Books that made me cry...Knjige koje su me rasplakale....Dama s Kamelijama/ Lady of Camellilas...by Alexandre Dumas (La Dame aux Camélias)

Hi there! How are you? I'm starting a new feature on my blog and it will be called Books that made me cry. Naturally, here I will be reviewing those books that moved me, not only as great works of literature, but also on an emotional level. Quite a few of them, like the book I will be reviewing today, will be classics. Well, I always say that classics are classics for a reason. I'm afraid that this feature will reveal me to be somewhat of a softie or a cry baby, but chances are you already knew that. Truth be told, there is one thing that can move me to tears quite easily and that is Art. High quality art always moves me, in whatever shape or form- paintings, music, films, photographs. Pablo Picasso said that art washes away dust from our everyday lives- wasn’t he right?

Zdravo! Kako ste? Počinjem novu rubriku na blogu koja će se zvati Knjige koje su me rasplakale. Naravno ovdje ću recenzirati one knjige koje su me dirnule, ne samo kao sjajna književna djela, već i na razini srca to jest u emotivnom smislu. Puno njih, koja i ova knjiga čiji ogled danas pišem su klasici, ali kao što često kažem klasici su klasici s razlogom. Bojim se da će ova rubrika otkriti da sam poprilično meka srca, ali možda ste to ionako znali. Istina je da ima nešto što me uvijek dirne u srce, a to je umjetnost. Umjetnost visoke kvalitete me uvijek dirnuti u srce, bez obzira u kojoj formi dolazi- slike, glazba, filmovi ili fotografije. Pablo Picasso je rekao da umjetnost pere prašinu s našega svakodnevnoga života...i zar nije bio u pravu?

Lady of Camellias was written by Alexandre Dumas junior (the son of famous writer Alexandre Dumas) and it is better known as simply Camille in the English language. It was first published in 1846 and it was well received, becoming quite popular- albeit somewhat controversial because of its theme of a love between a young man and a courtesan. In fact, it was because of the novel's popularity that the author adapted this novel for stage and this play saw its premiere in 1852. It became an instant success and Verdi was quick to take note of it. In record time Verdi composed an opera based on it that premiered in 1953. In other words, it was only a year after the play La Dame aux Camélias was first performed, that Verdi put his opera La Traviatta on the stage. That’s quite something, isn’t it?

Damu s kamelijama je napisao Alexandre Dumas mlađi (sin poznatoga istoimenoga pisca- ljudi ih znaju brkati). Izdana je 1946.godine. i dobro je primljena, postala je popularna  ubrzo, ali i ponešto kontroverzna zbog svoje teme ljubavi između mladića i kurtizane. Zapravo jer je bila tako popularna, pisac ju je prilagodio i za pozornicu pa je podstavljena na scenu i imala premijeru 1852.  Postigla je trenutačan uspjeh i Verdi ju je brzo primijetio i napisao operu u rekordnom vremenu, operu koja je ugledala svjetlo pozornice svega godina dana nakon predstave, godine 1953. To je stvarno zanimljivo, zar ne? 

Surprisingly enough, I have only recently found out that this novel was based on author’s real life experience (i.e. his love story) and that Dumas (the son) wrote it when he was only 23 years old. This story is semi-autobiographical and it is based on the relationship of Dumas and French courtesan Marie Duplessis that lasted from 1844 to 1845. You can google her, there is even one watercolour portrait of her, so we can see what this famous courtesan that died at tender age of 23 looked like. She seems to have been an interesting (and beloved) person. At any rate, she was an actual historical figure of her time. So, those of you who are history geeks, might enjoy researching her.

Možda je iznenađujuće, ali ja sam tek nedavno doznala da se ovaj roman temeljio na životu samoga autora (to jest na njegovoj ljubavnoj priči) i da ga je Dumas napisao kada je imao samo 23 godine. Priča je donekle autobiografska i temelji se na vezi Dumasa mlađega i francuske kurtizane Marie Duplessis koja je trajala od 1844. do 1845.godine. Možete je potražiti na internetu, postoji čak i jedan njen akvarel, tako da možemo vidjeti kako je ova poznata kurtizana koja je umrla u dvadeset i trećoj godini izgledala. Čini se da je bilo jako zanimljiva i voljena osoba. U svakom slučaju, bila je stvarna povijesna osoba. Tako da će vama koji povijest volite biti zanimljivo istražiti njen život.

I enjoyed this novel immensely. I was familiar with the story (having seen a film version, well a part of it, on TV once), but I was still very touched by it. The novel was not only a very profound and emotional read; it was also written well and it provided a great insight into the French society of the time. It opens up with the death of the main female character Marguerite, so you can tell right away it is going to be a tragic story. However, the story is freed from pathos. The novel is in essence, a love story, it tells a story of a young man who falls in love with Marguerite. Her character is masterfully developed; she is portrayed as a noble but tortured soul.  The author states that it was not his intention to glorify prostitution, in fact the novel could be seen as a critique of it. The heroine herself, Marguerite, laments her life choices. This novel shows the ugly side of being a kept woman, but it does not criticize women- and I do respect the author for his choices. Dumas critizes the society that looks down on courtesans, whom he sees more as victims than villains. 

Jako sam uživala u ovome romanu. Bila sam upoznata s pričom (jer sam vidjela filmsku verziju, to jest neki dio filmske verzije jedno), ali me ipak dirnula. Roman nije samo duboko i dirljivo djelo za pročitati, on je i sjajno napisan i pruža uvid u francusko društvo toga vremena. Započinje s smrću glavnoga ženskoga lika Margarite, tako da odmah znate da će to biti tragična priča. No, sama priča je oslobođena patosa. Ljubav je u osnovi ovoga romana, to je ljubavna priča, pripovijeda se o mladom čovjeku koji se zaljubio u Margaritu. Njen lik je sjajno razvijen, ona je prikazana kao plemenita ali izmučena duša. Autor kaže da nije bila njegova nakana veličati prostituciju, zapravo ovaj roman se može vidjeti kao njena kritika. Sama heroina lijepa Margarita požali svoje životne izbore. Roman prikazuje ružnu stranu života uzdržavane žene, ali ne kritizira žene i poštujem pisca zbog toga izbora. Dumas kritizira društvo koje gleda na kurtizane s visoka, a on iz zapravo vidi više kao žrtve nego kao zločinke.

 The way Dumas wrote Marguerite’s character is filled with tenderness and love. Probably because she was modelled on Marie, a courtesan he was in a relationship with and that died at tender age of 23.  This novel doesn’t condemn Marguerite. Quite on the contrary, it shows her in a very favourable light. I would recommend this novel to everyone. The writing is simply superb. I can hardly believe that the author was only 23 (when he wrote it but perhaps we shouldn't be preplexed by it because according to Kazuo Ishiguro young age is perfect for writing). What is awe-inspiring however is that Dumas supposedly wrote in in one month. Now, that's talent! I suppose we can also say that he really had his heart in it. You know when he died, many years later, he was buried only 100 meters from Marie. Whether this was by chance or not, we can't tell for sure. Perhaps destiny had joined them in death. It must have been love!

Način na koji Dumas opisuje Margaritin karakter je pun nježnosti i ljubavi. Vjerovatno jer je ona napisana na temelju Marie, kuritizane s kojom je bio u vezi i koja je umrla u nježnoj dobi od 23 godine. Ovaj roman ne osuđuje Margaritu. Baš nasuprot, prikazuje je u vrlo povoljnom svijetu. Preporučila bi ovaj roman svima. Pisanje je sjajno. Teško je vjerovati da je pisac imao samo 23 kada ga je napisao, a možda i ne bi trebalo biti. Kazuo Ishiguro uvijek kaže da je mladost sjajno doba za pisanje. No, ono što je stvarno zadivljujuće je da ga je Dumas napisao u mjesec dana. To je talent! Pretpostavljam da možemo reći da je stvarno dao sve od sebe. Znate da kada je pokopan, puno godina kasnije, pokopan je samo 100 metara od Marie. Ne zna se je to bilo slučajno ili namjerno. Možda ih je sudbina spojila u smrti. Bila je to sigurno ljubav!

Thank you for reading!   Hvala na čitanju!