      I first read this book as a young teenager, swooning with the romantic heroism of the lead characters. The book doesn't stand up so well as an adult story, still interesting as a historical piece.
    • 4/5
      I don’t know how I missed reading The Scarlet Pimpernel before now, but I am certainly glad that I finally picked it up. This was a fun swashbuckler of a story with Sir Percy Blakeney as the romantic hero who is saving French aristocrats from the guillotine. He keeps his identity a secret from everyone, including his beautiful French wife, Marguerite by playing at being a dimwitted fashionable fop who cares more about the cut of his jacket than in embarking on rescue missions. Of course all great heroes need evil, dastardly villains to out-smart and in the French spy, Chauvelin, the Scarlet Pimpernel has an excellent foil. The book rewards the reader with suspense, romantic misunderstandings, and epic adventure.Yes, the language is a little old-fashioned, there are a couple of cringe worthy slurs as well as a cartoon-like portrayal of a Jewish gentleman, and a somewhat dated attitude towards women but mostly I found the 1905 book, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy a wonderful piece of historical fiction.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful book!

      The Scarlet Pimpernel (named after a small red flower that is his signature) is engaged in saving French loyalists from the guillotine during the French Revolution. Using disguises and cunning, the Scarlet Pimpernel performs these daring rescues right under the noses of the angry mob.

      When he's not rescuing French loyalists, the Scarlet Pimpernel is mild-mannered, foppish, wealthy Sir Percy Blakeney. He disguises his activities by appearing to be utterly useless. So good is his disguise that even his own wife doesn't know his alter-identity.

      This book is considered the proto-type for many heroes to follow: Zorro, Batman and others. It's been made into a few movies, and now I need to watch some of them!
    • 5/5
      The woefully small number on my "read - classics" shelf has increased by 1. While I've always known of The Scarlet Pimpernel as a character - an English spy - that is infamous for his daring rescues of French aristocrats, I don't think I ever really knew it was a book. I can offer up no reason or excuse for this, but thanks to my BookLikes friends, it's a lapse that has been corrected. My copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel is a FOTL find from my recent vacation and the cover says it is part of the "The Best Mysteries of All Time" series. I wouldn't call this a mystery, though. It felt more like an early 1900's action-suspense novel to me. As a reader, was there ever really much doubt who The Scarlet Pimpernel was? But the intrigue, the manipulation, the threats, the warnings, the running, the escape... and the escapes! Lots of action and lots of suspense. A lot of readers point to the florid writing and I agree, it is rather less er...modern than most books I've read that were written in the same time frame. But the story itself takes place during the French Revolution, so the writing didn't feel out of place to me and I didn't struggle at all with comprehension after the first page or so. I won't pretend that I didn't have some confusion over Marguerite - I never quite got what the author wanted me to think about her 'wittiest woman in all of Europe'. There was a bit of bouncing between strong/weak, smart/dim, stoicism/over-wrought-female. But this was written over 100 years ago about a time over 150 years ago. I have no idea what women were like 150 years ago but I'm certain I'd not identify with them overmuch. For me, it was the last few chapters that drove me away from a full five stars. Could everything that happened after the scene in the 'Chat Gris' been strung out any longer? I was beginning to feel like an over-wound spring; I found myself thinking "Oh just something HAPPEN already!! Gah!" The story was great fun and I clearly see why it is still such a popular choice. It's a true classic and even though I've heard from everyone that the sequels just don't compare to this first, I find myself tempted to hunt one down to see what happens next.
    • 4/5
      A rip-roaring must-keep-reading adventure story - highly implausible, but highly entertaining.It's 1792; in Paris the bloody Revolution is underway. Meanwhile a group of bold English aristocrats, led by the elusive Pimpernel, are masterminding the evacuation of French nobles to England.As beautiful French former actres Marguerite (wife of drawling fop, Sir Percy Blakeney) meets an escaped woman and her children, she reflects on her own (inadvertent) responsibility for the guillotining of an aristocrat. Her husband seemed to grow cold towards her from that point.And as her beloved brother crosses the channel, risking his life to save others...she wishes her husband could be so heroic as the Pimpernel they all follow.Meanwhile, French spy, the dogged Chauvelin, is determined to uncover the identity of that hero. And if Marguerite won't help, her brother's life is at risk..
    • 1/5
      A British man uses disguises to rescue aristocrats from the French Revolution.1/4 (Bad).So boring. At least three quarters of this book are filler stalling for space.(Dec. 2021)
    • 4/5
      I've never really liked the classical stories because they feel so naive. They're almost always black-and-white and simple to the core. It's this straightforward nature that I like, however, in The Scarlet Pimpernel.

      This book is said to have served as an inspiration to the Batman character, and it's quite easy to see why. But I'm not going to dwell on that. More importantly, this is a book on romance and love. It's about trusting someone and putting your faith in that person. It's about falling in love with someone for their charm and personality. It's about grasping on to that little bit of truth no matter how dire the situation becomes.

      If you haven't figured it out by now, I really liked the book. :-p
    • 4/5
      This is considered a classic in some circles. And it may fit some definitions of that genre. I have wanted to read it for sometime, but now that I have read it, it doesn't live up to the expectations that the hype gave me. The plot twists were obvious, the end was certain (given the historical period). I did like it but it was suspenseful only because I had to wait for what I knew was coming. I guess it played on my impatiences more than it did on sense of suspense.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book for many years (see my other record for it); but having reread it, I now see it as a soppy romance novel, told from Margaruite's point of view, and not the swashbuckler I had remembered it as.
    • 4/5
      I continue to like this story, having read it some time back in the 1970's. Happily, this story is interesting and nothing as tedious as the Baroness' Tea House Detective novels (I only finished one in that series, Unravelled Knots). The Pimpernel character is well-drawn, with a character who provides many amusing stratagems and affectations to prevent discovery.I reduced my original enthusiasm for the story as a whole (i.e. down from 4*'s) because the dialogue is too often ponderous, coming across rather awkwardly in many of the scenes. Even allowing for the conventions of conversation amongst the upper classes of the late 1700's, some gentling of the flowery periods and mendacious speech would not have ruined the historical setting. As well, narratives need a variation in the pace of the action, angst and stress. The mood of an unremitting hell-bent-for-leather action and anguish is hard to sustain for long if it's to be an enjoyable read. Despite that caveat, Baroness Orczy's novel is a fine example of the early 1900's adventure format and recommended for those who love reading the romantic period of novels (meaning 'romantic' as in an emphasis on the imagination and emotions, such as arose in the 18th century).An intriguing aspect about the setting for the Pimpernel ~ British aristos in Paris, French emigrés, swashbuckling heroes ~ the story theme resonates strongly in other writings by the authors of the day (such as Georgette Heyer). Comparatively, The Scarlet Pimpernel is written in a style that is a little too dated, although written not that much earlier than These Old Shades, one of Heyer's earliest Georgian/Regency novels, set close to a similar time period. So ~ in my mind, the execution compares poorly with Heyer's books. Nevertheless, Orczy's premise of a daring hero who cultivates a a meek, dandified manner to disguise his dangerous escapades has proved an enduring trope.
    • 4/5
      This gem of a book was originally published in 1933 by Baroness Orczy and it deservedly has been through many publications since. I had not read it before I received it as a SantaThing gift a year ago. It has been laying quietly on my TBR pile by my bed since then, and then I finally thought that I should read it. I found the book very enjoyable. My first thought was that it was an adventure story told in the "swashbuckling" style, and it is that, but it is, first and foremost, a very tender love story. (perfect for Valentine's Day reading). The book was set in the late 18th century in England and northern France, and the main plot driver was the revolution in France after The King and Queen of France had been deposed and beheaded. The citizens of France have taken over governance and have been keeping "Madame Guillotine" very busy every day beheading the French nobility. The mythical figure of the Scarlet Pimpernel has risen to the fore, pulling off brazen and successful soirees into France to get some of the nobility out of France and to England for safety. No one knows who he is but he has a very willing group of about 16 or 17 people who help him in these attempts. While reading of his exploits we meet the lovely and accomplished Lady Marguerite Blakeney and her husband Sir Percy Blakeney. Unbeknown to Marguerite, her dashing husband plays a larger role in the exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel then she thought. As we watch the story unfold, we see a monumental love story opening up in front of us and in amongst all the danger and tempestuousness of this very dangerous time. Written with remarkable skill, the Baroness presents her story to us and draws us all into her web of honour, deceit, love and revenge. This is a great adventure story and a great romance Not often do you get both in the same book. The book very capably stands the test of time.
    • 4/5
      The Reign of Terror is claiming aristocratic victims in 1792 France, feeding Madame la Guillotine. A mysterious master of disguises called by the name of a red flower has gone about saving those he can, but a French agent, Chauvelin, is out to stop the elusive rescuer in The Scarlet Pimpernel by author Baroness Orczy.It'd been over a decade since the last time I read this classic. As I jumped into the novel rather blindly the first time around, I had the luxury of being delightfully surprised by the emotional married-couple love story in this tale of danger and intrigue. I also got to be surprised when learning the identity of The Scarlet Pimpernel that time.Would I still enjoy the book even without being surprised?Yes, I did enjoy the book this second time, though not quite as much as before. I can still appreciate the old-fashioned, fairly over-the-top drama for what it is, and the old-timey "oaths" the characters exclaim make me snicker, not wince. Plus, parts of the heroine's journey really speak my language as her moral crisis changes her and she opts to take "useful action" rather than to merely wallow in "empty remorse."Yet, I've now noticed how redundant the writing is at times, and some scenes are pretty drawn-out, taking longer to get to the point and the action than they need to. Also, while it isn't the only aspect of the tale involving characters' ridiculousness, the negative Jewish stereotyping in the last third or so of the book indeed stretches itself into the realm of the ridiculous, and it may be more than the characters' doing.This tale leaves some unfinished business that reemerges in further reading I haven't read about The Scarlet Pimpernel. Maybe I'll at least check out The Elusive Pimpernel sometime. We'll see.
    • 3/5
      I am reading at least one classic book each month. My pick for August was The Scarlet Pimpernel. I've seen the 1930s movie and enjoyed it, and I was surprised at how closely the Hollywood take followed the plot, down to the famous rhyme. The book, though, is really quite feminist in perspective. At heart, it's a tale of noblewoman does wrong, noblewoman strives to do right to make up for her error, even amid danger. The book doesn't contain much daring-do action; it's more about spy work.By far the most aggravating thing in the book, though, is a blatantly anti-Semitic caricature right at the end. I suppose I should have expected something like that, in keeping with the time period in which it was written, but I had enjoyed the book so much until then. Prepare to cringe through that sequence.
    • 2/5
      It hasn’t worn well

      So many of the books I read and reread as a child have proved flawed, and The Scarlet Pimpernel is no exception. I am no longer entranced by aristocracy, oblivious to anti-Semitism, indifferent to misogyny, or ignorant of history, alas. I probably should not have tried to read one of my old favorite romantic adventures. But I did make it through the whole thing.
    • 5/5
      (Blackstone audiobook) Ralph Cosham narrates Orczy's classic with distinction, providing tension, character dialects and convincing French pronunciation! A pleasure to listen to.
    • 4/5
      Defined at its most basic level, a superhero is a vigilante with a secret identity and a gimmick that sets them apart from ordinary vigilantes. Hungarian-born British playwright Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci’s The Scarlet Pimpernel features as its titular main character a British aristocrat who uses disguises to conceal his identity as he aids nobles in their escape from the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, signing his notes to his accomplices and his taunts to the French authorities with a scarlet pimpernel flower (Anagallis arvensis). Baroness Orczy based this 1905 novel on her original 1903 play, with her superhero predating Johnston McCulley’s Zorro by 14 years and Walter B. Gibson’s The Shadow by at least 25 years (depending on if one begins with the play or novel and counts The Shadow’s first radio appearance or the first magazine story), though the first superheroes as most know them wouldn’t appear until 1938 and ’39 with Superman and the Batman, respectively. Baroness Orci published five further novels and one short story collection before the appearance of Zorro in 1919, an additional four novels and short story collection before the appearance of The Shadow, and three more novels before the first appearance of Superman, with her final Scarlet Pimpernel novel, Mam’zelle Guillotine, appearing in 1940. In total, Baroness Orczy’s superhero appears in eleven novels and two short story collections, with the series also including two novels about his ancestor and one about his descendant.The basic plot revolves around Sir Percy Blakeney, a baronet who uses the guise of the Scarlet Pimpernel to rescue French aristocrats. Like the Batman years later, Sir Percy Blakeney acts “the lazy nincompoop, the effete fop, whose life seemed spent in card and supper rooms” so as to throw off those who would discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel (pg. 128). Madame Orczy describes Sir Blakeney’s mansion in terms that similarly recall Wayne Manor, all of it a further part of his disguise as a vain aristocrat (pg. 129). Citizen Chauvelin pursues the Pimpernel on behalf of the Committee of Public Safety, seeking to discover his identity and prevent him aiding aristocrats in their escape. Meanwhile, Marguerite Blakeney, the wife of Sir Percy, stumbles across and inadvertently reveals his identity after Chauvelin’s attempts to blackmail her by threatening her brother, Armand St. Just, who still resides in France and is threatened by the republican forces currently orchestrating the Reign of Terror. In many way, the various aristocrats’ discussion of the Scarlet Pimpernel coupled with the misunderstandings between Marguerite and others reflect some of the drawing room farces popular only a decade prior to the novel’s publication in the Victorian era. Like any proper superhero story, the Pimpernel’s adventures continued as Baroness Orczy published a sequel, I Will Repay, one year later in 1906. The third act does have some alarming ethnic stereotypes reflective of the period in which Baroness Orczy wrote, but the rest is entertaining and the work itself is worthy of study for its place in genre fiction. This edition, part of ImPress’s “The Best Mysteries of All Time” series, reprints the original 1905 text in its entirety with a red leather cover. It makes a lovely gift edition for fans of the original work or book collectors looking to add to their shelves.