Song at the Scaffold Gertrud von Le Fort
I have to admit that this short novel came as something of a disappointment. Perhaps my expectations were set much too high by so many reviewers.
Ms. von Le Fort tells the story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne--seventeen Carmelites who were executed just before the end of the Terror. She tells the story from the point of view of one who, while desiring most of all martyrdom, is trapped in the martyrdom of the one who escaped.
Short, easy to read, but not at all what I expected from a book so highly praised. It suggests that I need to go back and reread. Or perhaps better, return to the short opera by Fracois Poulenc which the work inspired--"Dialogue of the Carmelites."
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If you are disappointed then I fear you have missed the whole point of the story which is one of the most moving I have ever read. I can only assume you read it rather superficially. May I recommend you re-read it? The point of the story is the rising to supreme courage of a frightened, weak, timid girl whilst the woman thirsting for heroism has to wait for another day when she is less arduous for such "glory". The denouement is when Blanche de la Force suddenly, inexplicably (save for grace), rises to a hitherto unknown courage and joins her sisters on the horrifying scaffold. It is powerfully told and if you missed that then you missed the whole point of the book. May I suggest having another go at it?
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