Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
Yes there were times through the first half where I found myself smiling as I was reading, all due to his manner of expression. But in some respects this made it feel all the more discordant to me. I wanted to enjoy myself (I came to this book expecting to enjoy myself), but was sent off balance by the "Don Quixote at eighteen" description and never regained it. It was as if the author could not make up his mind whether this was a farce or a serious story. And I'm not just talking about how the last part was darker, but by the dissonance right through. I wondered if the problem was that he almost had the ability to pull off a comedy, but not quite.
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It could be as simple as that a story that tries to be all things to all readers doesn't succeed at any of them, or that while some hybrids work (adventure/romance, humor/adventure, etc.), there is a limit to how many slashes you can pull off at one time. Black humor can take in a lot, but there was an earnestness about this that black humor doesn't permit. Or, as you said, Dumas didn't quite have the talent. Comedy is harder than drama.