Koenigsmark

by Pierre Benoit

Excerpt from The Secret Spring
Long have I hesitated to give back to Life the legacy left me by Death. But at last, reflecting that Lieutenant Vignerte and She whom he loved have vanished into the eternal shades, I have decided that there is no longer any reason to keep silence about the tragic events staged in the German court of Lautenburg-Detmold in the months immediately preceding the Great War.

Genres: French Literature, Roman

320 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Pierre Benoit was a French novelist and member of the Académie française.

Reviews

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

FRANÇAIS: A la veille de la Première Guerre mondiale, un jeune Français est nommé tuteur du fils d'un grand-duc allemand et tombe amoureux de la femme du grand-duc. Il est stimulé par la mystérieuse histoire vraie du comte de Koenigsmark et de la duchesse Sofia Dorothea de Hanovre, épouse divorcée du premier roi d'Angleterre et d'Ecosse de la dynastie de Hanovre (aujourd'hui Windsor). L'histoire dans laquelle il est mêlé ressemble beaucoup a l'histoire de Koenigsmark, à une différence près : l'héroïne du roman est extraordinaire.

ENGLISH: On the eve of World War I, a young Frenchman is appointed tutor to the son of a German Grand Duke and falls in love with the Grand Duke's wife. He is spurred by the mysterious true story of the Count of Koenigsmark and Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, divorced wife of the first King of England and Scotland of the Hanover dynasty (today Windsor). The story in which he is involved is very similar to the historical case of Koenigsmark, with one big difference: the heroine of the novel is extraordinary.

ESPAÑOL: En puertas de la Primera Guerra Mundial, un joven francés es nombrado preceptor del hijo de un Gran Duque alemán y se enamora de la esposa del Gran Duque. Le sirve de acicate la misteriosa historia real del conde de Koenigsmark y de la duquesa Sofía Dorotea de Hannover, esposa divorciada del primer rey de Inglaterra y Escocia de la dinastía Hannover (hoy Windsor). La historia en que se ve mezclado se parece mucho a la Koenigsmark, con una gran diferencia: la heroína de la novela es extraordinaria.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg

I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.

What a magnificent book!! A movie (three versions) was made based on this book Koenigsmark (1923)

[Marie-Chritine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intrigues ds une cour imaginairemais sur fond de vérité historique. Se laisse lire

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Benoît numerous tale of exotic, mysterious, romantic adventures - this time set in an imaginary kingdom from central Europe, and dealing with forbidden love, and treachery, and all the usual that happens in such places... A kind of French answer to The Prisoner of Zenda, written by a master of the genre. It's still a popular classic in France, old-fashioned and therefore delicious, stylish and atmospheric.

[Pascale · Rating 2 out of 5]

How very odd that this book launched the career of one of the most popular middle-brow French writers of the twentieth century! It's my third read of Benoit (after "Le Roi Lépreux" and "L'Ile Verte") and in my view by far the least interesting. This is the story of Raoul Vignerte, a failed academic promoted to the role of tutor to a German princeling thanks to the kindness of an acquaintance. Vignerte falls in love at first sight with Aurore von Lautenbourg-Detmold, step-mother to his pupil. Accidentally, he ends up finding proof that Aurore's first husband Rodolphe was actually killed by his own younger brother, just like in "Hamlet". Just as Vignerte is about to show Aurore the tell-tale femur of the slain Rodolphe, the arch villain Frédéric-Auguste sets his own castle on fire to destroy the evidence of his crime. Realizing too late that her her lady-in-waiting Mélusine has betrayed her, Aurore engineers a hunting accident and shoots her dead. Soon afterwards, war is declared between Germany and France. Aurore drives Raoul back to his home country before he gets imprisoned and killed by Frédéric-Auguste on some trumped-up charge. In the epilogue we learn that Frédéric-Auguste did manage to kill Aurore, and Vignerte gets himself killed on the front. I picked this for a fun, light read, but found that it wasn't half as tongue-in-cheek as I expected. Benoit wastes too much time on the back history of the fictitious principality of Lautenbourg-Detmold, and to me it's just a not very entertaining piece of tripe.

[Joseph Delcourt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good novel
Inspired perception of history

[Béatrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quelle déception ! Je n'avais jamais rien lu de Pierre Benoit mais ce titre, je le connais depuis toujours et je m'attendais à autre chose. J'ai fait effort pour aller jusqu'au bout !

[Agnes Fontana · Rating 5 out of 5]

En ouvrant ce premier roman de l'immense Pierre Benoît, on pense y trouver en pâle, en esquissé, tout ce qui sera affirmé et prononcé dans l'oeuvre ultérieure. Mais non, tout est déjà là en couleurs et en relief : le décor militaire, le monde de la femme tout en tentation et perdition, une faiblesse attachante et une senisbilité cachée au coeur de la dureté et de la cruauté de l'héroïne, la mort et le danger ; un art déjà consommé de la mise en abîme (il y a parfois jusqu'à trois histoire enchassées, et le titre lui-même est tiré d'une autre histoire). Pour cette première fois, c'est au coeur de l'Allemagne, mais une Allemagne riche et fastueuse, pas la côte austère et désolée qui sera plus tard le décor d'Axelle, que Pierre Benoït emmène son futur capitaine. Il tombera dans les rêts d'une grande duchesse qui vit dans un chateau abritant un terrible secret... Lire Pierre Benoït, c'est faire un tour de valse avec un danseur accompli : c'est convenu, attendu, plein d'un plaisir anticipable, et cependant délicieux et trop court.

[Mohammad Ali Shamekhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

داستانی است درباره ی دربار یکی از ایالات آلمان در پایان قرن 19 و آغاز قرن 20 - به نام لاوتنبرگ - که حول به قتل رسیدن گراند دوک آن ولایت در راستای اهداق قدرت طلبانه می چرخد. راوی اصلی داستان معلمی فرانسوی است که برای تربیت فرزند گراند دوک بعدی روانه ی این شهر می شود و محبتی به همسر گراند دوک سابق و همسر گرانددوک فعلی می یابد. این مرد کم کم پرده از راز قتل برمی دارد و دوشس - همسر گرانددوک ساق و فعلی - را از به قتل رسیدن شوهر سابقش به دست ضوهر فعلیش باخبر می سازد.

در کل داستانی است که خواننده را رها نمی کند و از این حیث که حول تتبعات معلم فرانسوی در مدارک تاریخی و رفت و آمد او به کتابخانه ی دربار می چرخد جذابیت هایی افزون دارد. اما گاهی رخ می دهد که مسیر حوادث چندان دل پذیر یا معقول نیست.