Alejandro Dumas: el quinto mosquetero

by Henri Troyat

La vida de Alejandro Dumas ha sido tan rica, variada, agitada y entretenida como la de sus héroes. Amante voraz, se relacionó con una gran cantidad de mujeres, en general dos o tres amantes al mismo tiempo, de quienes fue, sin excepción, devoto entusiasta. Con ellas tuvo varios hijos, algunos reconocidos tardíamente, otros bastardos. El mayor, conocido como Alejandro Dumas hijo, siguió sus pasos en la literatura.

Autor prolífico, escribió obras de teatro y novelas tomando escritos de otros autores, copiando escenas, asimilando ideas ajenas, método que no le impidió tener un estilo muy personal. Disfrutó de éxitos resonantes en ambos géneros, ganancias fabulosas, pérdidas igualmente monumentales, fastuosas recepciones. Participó del movimiento romántico desde sus comienzos, y fue su gran defensor. Amigo leal de Víctor Hugo, conoció la deslealtad alimentada por la envidia intelectual. Construyó un castillo magnífico, bautizado Montecristo, pero debió venderlo por falta de dinero para mantenerlo. Asumió compromisos políticos junto a los campeones europeos de la libertad, en particular, Garibaldi. Viajero incansable, recorrió no sólo Italia, España y Alemania, sino también países que para la época eran zonas de riesgo, como Rusia, el Cáucaso, Argelia o Túnez.

Henri Troyat narra con encanto, entusiasmo y erudición la fascinante historia del autor de Los tres mosqueteros, una de las figuras más notables y coloridas de toda la literatura francesa. El lector disfrutará de una biografía, en verdad, deliciosa.

Genres: Nonfiction

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2005

About the author

Troyat was a French author, biographer, historian and novelist.

Troyat was born Levon Aslan Torossian in Moscow to parents of Armenian descent. His family fled Russia in anticipation of the revolution. After a long exodus taking them to the Caucasus on to Crimea and later by sea to Constantinople and then Venice, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree. The stirring and tragic events of this flight across half of Europe are vividly recounted by Troyat in 'Tant que la terre durera'.

Troyat received his first literary award, Le prix du roman populaire, at the age of twenty-four, and by twenty-seven, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt.

Troyat published more than 100 books, novels and biographies, among them those of Anton Chekhov, Catherine the Great, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible and Leo Tolstoy.

Troyat's best-known work is La neige en deuil, which was adapted as an English-language film in 1956 under the title The Mountain.

He was elected as a member of the Académie française in 1959. At the time of his death, Troyat was the longest serving member of the Academy.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henri Troyat has written several biographies about French figures. This one on Dumas is highly entertaining and helped me to understand the psyche of Alexandre Dumas and what drove him to write the vast work that was mostly inspired by historical periods of French history, but also by his hate of Napoleon and a wish to avenge his father's demise. It is a great character study and also shows the competitive friendship between Dumas, Hugo, and Balzac that was also quite influential. I would recommend it as an interesting and readable account of the author of some of the greatest French adventure stories ever: The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers series.

[Claude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une biographie intéressante et divertissante. J’ai aimé nombre de romans d’Alexandre Dumas et ne savais pas grand chose du personnage. Henri Troyat était un excellent biographe.