The Red Pimpernel

Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness, 1865-1947Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 355K words
Chapters: 36

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.De Roode Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy OrczyAuthor: Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness, 1865-1947,Language: Dutch, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: May 29, 2016

Editor's review

The Scarlet Pimpernel, the signature work of Baroness Orczy, is set during the French Revolution and tells of a mysterious English nobleman who organizes rescue missions under the shadow of the guillotine. Blending adventure, detection, and romance, the novel moves at a brisk pace and builds suspense with ingenuity, creating a gallant and elusive hero whose influence on later popular adventure fiction is plainly visible. This edition is the Dutch translation, suited to foreign-language reading and to readers curious about the narrative patterns of early popular fiction. As you read, note how the author uses disguise and mistaken identity to create tension, and how she handles the relationship between revolutionary violence and individual heroism.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Genre-fiction readers who enjoy historical adventure and swashbuckling heroes
Learners of Dutch who want to build reading interest through popular fiction
Readers interested in novels set during the French Revolution and in the history of popular literature
Readers who prefer suspenseful, short-chaptered, fast-paced narratives

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking serious historical scholarship or deep social analysis
Demanding readers who cannot tolerate the narrative conventions of late nineteenth-century popular fiction
Readers with no knowledge of Dutch and no access to a translation

Reading tips

Familiarize yourself with the basic timeline of the French Revolution first; the characters' predicaments will then be clearer.
Read it as a serial, two or three chapters at a time, to preserve the suspense.
Watch for motifs of disguise, identity, and pursuit, and afterward sort out the clues to the characters' true identities.
Dutch learners can read a chapter in the original first, then check their understanding against a plot summary.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this Dutch translation without having read the original?

Yes. The story stands relatively independent and does not rely on prior works. Some Dutch reading ability is needed, or a translation or plot summary to assist comprehension; if you want to read in Chinese only, it is best to find a Chinese translation for comparison.

Is this story suitable for young readers?

It is broadly a popular adventure novel, with plots centered on rescue and clever maneuvering rather than prominent violence. Suitability depends on the young reader's reading ability and interest in the historical background; parents may wish to skim it first before deciding.

Why does the same work appear in multiple language editions?

The work circulated widely and had considerable influence, and has been translated into many languages. Different language editions serve different readerships and reflect its reach within European popular literature; readers can choose an edition that matches their language ability.

Comments

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About the author

Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness, 1865-1947 Author

Baroness Orczy (1865–1947) is known in the history of popular English fiction as the author of the Scarlet Pimpernel series. The library holds nineteen of her works, including The Scarlet Pimpernel and its sequels, such as The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Elusive Pimpernel and El Dorado, as well as the detective collection The Old Man in the Corner. Her writing is marked by tight plotting and sustained suspense, often weaving disguise and reversal into adventure stories; the figure of the Scarlet Pimpernel has influenced later heroic adventure narratives. Public information is limited, so details of her life are omitted here, and this introduction focuses on the themes and style of her works.