76th out of 218 books
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131 voters
The Black Tulip
Cornelius von Baerle lives only to cultivate the elusive black tulip and win a magnificent prize for its creation. But when his powerful godfather is assassinated, the unwitting Cornelius becomes caught up in a deadly political intrigue. Falsely accused of high treason by a bitter rival, Cornelius is condemned to life in prison. His only comfort is Rosa, the jailer's beaut...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
August 26th 2003
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1850)
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Nicole Shelby
marked it as to-read
I have read this several times. I love the complexity of it, as well as it's simplicity.
If you are into love stories - this has a great one - of loyalty, devotion, and self-sacrifice.
If you are into studies of human nature - here too. It explores mob-mentality, politics, truth as it relates to justice, aspirations of power and the willingness to achieve that end regardless of the cost to others. And, underlying everything, the complete destructive capacity of jealousy. The ...more
If you are into love stories - this has a great one - of loyalty, devotion, and self-sacrifice.
If you are into studies of human nature - here too. It explores mob-mentality, politics, truth as it relates to justice, aspirations of power and the willingness to achieve that end regardless of the cost to others. And, underlying everything, the complete destructive capacity of jealousy. The ...more
I am finally taking the time to read The Black Tulip--my mother in law's favorite book--and surprisingly I'm enjoying it much more than I ever imagined I would! She's loaned me her childhood hardcover copy, which always make me feel like I can savor it all the more and cherish each thick, yellowed page.
Plus the story is set in Holland and centers around the trials and loves of a young tulip-fancier, so I'm hooked just on setting alone....
Plus the story is set in Holland and centers around the trials and loves of a young tulip-fancier, so I'm hooked just on setting alone....
لا اتذكر الأححداث بالتفصيل ، لكن الذي لن أنساه ، هو إصرار البطل في الحفاظ على نبتة الزنبقة السوداء وراعايتها حتى النهاية ، برغم كل شيء
جميلة
جميلة
The story was somewhat sweet, but Very predictable. Don’t let the title let you think that this book isn’t actually about tulips, because it is! A man who is devoted to growing tulips is attempting to create the black tulip to win money. His neighbor finds out and gets him sent to prison with a death sentence for something that he didn’t do so the neighbor can steal the tulip and claim the prize money. While in prison the tulip loving man falls in love with the daughter of the prison owner. ...more
The black tulip is about obsession, jealousy and a romantic love. In the first four chapters Alexandre Dumas gave the reader a brief introduction into the political situation of the Dutch Republic in 1672, a turbulence year in Dutch history. On the 20th of August two statesmen were brutality murdered by a furious crowd. One of them was Cornelius de Witt (the other his brother John) godfather of Cornelius van Baerle, a respectable tulip-grower from Dort. Van Baerle's was not at all interested in ...more
You know, I like this book...but lately it's been on my mind. I just don't believe Cornelius really loved that girl. I don't think she really loved him. It's like they just happened to each other, and both rolled with it. I sensed more sexual tension between Rosa and Cornelius's godfather than between her and Cornelius. Cornelius is annoying and forgettable at first. Then he becomes 'sympathetic,' but he is still so inside of himself. Dumas talks about how beautiful Rosa is. I think Orange menti...more
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The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas, is a historical fiction classic. The story begins with the very public and horrible crowd murders of two brothers, Cornelius and John De Witte, who are believed to be traitors opposed to the rule of Prince William of Orange. Cornelius Van Baerle is the godson of one of the brothers, Cornelius De Witte, who has been given a sealed packet by his godfather to hold in safety for him. Van Baerle leads a quiet life, focusing primarily on the growth and developm...more
I was reading an abridged copy of "The Count of Monte Christo" and I got frustrated with it and just stopped reading it. It was only a third as long as the actual book and lacked a certain charm I'd have guessed the actual book had. It also seemed a little simple for a book so beloved for so long. I was talking with an acquaintance about my frustration with the book lack of layers. When I said it was missing 2/3rds of the original text she cried, "There's your layers!"
...more
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Il passo falso di Dumas
Anche i grandi sbagliano, può capitare.
Ho sempre considerato Dumas uno scrittore che meriterebbe una maggiore rivalutazione nella storia della letteratura francese e mondiale, ma stavolta mi trovo costretta a criticare una sua opera, questo libro non sembra neppure scritto da lui tanta è la mediocrità presente nelle sue pagine, alla quale non si riesce a dare nessuna attenuante, nemmeno quella di una trama coinvolgente.
Il titolo ricorderà a parecchi...more
Anche i grandi sbagliano, può capitare.
Ho sempre considerato Dumas uno scrittore che meriterebbe una maggiore rivalutazione nella storia della letteratura francese e mondiale, ma stavolta mi trovo costretta a criticare una sua opera, questo libro non sembra neppure scritto da lui tanta è la mediocrità presente nelle sue pagine, alla quale non si riesce a dare nessuna attenuante, nemmeno quella di una trama coinvolgente.
Il titolo ricorderà a parecchi...more
Dumas, Alexander. THE BLACK TULIP. (1865). ***.
This is a truly sappy novel by Dumas. It is set in Holland in 1672 and chronicles the Dutch search for a true black tulip. The hero is a young horticulturist who has developed the black variety but is almost immediately thrown into prison because he is related to two suspected traitors – both of whom are violently killed in the first two chapters by angry townspeople. While he is in prison, his ex-neighbor – also a tulip fancier who is ...more
This is a truly sappy novel by Dumas. It is set in Holland in 1672 and chronicles the Dutch search for a true black tulip. The hero is a young horticulturist who has developed the black variety but is almost immediately thrown into prison because he is related to two suspected traitors – both of whom are violently killed in the first two chapters by angry townspeople. While he is in prison, his ex-neighbor – also a tulip fancier who is ...more
The historical romance set in the Netherlands of 1672-75 between a young man of many accomplishments (doctor, tulip fancier, artist...) and a perceptive young woman is only the surface. The story also alludes to past events in Dutch history, in particular the area's independence from Spain to form the independent state of the Seven Provinces led by William I, the long period of the Dutch Golden Age of blossoming science, art, music, and tulipmania. Towards the end of this age prior to Batavian R...more
One phrase to describe The Black Tulip - over the top. Dramatic, emotion-packed, action-packed, and all-over exaggerated, everything in The Black Tulip screams 19th century drama. The girls (well... girl) is lovely and innocent, the men clever and passionate, and the relations between them bold and... somewhat silly.
But oh, what fun such drama can be sometimes! The Black Tulip may be over the top, but it's done in good humor and is rather enjoyable in a guilty-pleasure sort of way. T...more
But oh, what fun such drama can be sometimes! The Black Tulip may be over the top, but it's done in good humor and is rather enjoyable in a guilty-pleasure sort of way. T...more
Who would have thought that a book about growing tulips could be so exciting? And yet Alexandre Dumas managed to write a compelling page turner based on that very subject. Dumas became one of my favourite authors a few years ago when I read The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers but I had not read any of his lesser-known works until now. I regret not reading The Black Tulip sooner because I enjoyed it almost as much as the two books I've just mentioned.
The book is set in ...more
The book is set in ...more
Dumas had a talent for writing humor into the darkest moments, and tragedy into the brightest celebrations. His stories are thick with overlapping characters and hidden agendas. Some critics mistake those twists of human nature as convelutions for the sake of connvolutions. I think they're more like a literary playground where you're having so much fun you don't realize you're getting a good mental workout. His favorite topics - obsession and envy - are once again the motivation for an autho...more
Although I have occasionally contemplated reading some of the Three Musketeers books I have always been put off by their size, especially as I suspect they won't really be 'my sort of book'.
However, as I had recently been reading about the Tulipomania, I thought that I'd give this a go when I saw it in the local library.
On the whole I was pleasantly surprised. It progresses quite quickly and, although fundamentally a sweet love story between a bourgeois tulip grower and ...more
However, as I had recently been reading about the Tulipomania, I thought that I'd give this a go when I saw it in the local library.
On the whole I was pleasantly surprised. It progresses quite quickly and, although fundamentally a sweet love story between a bourgeois tulip grower and ...more
Dumas è sempre Dumas, anche se mi aspettavo un altro genere di storia:
1) perchè ricordavo un cartone animato intitolato appunto "Il tulipano nero" che narrava le vicende della Stella della Senna;
2)perchè l'unico altro libro letto di Dumas era "I tre moschettieri".
"Il tulipano nero" è sicuramente una lettura piacevole, manca però di quegli elementi che hanno reso "I tre moschettieri" un CLASSICO con tutte le lettere maiuscole, non ci sono int...more
1) perchè ricordavo un cartone animato intitolato appunto "Il tulipano nero" che narrava le vicende della Stella della Senna;
2)perchè l'unico altro libro letto di Dumas era "I tre moschettieri".
"Il tulipano nero" è sicuramente una lettura piacevole, manca però di quegli elementi che hanno reso "I tre moschettieri" un CLASSICO con tutte le lettere maiuscole, non ci sono int...more
At first I wasn't too sure about this book, but I've read other Dumas and greatly enjoyed him, plus I'm not one to give up on a book anyhow, so I stuck it out, and ended up thoroughly enjoying it. I concede, he does a fair bit of history-butchering, but anyone who knows Dumas knows that this is how he writes. He writes for love of stories, not accuracy!
In any case, once I got a little further into the book, past the ordeal of the brothers, my interest was piqued! Romance (of the chaste...more
In any case, once I got a little further into the book, past the ordeal of the brothers, my interest was piqued! Romance (of the chaste...more
The Black Tulip combines Alexandre Dumas and tulipmania. That was all the sales pitch I needed to read it. While it was certainly no Three Musketeers or Count of Monte Cristo, The Black Tulip was the type of book I've grown to expect from Dumas: suspenseful, clever, and engaging. It just wasn't his best stuff.
The product of an artful nineteenth-century author, The Black Tulip has those literary trappings that writers of that century used so well--clever foiling, ironic humor, and det...more
The product of an artful nineteenth-century author, The Black Tulip has those literary trappings that writers of that century used so well--clever foiling, ironic humor, and det...more
This book was a big surprise to me. First of all, I thought the "Black Tulip" was a symbolic title; I was quite surprised that the story was actually about a flower. I was also surprised, particularly after the quite horrifying events related at the beginning of the book, that it was mostly a sweet story and an easy read. It was also quite a bit shorter than I expected based on the page count of the hardcover edition (perhaps that one is illustrated?). I have a feeling Krisette wil...more
In questo romanzo vi sono quattro protagonisti.. l'eroe, la fanciulla, l'invidioso ed il tulipano. Non è una storia di cappa e spada (ciò che mi sarei aspettato da Dumas), ma una sorta di lunga, lunghissima fiaba. Si legge speditamente ma infine lascia un pò con l'amaro in bocca per quel che si poteva presagire dai primi quattro capitoli e che non è stato. I risvolti politici iniziano e finiscono quasi subito, poi è tutto un parlar di fiori e di 'maniaci' (di fiori appunto). Fino al quarto capit...more
This is the story of a handsome young man, Cornelius Van de Baerle, who was a wealthy philosopher and a tulip fancier who got imprisoned and wrongly condemned to death . This is also the story of young brave Rosa who helps illustrious convicts to escape from the prison her father is a jailer at, who falls in love at first sight with the handsome young man and fights to help him demonstrate his innocence, who learns to love “the dark beauty with a slender waist, small feet and a noble head” she ...more
Un roman bien moins long que les Trois mousquetaires et qui à première vue, ne paye pas de mine.
On se situe toujours au XVIIe siècle, mais aux Pays-Bas (ben oui, Tulipe = Hollande) au cours de l'accession au pouvoir de Guillaume d'Orange.
Le héros, moins bouillant que l'ardent d'Artagnan (c'est un horticulteur), va tout de même se retrouver entraîné dans une aventure haletante, avec tous les passages obligés (poursuites, combats, amour...) Au final, un roman agréable, bien qu'un ton en dessous de...more
On se situe toujours au XVIIe siècle, mais aux Pays-Bas (ben oui, Tulipe = Hollande) au cours de l'accession au pouvoir de Guillaume d'Orange.
Le héros, moins bouillant que l'ardent d'Artagnan (c'est un horticulteur), va tout de même se retrouver entraîné dans une aventure haletante, avec tous les passages obligés (poursuites, combats, amour...) Au final, un roman agréable, bien qu'un ton en dessous de...more
I loved Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. I found it unexpectedly funny and sublimely adventuresome and just loved it. I also loved Queen Margot (and own it). It's been awhile since I read either, and suprisingly, those are the only two works of his I had read until now. Of course, I have seen the movies The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask, and so I think I shall strive to read those next.
But to The Black Tulip, this novel is far shorter than Musketeers or Ma...more
But to The Black Tulip, this novel is far shorter than Musketeers or Ma...more
Y'all I am an Alexandre Dumas fan girl. If I could resurrect him and make him be my writer boyfriend, I totally would (sorry boo!). Last summer I read the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo translated by Robin Buss* over a period of two weeks. I am a generally fast reader, especially when I have few work hours, however, I really wanted to savor the experience. Dumas is a high calibre writer, his stories are swashbuckling, exciting, and often tinged with romance. Basically it has everything I could...more
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The year 1672.
The Netherlands (then called the Seven United Provinces).
The brothers DeWitt are slaughtered by an insane crowd in the Hague. Most of the Seven Provinces are occupied by Louis XIV's armies - the citizens are mad. They believe (in error) that the DeWitt's have sold them out.
The DeWitts between them have been the equivalent of Prime Ministers for many years.
Tulip mania reigns supreme. 10,000 guilders for a single bulb. A huge futures ma...more
The Netherlands (then called the Seven United Provinces).
The brothers DeWitt are slaughtered by an insane crowd in the Hague. Most of the Seven Provinces are occupied by Louis XIV's armies - the citizens are mad. They believe (in error) that the DeWitt's have sold them out.
The DeWitts between them have been the equivalent of Prime Ministers for many years.
Tulip mania reigns supreme. 10,000 guilders for a single bulb. A huge futures ma...more
Notes:
Civil war in the Netherlands during 17th century
William of Orange and the Republicans
Isaac Boxtel the villian
Cornelius van Baerle our hero
Rosa
A melodramatic script that would make a great Hollywood movie.
the love story was entertaining... a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a tulip.
loyalty and obsession
the power of ambition
The author addresses the reader directly and gently reminds the reader ...more
Civil war in the Netherlands during 17th century
William of Orange and the Republicans
Isaac Boxtel the villian
Cornelius van Baerle our hero
Rosa
A melodramatic script that would make a great Hollywood movie.
the love story was entertaining... a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a tulip.
loyalty and obsession
the power of ambition
The author addresses the reader directly and gently reminds the reader ...more
I'm torn between giving "The Black Tulip" three stars and four. While it's a thoroughly enjoyable yarn, full of political intrigue, thievery, backstabbing, true love and horticulture, it lacks the slow-burning intensity of Dumas's masterpiece, "The Count of Monte Cristo," and isn't as much ripping fun as my personal favorite of his, "The Three Musketeers." "The Black Tulip" is still an enjoyable read, though; it pales only in comparison to the high standar...more
La novela transcurre durante el reinado de Luis XIV el Rey Sol. Pero nos moveremos de Francia e iremos a Holanda, tierra de cultivadores de tulipanes. En esa tierra de molinos y flores existen dos hermanos que están en contra de Guillermo de Orange, un sujetillo que quiere ser el estatúder de Holanda, pero sin saberlo. Esto les trae una desgracia a él y a su ahijado, Cornelius van Baerle, cultivador de tulipanes.
The plot wasn't so interesting as compared to The Count of Monte Cristo, or maybe I was expecting too much. I still think it's a good book, but not nearly as good as I was hoping for. It's a bit romantic, but not too much. There is a bit of the prison theme which Dumas seems to like to write about, and also the whole "wrongfully accused" stuff as well. The major change was the plot sort of revolved around tulips, which isn't really what you'd expect from Dumas.
All in all an...more
All in all an...more
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This note regards Alexandre Dumas, père, the father of Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). For the son, see Alexandre Dumas fils.
Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors i...more
More about Alexandre Dumas...
Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors i...more
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“Sometimes one has suffered enough to have the right to never say: I am too happy.”
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“It is quite rare for God to provide a great man at the necessary moment to carry out some great deep, which is why when this unusual combination of circumstance does occur, history at once records the name of the chosen one and recommends him to the admiration of posterity. ”
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