The Sorrows of Satan: Or the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire : A Romance (Oxford Popular Fiction)

Rating:
Summary: True Romance in the literary sense
Review: I first heard of (or actually first saw the name of) Marie Corelli in The Books of My Life by Henry Miller. I was curious so I ordered The Sorrows of Satan: Or the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire. Once again, Mr Millers judgment has proven impeccable. I will refrain from going off on a tangent about all the literature I have explored through Henry Millers reccommendation. (The Books of My Life sits on my headboard) This is supposed to be a review of Ms. Corellis book.

This is a sensational book. I had a difficult time putting it down. Readers will come to care for the fate of one Geoffrey Tempest even though he has damned himself through his own choice and ignorance. There is a certain naivity in his corruption. Prince Rimanez leads him down the path of temptation with great sorrow. Casting Satan as a sympathetic character may not appeal to Christian fundamentalists but it is a great twist. (It has been done a bit in Hollywood but this predates the movies.) The devil may truly seek redemption. One gets the sense that Corelli has empathy even for the devil. He is, after all, only doing what he must do. It is his plight to lead men into temptation. Geoffrey Tempest is the one who has a choice. He chooses the easy path and ultimately he pays the price. One is certainly glad that he does escape from Prince Rimanez grip at the end. The angel Mavis Clare is able to save him. He is able to redeem himself before the final plunge. He turns back to God and is given a second chance.

I am not going to enter into the debate over whether or not Mavis Clare is supposed to be symbolic of Marie Corelli herself but I think the book is clearly a shot at the critics of the time who constantly ostracized Corelli in spite her phenomenal sales. This book will stimulate readers on both an emotional and spiritual level. I anxiously await reading other books by Marie Corelli. My literary debt to Henry Miller takes another grand leap.

Rating:
Summary: True Romance in the literary sense
Review: I first heard of (or actually first saw the name of) Marie Corelli in The Books of My Life by Henry Miller. I was curious so I ordered The Sorrows of Satan: Or the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire. Once again, Mr Millers judgment has proven impeccable. I will refrain from going off on a tangent about all the literature I have explored through Henry Millers reccommendation. (The Books of My Life sits on my headboard) This is supposed to be a review of Ms. Corellis book.

This is a sensational book. I had a difficult time putting it down. Readers will come to care for the fate of one Geoffrey Tempest even though he has damned himself through his own choice and ignorance. There is a certain naivity in his corruption. Prince Rimanez leads him down the path of temptation with great sorrow. Casting Satan as a sympathetic character may not appeal to Christian fundamentalists but it is a great twist. (It has been done a bit in Hollywood but this predates the movies.) The devil may truly seek redemption. One gets the sense that Corelli has empathy even for the devil. He is, after all, only doing what he must do. It is his plight to lead men into temptation. Geoffrey Tempest is the one who has a choice. He chooses the easy path and ultimately he pays the price. One is certainly glad that he does escape from Prince Rimanez grip at the end. The angel Mavis Clare is able to save him. He is able to redeem himself before the final plunge. He turns back to God and is given a second chance.

I am not going to enter into the debate over whether or not Mavis Clare is supposed to be symbolic of Marie Corelli herself but I think the book is clearly a shot at the critics of the time who constantly ostracized Corelli in spite her phenomenal sales. This book will stimulate readers on both an emotional and spiritual level. I anxiously await reading other books by Marie Corelli. My literary debt to Henry Miller takes another grand leap.

Rating:
Summary: A great forgotten melodrama
Review: It was the best-selling novel of the nineteenth century and with its hypnotic descriptions and delicious dramatic irony; it's easy to see why. This Faustian tale of a man's corruption by wealth, society and his own vanity under the guidance of a devilish temptor while common enough has a unique twist in that the devil himself hates his job of temptation as it divides him from heaven. The reader can delight in the double meanings of the novel, knowing what the hero cannot see in his "benefactor".

The book is melodramatic, and at times longwinded, and sadly occassionally whiny, but it is strangely absorbing even when it descends into silliness, and the characters can be understood and to some extent sympathized with. It is not one of the great works, but it is a work of great conception.