Found this copy at a thrift store for release. I read a different copy of this that I have in my unregistered permanent collection:

I've had this Modern Library copy of Camille for many years and decided to finally get around to reading it. I'm hoping to read some of the other classics I have on my shelf that have also been waiting for years...so much to read!

From Wikipedia:

Written by Alexandre Dumas fils (1824–1895) when he was 23 years old, and first published in 1848, La Dame aux Camélias is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author's brief love affair with a courtesan, Marie Duplessis. Set in mid-19th-century France, the novel tells the tragic love story between fictional characters Marguerite Gautier, a demimondaine or courtesan suffering from consumption, and Armand Duval, a young bourgeois. Marguerite is nicknamed la dame aux camélias (French for 'the lady of the camellias') because she wears a red camellia when she is menstruating and unavailable for making love and a white camelia when she is available to her lovers. Armand falls in love with Marguerite and ultimately becomes her lover. He convinces her to leave her life as a courtesan and to live with him in the countryside. This idyllic existence is interrupted by Armand's father, who, concerned with the scandal created by the illicit relationship, and fearful that it will destroy Armand's sister's chances of marriage, convinces Marguerite to leave. Up until Marguerite's death, Armand believes that she left him for another man. Marguerite's death is described as an unending agony, during which Marguerite, abandoned by everyone, regrets what might have been.

To me, this novel was perhaps the ultimate in 19th century melodrama. The definition of melodrama is "a dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions." Although this was supposedly based on a true story, the tragedy of Marguerite and her death by consumption was the ultimate in a melodramatic event to appeal to the emotions. She and Armand are apparently in love but because of Marguerite's extravagant lifestyle, profession as a courtesan, and need for so much money to get by (200,000 francs per anum), their love was doomed. Armand could not support this life which sent Marguerite back to the arms of a rich Duke and Count. This of course made Armand jealous and he ends up striking back at her. Many tears of regret eventually come from Armand when he relates the story of their love which adds to the melodramatic tone of the novel.

The novel was adapted by Dumas for the stage in 1852 with many versions of the play to follow. It has also been made into several movie versions, the most famous being the 1936 version starring Greta Garbo. I don't think I have seen this one but if it comes up on TCM, I may give it a look.

Sending to GoryDetails as a wishlist tag. Enjoy!

The wishlist-tag book arrived safely today; many thanks! I've seen the 1936 film adaptation starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor, along with more recent adaptations; it's... a strange story, romantic but highly problematic as well, at least by modern standards. As I hadn't ever read the original novel I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares!

Later: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it had that "Romeo and Juliet" quality where, as an adult, I look at the Very Young People In Love and shake my head at their mix of passion and denial {wry grin}. Here, of course, both of the main characters have had more experience than R&J did - Marguerite's a professional courtesan and Armand admits to having a number of affairs of his own. But they're both still quite young, and while they give lip service to the demands of her profession and the need for him to accept it if they're to have any kind of a future, they throw all caution to the winds and trade a short period of rural bliss for the heartbreak of separation and tragedy.

The story opens with the narrator (Dumas himself, or his thinly-disguised avatar) visiting the auction of the late Marguerite's goods, and getting into a bidding war over one item. [This plot-point appears in several period novels that I know of, including Vanity Fair; maybe auctions were a huge public spectacle in the day?] Anyway, our narrator wins the bid for the copy of Manon Lescaut, a novel that was rather scandalous in its own time - and it's this that brings him into contact with Armand, who had given it to Marguerite in the first place and who now wants it back. Our narrator offers it freely, but is curious as the story behind it - having had some interest in the fair Marguerite himself at one time - and thus begins the tale-within-a-tale, as Armand tells of rushing back to Paris on hearing of Marguerite's death. [There's a delightfully macabre scene in which, having requested to have her body moved from her pauper's grave to one of Armand's choosing, he has to view the body to identify it. He confesses to a faint hope that seeing the changes in her - which are described in detail and are about what one would expect - might help him get past his grief, but it doesn't seem to help much.]

Most of the remaining narrative involves Armand's reminiscences, along with the intervention of his father when it's clear that Armand is about to throw away his livelihood and all his assets for a little more time with Marguerite. In the film versions, the father's intervention may be played as high-handed or even villainous; here, it still seems a bit rough from modern-day views of parental duty vs. boundaries, but in the novel it's clear that while the father instigates things, it's Marguerite who makes up her own mind on how to proceed; cruel to be kind, anyone?

While the plot is a highly romantic melodrama (or highly melodramatic romance), the writing's delightful - I enjoyed every aspect of it, savoring the narrator's observations and turns of phrase as much as the ups and downs of the lovers' relationship. Very glad to have read this one!

The book features a photo section showing stills from different screen adaptations, including the Garbo classic and the more recent Greta Scacchi film.

[There's a TV Tropes page on the Garbo film, with some entertaining tidbits.]

I'm adding this book to imawinn2's shrinking bookbox, which will be on its way soon. Hope someone enjoys it!

*** Released for the 2020 Theater challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2020 Keep Them Moving challenge. ***

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Chosen from imawinn2's Shrinking Bookbox.

Thank you for the wishlist book! (I took out 4 books that were wishlist books from you...I feel greedy! If you meant for any to continue on to someone else, please feel free to let me know and I'll send them on. Thanks again for all of the wishlist books!)

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A beautiful read! I cried. Yup! Thanks for sharing this classic. Surprisingly, I’ve never seen a single movie or play adaptation. I’m going to have to correct this failure.

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Released at this cute country LFL. It seems to get routine use.

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