Scaramouche

Scaramouche
During the French Revolution the aristocrats are being hunted and beheaded. André-Louis Moreau a young lawyer on the run becomes an actor portraying “Scaramouche” a masked character in a travelling theatre. On the run he is forced to defend himself. Fortunately he is a excellent swordsman.
Customer Review: A lesser adventure classic
Set against the background of the French Revolution, in the space of four years, Andre-Louis Moreau, a young man of unknown parentage, goes from being a lawyer, to being a revolutionary, an actor, a fencing master, and a politician. The main driving force in his life, however, is his desire to avenge the death of his best friend by a noble, the Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr, a man who also wishes to marry Andre's cousin, Aline. "Scaramouche" is one of those books that, alongside books like "The Three Musketeers" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel", is considered to be one of the greatest adventure novels of all time. It is true that "Scaramouche" is a very good book that has stood the test of time, but compared with the works of Dumas, for example, is definitely one of the lesser classics. Once I got into it, I enjoyed "Scaramouche" very much and I found it a very entertaining means of learning about the French Revolution. The action scenes were well written and exciting, and there are enough of them to keep you reading right to the end. However, it took me almost 70 pages to really get into the story and during that time I almost gave up. The beginning of the novel is made up of far too many long-winded revolutionary speeches that become extremely tiresome after a while. Furthermore, the novel is episodic (which I never like in any book) and after waiting over 300 pages for a showdown to the death between Andre and the Marquis, the reader is denied this satisfaction. What we are given in its place is something which I had seen coming for at least a third of the book. Still, in spite of its flaws, "Scaramouche" is worth reading and even though it is not as good as the other adventure classics, it is likely to appeal to fans of them.
Customer Review: The genesis of adventure!
Rafael Sabatini wrote a book called Captain Blood. The movie, with Errol Flyynn, was a yawn. But the novel was breathtaking. So is Scaramouche. Sabatini is mostly ignored now and more's the pity. His books make great adventure tales for young readers tired of wizards and vampires. Highly recommended.