People know light, entertaining works, particularly Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), of French playwright Edmond Rostand.
Neo-romanticism associates poet and dramatist Edmond Eug猫ne Alexis Rostand. His romantic plays provided an alternative to the popular naturalistic theatre during the late 19th century. People adapted "Les Romanesques" as the highly successful musical comedy "The Fantasticks."
The Acad茅mie Fran莽aise elected this youngest writer.
I read this book in 1994, and it changed the way I thought about stories.
Up until that point in my life, the vast majority of the books I'd read were fantasy and science fiction. Many of them were good books. Many, in retrospect, were not.
Then I read Cyrano De Bergerac. For the first half of the play I was amazed at the character, I was stunned by the language. I was utterly captivated by the story.
The second half of the book broke my heart. Then it broke my heart again. I cried for hours. I decided if I ever wrote a fantasy novel, I wanted it to be as good as this. I wanted my characters to be as good as this.
A couple months later, I started writing The Name of the Wind.
Over the years, I've read many translations of the original and seen many different movies and stage productions. In my opinion, the Brian Hooker translation is the best of these, head and shoulders above the rest.
The problem is this, the play was originally written in French, which is a relatively pure language, linguistically speaking. Because of the way it's structured, French rhymes very naturally.
English, on the other hand, is a total mutt of a language. It's as pure as a rabid dog. We're linguistically Germanic at our roots, but that's like saying a terrier used to be a wolf. Modern English is a rich, delicious gumbo full of Latin, Old Norse, French... and well... pretty much whatever we found laying around the kitchen that we wanted to throw into the pot.
(BTW, what you see up in the previous paragraph is the very definition of a mixed metaphor. Just so you know....)
Modern English doesn't rhyme naturally. You really have to stretch to fit it into into couplets. And unless this is done *masterfully* what you're doing ends up sounding arty and pretentious, or like Dr. Seuss to the English speaking ear. And those are best-case scenarios.
Brian Hooker was a proper poet, and he realized that the rhyme was secondary. He knew the most important thing was that Cyrano speak with eloquence, wit, and beauty in his language. So that's what he focuses on. There's a little rhyming, but just a little. Just when it works.
The result is lovely, and at no point do you ever feel like you're reading a kid's book or an Elizabethan sonnet. Cyrano sounds like a fucking badass.
So yeah. It's the best. If you're going to read one piece of drama before you die, read this.
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. There was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, and the play is a fictionalization following the broad outlines of his life. Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being a remarkable duelist, he is a gifted, joyful poet and is also a musician.
However, he has an extremely large nose, which causes him to doubt himself. This doubt prevents him from expressing his love for his distant cousin, the beautiful and intellectual Roxane, as he believes that his ugliness would prevent him the "dream of being loved by even an ugly woman."
This is a beautiful tragedy - funny, entertaining, and heartbreaking at the same time. Rostand presents us with a tragedy in line with that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . It is one beautiful story of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice. Cyrano and Roxane are never to be united as a couple. But, they, in a way, are never to be parted either. Cyrano's love for Roxane is both requited and unrequited. True that Roxane doesn't directly return Cyrano's love for her, but it is Cyrano whom she loves vicariously. It is Cyrano's heart and soul she loves through Christian.
The hero of the play, Cyrano de Bergerac, is both a soldier and a poet. He is witty, chivalrous, brave, and loyal. But there is one drawback; he has a huge nose, which makes him look ugly, or so he thinks. He hides his love for the beautiful Roxane, for fear of being rejected, little knowing that the intelligent Roxane is not drawn to outer beauty but to inner beauty. His feeling of inferiority and his misunderstanding of a woman's heart cause heartbreak to both him and Roxane.
Cyrano is a romantic hero, a one the readers will fall in love with and wish to be loved in return :) He is also an icon of tragic love, both like and unlike Romeo, in their tragic love. The character of Cyrano is so well portrayed by Rostand, that we become instantly sensitive to his feelings - his happiness, misery, and despair. Our hearts break for him for his unrequited love, but they are also made glad by the knowledge that it is Cyrano who Roxane truly loves, not knowing it. I enjoyed this conflicting feeling. It is not often that one becomes both happy and sad at the same time in a piece of literature. When that happens, I consider it to be a wonderful piece of literature. That is exactly what I feel about the play. Amazingly, absolutely wonderful! The best love tragedy I've read after Romeo and Juliet.
The setting of the play is the time of the reign of Louis XIII when Cardinal Richelieu wielded extraordinary power over the governance of France. The time period and Cyrano's profession as a Cadet of Gascoyne, has given Rostand enough room to create an adventure, in addition to the dominant love theme. There was enough swashbuckling to entertain an adventurous and action loved mind. This combination of adventure and love arouses varying emotions. I enjoyed the fact that you could laugh, cry, and cheer at the same time. This is truly an admirable feature in a play, the arousing of conflicting, strong emotions, for it helps the audience to form a close bond with the play.
Considering all, Cyrano de Bergerac is a well written play. The historical and contemporary success of its performance can vouch for that. The Five Acts, in their separate episodes, were excellent; only the flow from one Act to the next wasn't smooth giving an overall detached impression. This could be an effect of reading, however, and not one that would've been spotted in a performance. And a play is always fully enjoyed and appreciated when you watch it performed.
Updated review with notes on a few available English translations.
This is the most beautiful and most heartbreaking love story ever. I have watched the movie with G茅rard Depardieu in the title role a million times, I have seen stage performances of it. It never fails to make me laugh and turn me into a sobbing mess by the last line.
Cyrano is the best swordsman of Paris; he is also the city鈥檚 greatest poet. He is as grand in deeds as he is in words, refuses prestige and the limelight, preferring to keep to himself with his poems and the regiment he leads for company. He also feels doomed to be forever alone because he has a really, really big nose: he has loved his lovely cousin Roxane from afar for years, but has never dared to declare himself for fear that she will find his appearance ridiculous.
Roxane is beautiful, elegant and witty, but she is shallow: she is in love with the Baron Christian de Neuvillette, who is handsome, but lacks the eloquence to woo her the way she wants to be wooed. So Cyrano hatches a plan: he will write Roxane beautiful poetry, expressing the passionate feelings he arbours for her, and Christian will deliver the love notes and reap the rewards.
The speeches in this play are breathtaking with spirit, humour and wit. The original French version has an almost musical rhythm to every line. The characters are larger than life, passionate and deeply human: all three main characters are absolutely bad-asses in their own way.
This play is a pure delight, to be read and re-read again and again and I cannot recommend it enough.
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Thoughts about a few English translations. Feel free to skip.
French is my first language so when a book is originally written in French, I read the original. Having read a few books both in English and in French (namely Du Maurier and Kerouac, of all things), I am all too aware of how easily you can lose subtle things in the translation process and how that can often result in reading a book that simply doesn't carry the same flavor as the original. "Cyrano" was written in alexandrine verses, which is probably a terrifying prospect for any translator, especially if you want to keep the tone intact. This is a play about love, passion, sacrifice and strong characters: if the translator can't carry those things in his version, it just doesn't work. So out of curiosity and stubbornness, I combed bookstores for not one but THREE different English translations of my favorite play to try and figure out which one comes closest to Rostand's original words. Bear in mind that I have read and seen "Cyrano" a hundred time and basically know most of it by heart.
Everybody recommended the Brian Hooker version, which I ended up finding a little bland, despite it being regarded as the "standard" English version. Hooker was himself a poet, and he tried to keep things as lyrical as he could, but the speeches don't read as fluidly as I had hoped.
Then I read Carol Clark's version: she provides a really interesting introduction and notes on translation (oh, Penguin Classics editions and all your scholarly extra material, how I love thee!) which digs into the various challenges of preserving the energy and spirit of the play. That version was more dynamic than the Hooker translation, but a few turns of phrases felt like snags in an otherwise smooth ride. Good, but not quite right.
I then realized that Anthony Burgess (yes, THE Anthony Burgess) had also translated "Cyrano", and adapted it for the modern stage. I hunted that version down because Burgess is a wizard with words and I just had to see how he worked with Rostand's. In his introduction, he mentions that part of the difficulty in translating this play has to do with the fundamental difference between translating a poem and translating a play, which is invariably meant to be spoken out loud and performed by actors. Sure, you have to respect the original work, but you also have to think of the actors and the audience: they need to understand what's going on, and they need to have the proper reactions. He points out that Rostand's play has many comedic elements in French, that the Hooker translation, which sticks very faithfully to the original words, doesn't convey - hence why it reads a bit dryly. Cyrano is a witty man who makes fun of his adversaries and what sounds ironic in French will not necessarily sound ironic in English; you need to shift ever so slightly to convey the right vibe.
In my opinion, Burgess' version is the best English translation, because its the one that "feels" the most like the original. The rhythm and delivery are preserved, as are the shift from funny to poignant and romantic.
"Me llega hasta esa sombra una migaja de ti, y s铆, sienti un poco mi coraz贸n que te recibe, pues en ese labio en que Roxana se enga帽a, 隆besa las palabras que acabo de decir!"
La edici贸n de Alianza Editorial es una joya para m铆 porque no s贸lo tiene una traducci贸n buena sino muchas notas que aclaran gran parte del contexto hist贸rico que sin ellas no hubiera podido saber adecuadamente. No sab铆a que la obra se ambientaba en tiempo de "Los tres mosqueteros", reinado de Luis XIII y sobre todo que muchos de los personajes participaban del movimiento del Preciosismo, que ya lo vi en la obra de Moliere "Las preciosas rid铆culas". Un movimiento del cual formaron muchos como Marie Robineau, Mlle. Scud茅ry, que brillaron en el sal贸n de la Marquesa de Rambouillet por el siglo XVII. Sus postulados era un refinamiento al hablar y expresar las pasiones quiz谩 demasiado adornado que perd铆a sentido por momentos. La historia trata de Cyrano de Bergerac, poeta y dramaturgo que realmente existi贸 y comparti贸 algunos logros literarios, es un personaje que ha sido transformado en gran parte por el autor Rostand lo que lo ha hecho un h茅roe rom谩ntico, es un ejemplo de un personaje literarios que ha eclipsado al real y por mucho. Es un militar muy h谩bil y valiente que es capaz de retar a cualquiera que se burle de su mayor "defecto" y cruz, una nariz enorme, este problema cobra bastante relevancia en todo el argumento y de hecho debe ser uno de los mejores ejemplos en la literatura de una persona limitada y avergonzada por un defecto f铆sico que no le deja aspirar a algo mejor. Pero de otro lado su ingenio y pluma es descollante por lo que cuando se entera que el amor de su vida, Roxana, su prima est谩 interesada en un joven muy guapo y 茅ste recurre a Cyrano al no poder hallar las palabras preciosas tan de gusto de su refinada amante Cyrano logra por fin expresar sus sentimientos aunque no siendo 茅l quien da la cara. Cyrano es un gran amigo, aunque soberbio por la fuerza de su sable, avergonzado como un ni帽o al siquiera tener alg煤n atisbo de esperanza de que alguna mujer se interese en 茅l, es sin embargo un personaje de gran influencia para sus amigos Le Bret y el pastelero Ragueneau y para los terribles cadetes de Gascu帽a. Hay bastante de comedia, luces de pensamientos y literatura, includio un asedio el famoso de Arr谩s donde los franceses combatieron contra el Imperio Espa帽ol y muchos devaneos amorosos. Aunque me pareci贸 un poco larga la obra y pareciera como que algunas partes sobran creo que la estructura es muy s贸lida y como mencion茅 permite conocer otros detalles adem谩s de los asuntos rom谩nticos.
One of the all-time great over-the-top romances - everyone knows the story, and it's been adapted a million times. How they could have given it a happy ending in Steve Martin's "Roxanne" is beyond me. The Depardieu movie is the one to see, of course.
I forced my class to read this book for their reading time, which is usually reserved for personal reading time.
They loved it.
I can't think of a better endorsement. No other book I know of can get the full enthusiasm of both an English teacher and a classroom full of stratified and unique, individual students--especially when they have been forced to read the book.
Why? Because Cyrano has a universal appeal that spans generations. Because Cyrano is funny. Because his tale is adventurous. Because it is unblinkingly sincere and puts away pretenses, if even for a few, beautiful and believable moments. Because we all hope to attain the kind of love that Rostand presents in his protagonist. Why? Because Cyrano de Bergerac rings true in the deepest and surest sense that any literature I have ever read has ever been able to attain.
Wow. That is a pretty epic and sweeping recommendation, you might think, but it only touches on the wide range of emotions I get when I read through it. And now, as I think back on this past reading and the several readings from before it, I cannot think of any book, any piece of literature, anywhere that has a more favorable spot in my heart. No other piece of literature has the ability to make me laugh, cry, smile satisfied, or yearn tragically with as much poignant ability as this piece.
Cyrano is my hero, and, according to his inspiration, I hope to preserve my own white plume up until the very moment of my death. What a beautiful person Cyrano is; what a beautiful character Rostand has created.
Read it. Just read it and find the Cyrano in yourself, because he is there, in all of us ... that much should be as plain as, well, the nose on your face.
PREVIOUS REVIEW, 2006, 1997, others One of the most balanced, talented pieces of literature I have ever read. Plus, I think that Edmond Rostand, besides being extremely clever and funny, has a few scenes of such startling, raw truth and emotion that I've never found an equal in other works I've read.
Ah, Cyrano. You never disappoint me. How many times have I read your story? How many times have I laughed, cheered, cried and sighed over you? Too many to count, and there will be many more in the future. You are my hero.
But did you know you were a real person? Wait, that sounds silly. Of course you knew that, but how did it slip my own mind? Maybe other times when I read the introductory note to Edmond Rostand's wonderful play about you, this phrase never took hold in my little pea brain: The character of Cyrano was real.
But this time it did. I googled you and sure enough, there you were, bigger than life. And you were a writer yourself! Knowing that helped me understand better than ever the scene with De Guiche outside Roxane's house. You know the one, where you fell from the moon in order to distract him long enough for....well, you and Rostand and I know why, but I cannot say because other people who have not have read the play yet could be reading this someday and I would hate to spoil anything for them. Anyway, De Guiche tells you that you should write a book about your trip to the moon and you say you will. I am about to read that book now, Cyrano. I look forward to your own words, even though they will not be in the form of love letters.
I understand that Rostand romanticized your life when he wrote his play, but I would like to believe that he captured your panache perfectly. And I loved how he had you meet D'Artagnan in Act One! I thought it was a brilliant touch, even though it was only a handshake and a few words from him to you. Brilliant because as you know, D'Artagnan himself was a real person, and you probably did meet him at some point or at the very least knew about him.
You took your real voyage to the moon in 1655, only 36 years old. So young to die, even for those years, don't you think? But you were here, you made your mark in the world. And thanks in part to Rostand and his play, you will be remembered forever. I hope you are happy there on your moonbeam, and can still catch golden stars in your cloak.
Premessa: riporto qui integralmente il commento che feci su questo libro a pochi giorni dall'alluvione che nel novembre del 2011 sconvolse la Lunigiana, terra in cui da anni lavoravo e da cui mi sentivo adottata. Chi di voi cercher脿 qualcosa sull'opera di Rostand, mi spiace, non la trover脿. Ma credo che questo ricordo vada salvato cos矛 com'猫, a ricordo di tutti quanti passarono giorni nel fango per salvare solo dei libri.
Triste cronaca di una settimana post alluvione Scegliere cosa salvare in una biblioteca di 46.000 volumi invasa da m.1,70 di fango: gli scaffali in basso: Tutto da buttare! gli scaffali in alto (pochi): tutti buoni. riempire cassette e inviare al centro di raccolta libri asciutti. Gli scaffali di mezzo: controllare ad uno ad uno, dopo aver tolto il fango: -letteratura bagnata: buttare...si ritrova, o si ricompra -attenzione ai testi rari, edizioni preziose, libri del territorio -attenzione ai testi di una certa epoca storica
Decidere della sorte di un libro. Decidere se affidare un testo alla ruspa perch猫 irrimediabilmente perso. Mi sento come in un Fahrenheit alla rovescia: non il fuoco, ma l'acqua a distruggere la conoscenza... Per alcuni di questi testi sarei disposta a girare per giorni tra i banchetti dei robivecchi... e allora decido che no, che li apro al sole, e li metto stesi sul muretto. Comma 22 Lidia Ravera Marguerite Yourcenar Cyrano, e altri ancora Lo so che forse non li salvo, che le pagine possono cominciare a rompersi, o nella migliore delle ipotesi a fiorire dando al volume un'altezza spropositata. E vedendomi altri decidono di incrementare questo buffo essicatoio: maestre, adolescenti, bambini, frugano nei mucchi infangati, destinati ai rifiuti, e stendono, aprono, sfogliano; in poche ore c'猫 un prato di libri al sole. E' un simbolo di speranza per questo territorio sull'orlo della apocalisse. Prima del buio ognuno raccoglie il suo mucchietto di libri fradici sentendosi un po' un novello No猫 nel disperato tentativo di recuperare un libro altrimenti condannato. Quelli che ho accantonato io sono stati fortunati. Il pizzaiolo vedendomi si 猫 offerto di tenermeli sotto il vano del forno a legna, e ora sono qu矛, caldi e fioriti come crisantemi impazziti. Forse non saranno pi霉 adatti al prestito nella biblioteca. Quelli che potranno tornarci saranno restituiti. Gli altri resteranno qui, a ricordo di una impresa fatta da centinaia di volontari anonimi accorsi a salvare libri. Una bella storia, alla fine.
Le storie di nasi abbondano in letteratura c鈥櫭� il naso di Gogol, c鈥櫭� quello lungo e ligneo di Pinocchio, c鈥櫭� quello di Moscarda nel pirandelliano Uno nessuno centomila che un giorno si guarda allo specchio e comincia a non riconoscersi pi霉 e va in crisi identitaria. All鈥檃mpiezza del naso si attribuiscono difformi significati: alcuni fisiologi dicono che ad un naso lungo corrispondono profondit脿 di spirito, spiccato acume e tutta una serie di buone qualit脿 morali e caratteriali (Dante?!), tanto da dire che non pu貌 esserci un grand鈥檜omo senza un grande naso, ma鈥� sar脿. Vero 猫 che se si osservano i ritratti d鈥檈poca gli eroi hanno sempre un naso proporzionato alla loro gloria e anche tra gli animali l鈥檈lefante, dalla proboscide proverbiale, 猫 noto per avere una prodigiosa intelligenza, sorvolo sull鈥檃ssociazione pruriginosa tra dimensioni del naso e dimensioni di altro perch茅 non credo che ci貌 corrisponda al vero, secondo la mia esperienza, ma io chennes貌鈥� e potrei anche sbagliarmi.
Penso al naso di Giorgio Gaber che effettivamente fu uomo di grande fascino nonostante la suo imponente appendice, il naso di Cyrano 猫 per貌 un naso magistrale e di forma unica che ricorda molto il naso collodiano, lui ne 猫 in fondo ma, amaramente, orgoglioso, tuttavia 猫 cos矛 intelligente che riesce ad ironizzare sul suo difetto e ci dice, con grande spasso per il lettore che: quel naso lo precede ovunque di un quarto d鈥檕ra, che sul suo naso potrebbe passeggiarvi una mosca, che 猫 come una grande penisola, che pende a tal punto da sbilanciare il suo corpo in avanti, che il fumo del tabacco non pu貌 uscirvi come da un camino senza che la vicina gridi all鈥檌ncendio, o ancora che nessun altro vento pu貌 fargli venire il raffreddore tranne il maestrale, ed 猫 pure adatto per appenderci il cappello e quando sanguigna 猫 come se il Mar Rosso cominciasse a dilagare鈥� Un naso che lo distingue, lo caratterizza ma altres矛 gli preclude ogni possibilit脿 di amore, perch茅 a volte non si guarda ad un palmo dal proprio naso o da quello altrui. Un naso la cui vastit脿 猫 pari alla sua abilit脿 di parlare d鈥檃more.
Cyrano 猫 un uomo saggio, poeta e musicista, ma spavaldo sul campo di battaglia, intrepido e la sua indole fumina gli procura sempre schiere di nemici che affronta con colpi mirati di fioretto 芦 脌 la fin de l鈥檈nvoi, je touche!>> dietro la sua scorza rude e giocosa nasconde un cuore di burro, romantico che ricama e inanella meravigliose rime d鈥檃more mai stucchevoli n茅 svenevoli. Si sacrificher脿 per amicizia e prester脿 la sua capacit脿 di poetare versi all鈥檃mico Christian che 猫 tanto bello fisicamente quanto insipido e banale, Je serait ton esprit tu sera ma beaut茅 il quale si servir脿 delle lettere d鈥檃more scritte apposta per lui da Cyrano:
CYRANO, Il reprend la plume. Eh bien ! 茅crivons-l脿, Cette lettre d鈥檃mour qu鈥檈n moi-m锚me j鈥檃i faite Et refaite cent fois, de sorte qu鈥檈lle est pr锚te, Et que mettant mon 芒me 脿 c么t茅 du papier, Je n鈥檃i tout simplement qu鈥櫭� la recopier
CIRANO: (Riprende la penna). E va bene! Scriviamola questa lettera d'amore che ho gi脿 scritto e riscritto cento volte dentro di me, che 猫 gi脿 pronta, cos矛 pronta che se metto l'anima mia vicino al foglio non mi resta che copiare
per conquistare la bella Roxane che Cyrano dipinge mirabilmente come:
Un danger Mortel sans le vouloir, exquis sans y songer, Un pi猫ge de nature, une rose muscade Dans laquelle l鈥檃mour se tient en embuscade ! Qui conna卯t son sourire a connu le parfait. Elle fait de la gr芒ce avec rien, elle fait Tenir tout le divin dans un geste quelconque, Et tu ne saurais pas, V茅nus, monter en conque, Ni toi, Diane, marcher dans les grands bois fleuris, Comme elle monte en chaise et marche dans Paris !鈥�
Un pericolo mortale senza volerlo, dolcissimo senza saperlo - una trappola della natura, una rosa moscata nei cui petali l'amore tende agguati! Chi conosce il suo sorriso ha conosciuto la perfezione. Riesce a fare della grazia con un niente, a trasfondere il senso del divino nel pi霉 insignificante dei suoi gesti. Venere non saprebbe scivolare in una vasca n茅 Diana camminare attraverso i grandi boschi fioriti allo stesso modo in cui lei si siede su una sedia o passeggia per Parigi
Ma l鈥檃more come l鈥檃cqua nascosta dietro un muro seppur soffocato per anni, trover脿 le sue strade per manifestarsi e riappropriarsi di ci貌 che gli 猫 dovuto, ahim猫 anche se troppo tardi.
CYRANO Un baiser, mais 脿 tout prendre, qu鈥檈st-ce ? Un serment fait d鈥檜n peu plus pr猫s, une promesse Plus pr茅cise, un aveu qui veut se confirmer, Un point rose qu鈥檕n met sur l鈥檌 du verbe aimer ; C鈥檈st un secret qui prend la bouche pour oreille, Un instant d鈥檌nfini qui fait un bruit d鈥檃beille, Une communication ayant un go没t de fleur, Une fa莽on d鈥檜n peu se respirer le c艙ur, Et d鈥檜n peu se go没ter, au bord des l猫vres, l鈥櫭e !
Un bacio - ma che cos'猫 poi un bacio? Un giuramento un po' pi霉 da vicino, una promessa pi霉 precisa, una confessione che cerca una conferma, un punto rosa sulla i di 芦ti amo禄, un segreto soffiato in bocca invece che all'orecchio, un frammento d'eternit脿 che ronza come l'ali d'un'ape, una comunione che sa di fiore, un modo di respirarsi il cuore e di scambiarsi sulle labbra il sapore dell'anima!
Sentimenti, ironia, comicit脿, imprese militari, provocazioni, verit脿 nascoste, finzioni si alternano nei cinque atti di questa commedia teatrale, popolare ed eroica, in versi, che alla prima rappresentazione a Parigi, nel 1898, ebbe un trionfo inaspettato e a cui dieci giorni dopo assistette anche il Presidente della Repubblica Feliz Faure.
Edmond Rostand il suo autore, da un giorno all鈥檃ltro divenne un eroe nazionale, degno della massima decorazione della Legione d鈥檕nore.
Letto la prima volta tra il 17 e il 19 gennaio 2017: 鉂� Seconda Lettura - 30 e 31 gennaio 2018: bello quanto la prima volta. 鉂わ笍 Rilettura gennaio 2022: non aggiungo altro.
There was an old poet whose nose Could sniff poesy out of common prose Of course it stood out Like an alligator snout But I'd trade mine any day for one of those
beaucoup trop triste pour ce qui 茅tait cens茅 锚tre une "com茅die h茅ro茂que" ... !!! mais bon c'est un chef-d'艙uvre et une des pi猫ces de th茅芒tre les plus vivantes que j'ai lues, un texte fait avant tout pour 锚tre jou茅 et 莽a se sent dans chaque r茅plique, chaque mouvement. finalement est-ce que tout h茅ro茂sme n'est pas fondamentalement tragique ...? comme par hasard Cyrano lit l'Iliade, l'茅pop茅e du h茅ros qui n'attend qu'une tragique fin, et pas l'Odyss茅e o霉 Ulysse retourne dans les bras de l'aim茅e, se faisant reconna卯tre lorsqu'il n'est pas encore trop tard... un personnage v茅ritablement romanesque tellement il est r茅ussi, tout simplement (et j'adore la fascination des 茅crivains du XIXe si猫cle pour les personnages "laids", king shit)
parmi les magnifiques romans classique que j'ai lu貙 Si vous voulez une histoire d'amour. Une histoire de sacrifice,de l'amiti茅 vraie,de la politique,de l'age victorienne est ses valeurs. Alors la cet roman est pour vous.
What an entertaining and very funny swashbuckler this was! With such a lovable hero with a big nose and a bigger heart, whose wit is as ready and sharp as his rapier. Cyrano is going to make you laugh, think and feel sad with his rhymes (which, by the way, the English translation doesn't do full justice), whilst the heroine is a bit too vapid for him.
I do wish the ending hadn't been like it was, but I appreciate why it had to go down like that and how it fits Cyrano's character and shows his immense worth as a human being, so in hindsight it doesn't make me feel as sorry as immediately after the last act ends.
Oh, and of course, my headcanon for Cyrano is and never will be none other than G茅rard Depardieu...
... whose superb performance in the film of the same name was what tipped me off as to the existence of Rostand's play and is, for a change, one of the extremely rare adaptations that don't elicit complaints from me about mishandling of the source material. I got lucky, for when I finally got to read this play, it turned out one of the best I've read this year.
Aldil脿 della storia d鈥檃more, che pur gli appartiene e contribuisce a definirlo, il ritratto intenso di un uomo che ha scelto di essere solo se stesso, sia pure con tutti i limiti di una certa spavalderia e di un grande orgoglio. Ma disposto a pagarne sempre le conseguenze, con onest脿 e dignit脿. Uno 鈥淪toner鈥� di altri tempi, tempi in cui estrarre la spada era naturale come bere un bicchiere d鈥檃cqua. Ma comunque uno 鈥淪toner鈥�.
Ebbene s矛, devo ammetterlo, mi sono commossa anche in questo caso. Sar脿 l鈥檈t脿. ;-)
E chi non conosce Cyrano? La sua lingua 猫 affilata e potente come la sua spada, pronto a dar battaglia ad un esercito intero. Un povero con un cuore ricco, l鈥檃nimo gonfio d鈥檃more per la bella Rossana e un naso fuori misura che gli impedisce di scoprirsi all鈥檃mata. Ma quanto di quello che a volte ci sembra limitante per noi 猫 per gli altri una sciocchezza?! Che cosa serve all鈥檃more se non un animo puro in cui poter crescere protetto e al riparo dalle 鈥渋ntemperie della vita鈥�?!
io parto per strappare al cielo una stella e poi, per paura del ridicolo, mi chino a raccogliere un fiore.
L鈥檈terna lotta fra il tipo bello e stupido e quello invece brutto ma sensibile intelligente e pronto? Sarebbe limitativo ridurre il dramma a questo semplice assioma. Cyrano 猫 un poeta e i suoi versi brillano uscendo dalle sue labbra e raggiungendo orecchie che lo ascoltano. Si nutre della poesia, della sfida, dell鈥檕dio verso chi deride il suo naso, unica ragione che lo tiene lontano dalla sua cara. E cos矛 si nasconde. Accetta per una vita intera di vivere nell鈥檕mbra pur di stare vicino a Rossana
con la notte che mi protegge io oso essere infine me stesso, io oso... (Si ferma smarrito). Dove sono? Non lo so, ma perdonatemi - 猫 tutto cos矛 dolce stanotte... cos矛 nuovo per me.
Si pu貌 vivere di parole d鈥檃more senza vedere e abbracciare l鈥檃mato? dalle lacrime al bacio non c'猫 che un brivido. ...
Un bacio - ma che cos'猫 poi un bacio? Un giuramento un po' pi霉 da vicino, una promessa pi霉 precisa, una confessione che cerca una conferma, un punto rosa sulla i di 芦ti amo禄, un segreto soffiato in bocca invece che all'orecchio, un frammento d'eternit脿 che ronza come l'ali d'un'ape, una comunione che sa di fiore, un modo di respirarsi il cuore e di scambiarsi sulle labbra il sapore dell'anima!
Una lezione sull鈥檃more. Una fine struggente. Un dramma luminoso.
Capolavoro! La genialit脿 di Rostand 猫 smisurata e queste cinque stelline corrispondono a una mia vera e propria dichiarazione d鈥檃more verso quest鈥檕pera, dove ogni atto contiene una perla poetica, e verso il protagonista, Cyrano, micidiale con la spada e con le parole. Le parole sono la sua arma, ma anche il suo nutrimento, la forza che gli permette di vivere e resistere alle difficolt脿, senza mai piegarsi davanti al potere e senza accettare compromessi per convenienza, anche se questo significa morire in povert脿. Morire in povert脿, s矛, ma in piedi a testa alta, perch茅 Cyrano 猫 un uomo che non smette mai di combattere contro le ipocrisie, le falsit脿 e i prepotenti in nome della libert脿. Ed 猫 un uomo che quando ama, ama davvero, infatti solo per amore di una donna 猫 disposto a sacrificare se stesso e i suoi principi. Perch茅 solo quando si 猫 amato davvero non si muore invano.
Se ancora non l鈥檃vete fatto, leggete Cyrano di Bergerac, sar脿 una delle opere pi霉 belle che avrete mai letto, brillante, eroica, tragica, poetica, intensa, capace di farvi piangere e ridere. E vi ritroverete a leggerla ad alta voce declamandone i versi come mai avete fatto, o forse s矛. E se non vi ho convinto...peccato per voi. :)
It's been a while since I read a French classic, and I might try to read more of them since this book was SO GOOD! I fell in love with both the writing-style and Cyrano!
I adore verses, rhymes, rhythms, and this play is perfectly written in this manner. It's beautiful, it makes my heart swell and explode at the same time!
Cyrano is a perfect character to me: both heroic/honorable and inconvenient/rude. I have a thing for this kind of heroes it seems! He is a poet, a warrior, quite confident, and, at the same time, not really: he made me laugh hard with jokes about his nose, and he is incapable of telling Roxane he loves her. This situation creates wonderfully beautiful scenes, but also tears the heart out of the reader: Cyrano is so miserable...
THIS ENDING! I don't know why I didn't think it could end this way.
So, I discovered a new favorite! Glad I finally read this play!