One of the books I read over break was Georges, by Alexandre Dumas ("pere," as they say...).

It was an interesting novel. I was mistaken about it in two ways: first, it was NOT set in the Caribbean. Rather, it was set on Mauritius - in some ways, a more exotic and certainly a more distant locale. Mauritius is known in the book (mostly) as Ile de France, the name it bore during French colonial times. (First the Dutch had it. Then the French. Then the British. The Dutch named it Mauritius and the British, when they took over, renamed it that).

Also, Georges, the hero of the piece, is not noticeably of African descent. Oh, when people on the island (which is in many ways like a small town) hear his last name (Munier), they know he is "the son of the mulatto*)

(*I don't even know if it's "OK" to use that word any more, or if it's considered derogatory. The translator of the novel uses it, though).

Georges is able to "pass" as European, though once people know his heritage, they assume things about him. This leads to a certain degree of bitterness on Georges' part. We first see him as a boy - during, in fact, the battle between the French colonial forces (and the "native" troops siding with them) and the English, who wish to (and ultimately do) take over the island. Georges is impressed by his father's bravery, and upset by the way one of the French colonialist planters treats him after the battle.

Georges' father (presumably, their mother is dead) sends him and his older brother Jacques away, to France, to be educated, and for their safety. While there, Georges works at developing a nearly super-human self- control...and has the one goal of returning home and "showing them," whatever form that may take.

Georges is an interesting novel in two senses: first, as a nineteenth-century commentary on race, slavery, and colonialism. And I learned something about Dumas that I did not know before: he had some African heritage. (one of his grandmothers - I believe it was - was Afro-Caribbean). Reading the novel, at one point, I thought, "This author has some rather progressive ideas for a 19th century French novelist." Well, apparently, Dumas' own treatment - or the way he saw others of his heritage being treated - factored in to that.

That's not to say his attitudes are totally "modern." He frequently refers to the slaves (Black Africans and also Muslims from South Asia) as "poor savages" and similar. And he does not seem to see too much wrong with the ownership of slaves (even Pierre Munier owns slaves), provided they are well-taken-care-of. And Jacques Munier has become a slave trader, though he doesn't "hunt" slaves; he rather buys them off of other tribes...reminding us that in some African countries in that day, slavery of captured enemies was a common thing. (And it still exists, though for different reasons, in the Sudan today).

Still, it's an interesting viewpoint, and I suppose in its day it was revolutionary that a man of mixed race could be the hero of a novel, and perhaps even more so that a Black African slave (Laiza) could be a man of great honor and courage.

Apparently, Dumas suffered some prejudice and rudeness as a result of his heritage. A quotation from him, in response to someone who insulted him about his background:

"My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends."

 Heh. I'm assuming he also accepted biological evolution by that statement, though technically "we came from monkeys" is not exactly correct.

But totally beside all of the commentary that one could make, it's a rollicking good story. It's exciting, and moving, and romantic (and not in the icky way). It's set in an exotic place - Dumas talks about some of the plants, and several times he mentions the tenrecs, which are pretty much unique to that area. The culture is somewhat exotic, too - with both Europeans and "Creoles" ("Creoles" here being people of European heritage, but born on the island) as well as the people of mixed race, the Lascars (a Muslim group from India), Chinese traders, and so on. You can imagine the heat and languidness of the summer days as you read the book.

It also has many of the elements of nineteenth-century novels that I love: there is a ball (though it's not as happy an occasion as it could be). There are characters finding their true loves. There are rides through the countryside. There's a dramatic rescue of a damsel in distress.

And then there are other events: there's a hurricane. And a slave uprising. And battles at sea.

The book moves very fast, it's an exciting story (or at least I found it to be so). It has a lot of plot twists, especially as the end of the book approaches. In fact, the book ends not how I expected it would end. (But it ended how I had HOPED it would end).

The version I read was the "new" translation (the Modern Library translation) by Tina Kovers. I am sure that the quality of the translation in part makes the quality of the experience for the reader who cannot (or, in my case, doesn't care to) read the novel in its original language. I do know back in high school I tried to read The Count of Monte Cristo and either I had a poor translation or wasn't mature enough to cope with a denser book, but I remember it as being very slow and very dry and giving up a few chapters in.

I'm thinking, now, though, that I might chase down other of Dumas' work and read it, particularly if I can find translations similar in quality to the translation of Georges.  (Perhaps the Modern Library editions - which I love anyway, because they are nicely made books and appeal to the book-snob side of me - would be a place to start). I think I would like to read The Three Musketeers first, simply because the story is most familiar, and it seems like it would be similar (perhaps) to Georges in degree of "romance" (in the sense of being a good story, with lots of plot twists....I know a "romance novel" means something very different from a "novel written during the Romantic Period" and I have to admit, while I like Romantic Period novels, my few tries at "romances" have left me uninterested).

A synopsis (warning: big big spoiler for the end of the novel) is available here.

And I do highly recommend Georges if you enjoy novels, particularly ones set in exotic locales and with lots of action.