Classics Illustrated #10: Cyrano de Bergerac (Classics Illustrated Graphic Novels, 10) Hardcover – July 13, 2010

Edmond Rostand's enduring tale of "Cyrano de Bergerac" gets the graphic novel treatment in this Classics Illustrated edition, adapted by Peter David and Kyle Baker. Fanciful artwork and some well-chosen explanatory notes make this a great introduction to a great story, equal parts comedy, romance, and drama.The French soldier Cyrano de Bergerac is renounced for his wit, writing skills, bravery with a sword, and his panache. He is also cursed with the largest nose ever to darken a human face, and with an unrequited love for his beautiful cousin Roxanne. Roxanne is in love with the handsome, brave but rather dull Baron Christian de Neuvil, and will beg Cyrano to watch over him. Encouraged by Cyrano, Christian will take up the wooing of Roxanne, in which cause Cyrano will play many roles. He will also watch over Christian in the face of many threats, even death...This Classics Illustrated edition includes the essentials of a long and moving story, including doing justice to several comedic moments and to the famous dual wooing scene. Kyle Baker's almost whimsical art crucially captures the changing emotions of the characters. "Cyrano de Bergerac" is very highly recommended as an entertaining graphic novel treatment of a great story.

There are other -- original -- editions of this still out there. I chose to save a bit of money and opted for this downsized copy. Big mistake. Second-rate printing, and you may need a magnifying glass for some passages. The cover, different from the original, gives it away. Caveat emptor.

I bought this to read with my 3rd grade daughter, and we loved it! She's an advanced reader, and this book still gave her a healthy challenge; it would not have been a good choice for her as an independent reading book. The illustrations are highly stylized, which I find an asset (others my find them distracting as they're unrefined and a bit harsh). The adaptation finds a great middle ground in combining traditional-to-Old English prose with a more contemporary vernacular, offering readers (young and old) an accessible exposure to the foundations of our descriptive, English language styles. My daughter loved the story, as did I. As a follow-up, we rented Steve Martin's "Roxanne." This book has turned us on to the publisher's other offerings, too: "Pride and Prejudice," "Tom Sawyer," Edgar Allen Poe stories, and others. As a teacher, there is great value in introducing these old stories, as they're often models used by modern story tellers, giving young readers larger reading strategy tools to promote greater comprehension. Oh, and they're fun to read :)

Great book and IMHO the definitive romance. If tears aren't running down your face, you've got a hole in your heart. Also the copy I received was exactly what I wanted: a well used, dog eared copy with soul.

The scene that has made Edmond Rostand's verse drama in five acts, "Cyrano De Bergerac," a classic drama is the balcony scene, where Cyrano is feeding the inarticulate Christian the lines with which to woo the lovely Roxanne. Finally Cyrano pretends to be Christian and speaks to Roxanne directly, while hiding in the shadows. Cyrano loves Roxanne as well, but would never dare to speak to her in his own name, and the great irony is that he knows his words have won her heart, but for another man.The scene resonates because the vast majority of young men have experienced the pangs of love for a woman who would not give them the time of day. The reason for such slights might not be a large nose, but as long as it is something that is beyond our control, we can feel an affinity with Cyrano. What makes his plight more tragic than our own is because he is both witty and romantic, using words like a rapier to best his enemies one moment and then uttering verbal bouquets that would surely win the heart of any maiden at whom they were directed. Still, the Fates conspire against Cyrano, for when Christian finally realizes that it is Cyrano's words that have won Roxane's heart for him and tries to make things right, the young man's death cements the parts they have chosen to play in this tragic love triangle. After the paradigmatic love triangle of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot, that of Christian, Roxane, and Cyrano must rank second.Yet in the end I find that the tragedy of "Cyrano de Bergerac" is not his alone, for there is a sense in which Roxanne's loss is even greater. For me, the key line in the play belongs to her, when in the final scene Cyrano is finally allowed to read the last letter that Christian wrote to his beloved, a letter written by Cyrano himself. The words are burned into his soul and it is when she realizes that it is too dark for him to read the words and he is reciting them, that the truth becomes clear to her. "I never loved but one man in my life," she laments, "and I have lost him twice." There is something to be said for a play that can be accurately reduced to a single line. Furthermore, in terms of romantic tragedy, the emotional impact of the ending is comparable to Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet," a comparison already warranted by the fact the plays have the two most famous balcony scenes in drama.Rostand wrote "Cyrano" for the great French actor, Constant Coquelin, who specifically requested the final death scene. The play premiered on December 28, 1897, at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, Paris. The fact "Cyrano" was effectively commissioned for a particular actor might explain why the playwright was able to take the French soldier, satirist, and dramatist, whose life had been the basis of many romantic but unsubstantiated legends into the central character of his drama. The historical Cyrano (1619-1655) is of interest for writing some of the first works of what we would consider science fiction, "Voyage dans la lune" (1657) and "L'historie des etats et empires du soleil" (1662). He was also considered a student of Pierre Gassendi, the writer of philosophical romances and a virile lover, so Rostand's characterization is rather suspect. But it is also one of the most memorable creation of 19th-century drama (along with Henrik Ibsen's Clara from "A Doll's House")."Cyrano de Bergerac" represents one of the final examples of Romantic drama in France, but ironically the heroic comedy is the best known of all such works today. The only other one of Rostand's plays that has proven to be of interest is "L'Aiglon" ("The Eaglet"), a 1900 tragedy is six acts that tells the story of the Duke of Reichstadt, the son of Napoleon, who lived and died the virtual prisoner of Austria (Sarah Bernhardt played the title run in the first production). But clearly it is "Cyrano" that has made Rostand's name almost as memorable as that of his great dramatic creation.

Does not completely adhere to the play's story.

Alles an diesem Buch ist positiv zu bewerten. Der Zustand ist für sein Alter von über 100 Jahren einwandfrei. Der Preis ist günstig und die Aufmachung ohne Fehler.Wer Rostands Cyrano liebt, ist mit dieser Ausgabe gut beraten.