[.ca] Signet Classics Scarlet Pimpernel Centennial Edition (ISBN 0451527623)

Very, Very, Very Good Book!!!:
I really enjoyed this book, and I am defiantly going to read the rest of them! This is the first of many Pimpernel stories, and it is very good. It has lovable character, wonderful twists, and a heartbreaking Love story. My mother and I both read it and Loved it!! I totally recommend it for anyone of any age I was 15 when I read it a year ago, and My mother is in her 40's, and We both loved it!! NOW THERE IS ONE THING I SHOULD WARN YOU ABOUT... The first few chapters are a little slow and you may be tempted to stop reading, but KEEP WITH IT!!!! It is so worth it!!!!!

Obvious and cliched:
No doubt this was great reading 100 years ago. But to a modern reader, the book's age is apparent on every page. The central mystery of the book (the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel) is obvious well before it is revealed. The dialog is distractingly archaic and upper crust. The thoughts and concerns of the main character (Marguerite) are plain, without nuance or complexity, and by the end I was gritting my teeth every time she was described as "the cleverest woman in Europe." The book's first sentence is great, and the first chapter is very good, but it's downhill from there. Baroness Orczy may have invented a genre of literature, but it is so familiar to us now that the original appears tired. It gets one star for illuminating historical aspects of the French Revolution.

Fun, Exciting, Thoughtful, and Romantic:
The Scarlet Pimpernel is set during the French Reign of Terror, when aristocrats and royalists were being beheaded in the name of "liberty, freedom, and brotherhood". The author creates The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a band of Englishmen committed to helping aristocrats escape to England, and keep their heads. The head of this band of Englishmen is, of course, called by the code name The Scarlet Pimpernel. His identity is secret to all, even those he helps escape. This sets the scene for a "Three Musketeers" style swashbuckling adventure story. It is fun and exciting, full of suspense that lasts until the very end. There is a nice love story woven quite naturally into the fabric of the plot, that manages to add to the plot without being syrupy. The story also includes some thoughtful moments that excute simply without bogging down the story in the least. Overall, a very enjoyable novel. It treads lightly on the moral/ethical issues surrounding the French Revolution, and deals mostly with an adventuresome story. Those looking for a more 'serious' fictional work of the French Revolution may prefer A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

An awesome book!:
I always think its such a shame that this book isn't better known and more widely read. It's probably one of the best romance/adventure stories I've ever read. The character of Sir Percy is so wonderful (his daring and audacity), and there are moments when you don't want to put the book down because you MUST know what will happen next. I've read the book over and over, and I still enjoy it just as much as I did the first time I read it. I highly recommend this book!

A romantic, yet supsnseful novel:
The Scarlet Pimpernel is an amazing and well-written novel. It is brimming with action, suspense, romance and it is all crammed into a 200-page book. In the beginning, it may seem like a difficult read because the author is developing the characters and describing the setting, but once the plot begins in earnest, it is hard to put down. The story revolves around the elusive character, the Scarlet Pimpernel. Although his true identity is unknown, he is said to have rescued many French aristocrats from blade of the guillotine in France, to a safe haven in England. A French revolutionary official known as Chauvelin has been searching for the Scarlet Pimpernel for many years. He knows that the Scarlet Pimpernel is in the England, so he seeks the help of a prominent figure in England's society named Marguerite. Chauvelin claims to have the evidence to send her brother, Armand, to the guillotine, unless she finds the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Throughout the book, she finds clues and gives them to Chauvelin, until they finally discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel. He leaves for France to catch the Scarlet Pimpernel in the act of saving a family of aristocrats. Marguerite finds that her brother is safe, but the Scarlet Pimpernel turns out to be someone who she truly cares for. She makes the dangerous journey France to find the Scarlet Pimpernel before Chauvelin does. You'll have to read the end yourself; the story gets better with many twists and turns and lots of both action and romance. This is truly a book that both boys and girls would like.