The Black Tulip

By: Alexandre Dumas

Narrated by: John Bolen

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The tulip craze of 17th century Holland has a dark side! Cornelius van Baerle, a wealthy but naive tulip grower, finds himself entangled in the deadly politics of his time. Cornelius' one desire is to grow the perfect black tulip. But after his godfather is murdered, he finds himself in prison, facing a death sentence. His jailer's lovely daughter holds the key to his survival, and his chance to produce the precious black blossom. Yet he has one more enemy to contend with!

©2000 Tantor Media Incorporated

Unexpectedly beautiful

Having previously only read Dumas’ stories of the musketeers, stories filled with characters and side characters, this novel, with its very closed cast and simple aims, is a superbly unexpected treat. The reader has fun with the Dutch accent, though the production quality is low (I think it was recorded at least twenty years ago). Listen for the one place where it sounds like someone screamed in the background and the reader immediately shut off the recording. I’m so glad I took a chance on this book I’d previously not heard of. It’s a great story, treating a uniquely weird time in history. Enjoy!

Just a taste

Alexandre Dumas is one of the best story tellers I have ever read. This book is a great way to get your feet wet. It will let you see into the brilliant mind of this author. but with this very enjoyable read you will not need to commit to 30+ hours. Give it a try and once your finished and are ready for a full meal then move on too "The Count of Monte Cristo" one of the greatest books ever written!

Great book

A wonderful book that is a great addition to the authors renowned works. I highly recommend this book.

Best of Dumas!

This lesser known shorter work of Dumas is my absolute favorite!

A great story of revenge!

Dumas is a great writer on the plot of revenge. He never fails on portraying the emotion and conquest, of the main character's, plight from being wrongly accused of a misdeed. And when the villain of the story gets his justly reward, you can't help but adore the ending of the story.

Wonderful!

This was a highly enjoyable listen. I recommend it to all. Wonderfully read to boot!

Dumas does it again!

Cornelius van Baerle, a man with a consuming passion for life, is the gentle, brilliant and focused hero in the story. He is only introduced, in the story, after a violent introduction, by the author, portraying a tumultuous political time; the fighting factions loyal to William of Orange, the one in power, versus King Louis IX. He does a blind favor for his God Father and unwittingly gets involved, years later, with the politics of the time and prison is the consequence. Cornelius' consuming passion for cultivating tulips, and his complete ignorance of political matters, causes him to become an unwitting victim of extreme jealously, that follows him for years, an innocent scapegoat of political tyranny and, by chance, and by providence, an accidental and fortunate lover, in the purest form of love. An underlying theme, throughout the book, is that Cornelius van Baerle is a man of great faith in God and his suffering, throughout the story, by no fault of his own, except in his being true to his passions and his faith, never caused him to falter in his manners, faith or passions. Focused. The Black Tulip is an excellent read and demonstrates the typical book by Dumas in his ability to weave words, ideas and events into brilliant descriptions of the scenes and the thoughts of the the characters;feelings of ardor, jealousy, cruelty and callousness. He integrates well the above with the political climate of the time. Excellent narrator but, not being European or the like, where exposure to many languages is common place, I found many of the words, with an applied Holland or French? accent, difficult to understand and found myself rewinding several times. Otherwise, the narrator was wonderful. What great characters Dumas is able to create. Complexity made simple, human nature made plain. In this latter sense, the Black Tulip was ALMOST as good as the Gold Standard, in my opinion, The Count of Monte Cristo!

Awesome

Anyone who reviews this negatively could not have listened to the story. This is an amazing story. It is a true story, witch makes it even more amazing. It is a love story. It is a story of loving your work. It is a story of a miraculous vindication on a biblical scale with that of Hamon and Mordecai. It is a poverty to riches story with a little of the feeling of "Cinderella".

Bad Audio, Average Narrator, Good Plot

Audio: Consistent white noise throughout. Annoying, yet survivable.

Narrator: Odd given the Dutch/American accent switch. Clearly had a hard time maintaining a consistent recording from session to session.

Plot: (Minor Spoiler in form of Comparison)
I suggest this book only for serious fans of Dumas. It is in the spirit of Monte Cristo but without its depth. It feels like a serial put together, which, given Dumas, it probably is. I do find value in that he was way ahead of Disney in his hero/heroine treatment. (You’ll see.)

A surprisingly entertaining story

It is a story about love and tulips. It is simple and easy to comprehend. Though you really gotta like flowers to endure some sections of the story.