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    The Black Tulip
    The Black Tulip
    The Black Tulip
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Black Tulip

    Written by Alexandre Dumas

    Narrated by John Bolen

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The tulip craze of seventeenth-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's 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!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMar 30, 2009
    ISBN9781400179381
    Author

    Alexandre Dumas

    Alexandre Dumas was born in 1802. After a childhood of extreme poverty, he took work as a clerk, and met the renowned actor Talma, and began to write short pieces for the theatre. After twenty years of success as a playwright, Dumas turned his hand to novel-writing, and penned such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo (1844), La Reine Margot (1845) and The Black Tulip (1850). After enduring a short period of bankruptcy, Dumas began to travel extensively, still keeping up a prodigious output of journalism, short fiction and novels. He fathered an illegitimate child, also called Alexandre, who would grow up to write La Dame aux Camélias. He died in Dieppe in 1870.

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    Reviews for The Black Tulip

    3.5/5

    373 ratings30 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This story is about the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. It's about the KGB and CIA, plenty of spies and counter-intelligence. Which makes it all a bit dated, but still entertaining. To me, the most interesting plot line revolved around former-CIA agent Alexander Fannin and his wife's cousin Tolya who works for the KGB. Their family and political loyalties interweave as Alexander helps Tolya's mother to defect.The author worked for the CIA and this has helped him write a fast-paced book that never streteches credibility beyond reasonable limits.
    • 4/5
      Charming story. Ridiculous accents used by reader are distracting.
    • 4/5
      I was charmed to find a Dumas romance that I hadn’t read. Though it starts with the grisly, and historically factual, murder of the brothers Jon and Cornelius De Witt, it’s good escapist reading after that.
    • 4/5
      I will confess to buying this book purely for the artwork on the limited edition hardback produced by Waterstones in Amsterdam last year! Only 2000 copies of the gorgeous cover design by Coralie Bickford-Smith were produced, which is possibly why I can't find the right edition on Librarything.And thanks to the title, and a synopsis of a film with the same name starring Alain Delon from 1964, I thought the story would be something like The Scarlet Pimpernel. Nope, it's literally about a black tulip. That said, I did enjoy the decidedly Orczy-ish characters and plot, and was found myself cheering Cornelius and Rosa on, even though I knew that justice would triumph in the end. Dumas got a lot wrong with his research, according to the notes, but I also found the history of Holland and the cultivation of tulips very interesting too!The first chapter can be overwhelming - I had to start over a couple of times before finally getting into the story - but this was a short and sweet detour into seventeenth century history.
    • 4/5
      Consider me befuddled. William of Orange is depicted in The Black Tulip as an almost pantomime villain, although bereft of curling moustaches. Whereas Neal Stephenson characterizes Willie as a paragliding badass who saves England in the Glorious Revolution. I’ll ignore period politics and remain bemused, which is an appropriate way to savor this novel. Dumas is masterful at maintaining suspense and creating concurrent narratives that fall into convenient heap for a happy conclusion.


      I should add that the thought on horticulture were engaging, though the political prism was never elucidated.
    • 4/5
      The main part of the novel is basically a sweet romance between the jailkeeper's daughter Rose and the innocent political prisoner Cornelius van Baerle. Before the romance takes place, however, the novel presents an extremely drastic account of the political murder of the brothers de Witt by a Dutch mob in 1672. While the murders highlight the threat the protagonist is living under, I found it a mood killer to what is otherwise a very Jane Eyre-like story.
    • 3/5
      This book was different than other classic Dumas stories. A bit more simple yet the whole fascination with tulips by the culture in Holland back in the day was intriguing. Overall I liked it. :)
    • 5/5
      This was the first book I ever fell in love with as a young teenager, and the first to keep me awake all night reading it. So it has always had a special place in my heart. Reading it again thirty-five years later, I can see why I loved it so much, as it's got everything a dramatically inclined teenager could possibly want: passion; intrigue, wrongful imprisonment; romantic love; and a wonderfully happy ending. Honour is salvaged, the baddie gets his comeuppance and love conquers all. Oh, and all this with tulips too!Yes, its old-fashioned way of being written takes some getting used to these days, but hey it's all part of the charm. And Dumas has a definite knack of making you want to read on. A wonderful revisiting of my past, all in all.
    • 1/5
      Can't get into this book due to the language...long drawn out...may be how they spoke/wrote back then, but I find it is does not hold my interest.
    • 5/5
      Although the deadly rivalry between two tulip-fanciers competing to win a prize for cultivating the rare flower of the title may not seem a gripping subject, this is a great little novel. The sentimentality is nicely done and well contrasted with quite a shocking and bloody opening to the novel.  I had never heard of this eponymous flower, but it does really exist, it seems. Quite a little gem.
    • 4/5
      Very entertaining. The way Dumas weaves his story plots never fails me. He is so intelligent and so are his heroes in his books. At first I was drawn to the title of the book because tulips are my favorite kind of flowers.This book is a short read yet you don't feel the story development is rushed. It has everything, suspense, romance, humor, etc. Characters are very well developed and I actually really am very fond of Gryphus character because he is very funny, haha!
    • 4/5
      Very entertaining and rather more accessible than many of Dumas's other works, though showing some of the same degree of obsession. Set in seventeenth century Holland it details the travails of Cornelius de Baerle, an innocent horticulturist from Dordrecht who dreams of breeding the first pure black tulip. Inadvertently caught up in the political rivalries of the time he finds himself imprisoned while a neighbour seeks to steal his black tulip and claim it as his own. His only source of hope and assistance is Rosa, daughter of his prison guard (and far too good for him).
    • 3/5
      Cornelius Van Baerle really loves tulips. In the Netherlands, people tried to grow up a black tulip because if a black tulip grows up, he/she could get the prize, 100,000 guilders. Cornelius also tried to grow up, but...I like this story. I've already known about the Netherlands were famous for tulips. This story was according to it, so this story is interesting, I think.
    • 4/5
      I would recommend buying this book *now* while it's still free. It would certainly be worth the $1.99 list price, but free is even better. If you've read any of Dumas' other novels you'll probably like this one. It begins rather slowly and without drama but the intensity quickly builds as does the intrigue and violence. Writing reviews about mysteries is challenging because I don't want to give too much away but I do want to encourage fans of Dumas' other works, Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, and those who just enjoy period literature to read this book because it really is a good one. The characters are lively and there is even a strong secondary female character. Dumas' writing, while not overly emotional in and of itself, definitely provokes emotion in defense of his strong characters. The villian is repulsive and unlikeable while the soon to be identified hero is awkwardly charming and by turns wiley. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but in the spirit of full disclosure I was an English major that primarily dealt with British literature so perhaps that's why I enjoyed this book so much. For non-English majors this book might be too stilted or old timey but for anyone who enjoys mysteries, suspense, or gardening this book is a great freebie to download.
    • 5/5
      Y'all I am an Alexandre Dumas fan girl. If I could resurrect him and make him be my writer boyfriend, I totally would (sorry boo!). Last summer I read the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo translated by Robin Buss* over a period of two weeks. I am a generally fast reader, especially when I have few work hours, however, I really wanted to savor the experience. Dumas is a high calibre writer, his stories are swashbuckling, exciting, and often tinged with romance. Basically it has everything I could ask for out of a book.The Black Tulip begins with political strife. Two brothers in Holland are murdered by the people because of their correspondance with this French guy. How nutty. The crazy definitely hooked me. We then go on to meet Cornelius who is the godson of one of the brothers. He's in his 20s, he's rich and obsessed with tulips. Yes, that's right, flowers. I guess in the 1670s flowers were all the rage, kind of like yachts for rich people. People were just mad about tulips in Holland. Jealousy leads to some CoMC-esque actions, oh hai Albert nice to see you here. However, this book departs from the CoMC formula. Friends, I was enraptured. Although this book did not have the girth of CoMC, it has that compulsive readability where I absolutely needed to know what would happen. Often, Dumas would make asides to the reader, which I love, love love because it really felt as though there was someone sitting there telling a story to me.There is a female lead, Rosa, who exhibits courage and a cool head. She's the one who tells her father and Cornelius exactly what they need to do to be safe. However, she's also given the attribute of purity, which I feel must have been a pre-requisite of her time. Seeing as how she is smart and hot and her milkshake brings the boys to the yard, she needs to be pure too.One thing I picked up on was socioeconomic status -- it seems like the poor were portrayed as ignorant, bloodthirsty nuts. I feel the message I come across in Dumas's books is that only through money are people happy. Now, I've only read two Dumas books, so this is definitely a leap to conclusions, but I think Dumas tends to portray the wealthy as having more virtue than the poor. Granted, yes he inserts some rude wealthy people. The poor virtous person is often rewarded for their virtue with vast amounts of money. Perhaps this was normal for literature of the time, but I'm no expert on classics, so I can't say that for certain.The Black Tulip made me want to abandon my reading commitments and kick back with the rest of Dumas's catalouge. Alas, that is not in my stars for awhile.
    • 3/5
      There are many character.Cornelius Van Baerle, who is a rich and handsome man.He grow a black tulip.I had a deep fear. Because he was arrested!!And I think De Witt brothers are most poor.They are innocence. Only, they are friends of the French king. But, for the reasons, they are killed by people.The story can obtain the tension.I like this story.
    • 4/5
      I feel Rosa is very brave woman. Her action captivated Cornelius Van Baerle. Cornelius is good man. In this book, there are a lot of good men and a small number of bad person. By the way, I did not see black tulips. Recently, I am interested in growing flowers. So, if it exist in real, I want to see it!!
    • 3/5
      In this book, good person had unlacky thing one after another. I was indignant at these incidents.I liked John and Cornelius De Witt. Why should they have been killed?Aoso, Cornelius Van Baerle was pure man, he only loved tulips. But he was arrested because of his neighbor's jealousy.The end of the story, I was recieved the ending.
    • 3/5
      This story is about a man who really loved tulips. He was arrested and about to be excuted, but his girlfriend saved him.Finally, they got married and had beautiful children and grow a lot of beautiful tulips.I think this story contains a few impossible points. However, some part of the story are thrilling and exciting.
    • 3/5
      Cornelius Van Baerle loves tulips very much.And he tries to grow black tulips.But he becomes a prisoner.I thought it was interesting.But I don't understand why Prince William believed Rosa.And De Witt brothers wewe too pitiful.
    • 5/5
      Who would have thought that a book about growing tulips could be so exciting? And yet Alexandre Dumas managed to write a compelling page turner based on that very subject. Dumas became one of my favourite authors a few years ago when I read The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers but I had not read any of his lesser-known works until now. I regret not reading The Black Tulip sooner because I enjoyed it almost as much as the two books I've just mentioned. The book is set in seventeenth century Holland and begins with the violent murders of John and Cornelius De Witt, suspected of conspiring against the young Stadtholder, William of Orange. Our hero is the fictional godson of Cornelius De Witt, who is also called Cornelius. Cornelius Van Baerle is a keen tulip-fancier whose biggest goal in life is to produce the world's first black tulip. However, Van Baerle is not the only tulip-grower in the race for the Grand Black Tulip – and his rival Isaac Boxtel will stop at nothing to get there first!The first few chapters put the novel in historical context and will be slightly challenging to anyone like myself, who doesn't have much knowledge of Dutch history, but if you read carefully and refer to the notes it's easy enough to follow. As soon as Dumas finishes setting the scene, the story explodes into action and never stops until the final page, taking us on a journey through the full range of human emotions – love, hatred, greed, loyalty, jealousy and obsession. Rosa, the only female character in the book, is a jailer's daughter who falls in love with Cornelius and finds herself having to compete with the tulip for his affections. Despite making a few remarks of the "I am but a woman" variety she is otherwise a strong and quick-thinking character who does what she knows is right, even if it means going against the wishes of Cornelius or her father. The starring role in the story, though, goes to the elusive black tulip itself.As you might have guessed, I really loved this book. If you enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo there's a good chance that you'll like this one too, as it's very similar in writing style, pace and even several plot elements. It could almost be described as a shorter, less epic, less complex version of The Count. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      The Black Tulip is a story of politics, brutality, greed, jealousy, horticulture, and young love. Cornelius van Baerle, a wealthy young man whose life is absorbed by his passion for tulips, has the misfortune to be caught up in the political events that led to the violent death of his godfather, Cornelius De Witt, in 1672. The young Cornelius's imprisonment interrupts his cultivation of a rare black tulip, worth 100,000 guilders to the first person who succeeds in producing one. With the help of his jailer's young daughter, Rosa, Cornelius secretly continues his tulip experiment and, in the process, falls in love with his young assistant. Will the young lovers succeed against all odds, or are both the experiment and their love doomed to fail?More than anything, this story reminded me of the biblical book of Esther, with the young Cornelius in the role of Mordecai, Rosa in the role of Esther, William, Prince of Orange in the role of King Ahasuerus, and Cornelius's envious and bitter neighbor, Isaac Boxtel, as Haman. My suspense grew as I hoped the story would end as happily as the book of Esther, but feared that it would not.I listened to the audio version of this book while I was on the road. It turned out to be well suited for listening while driving. Since the book originally appeared serially, the beginning of each chapter briefly summarized the events of the preceding chapter. When characters from earlier chapters reappeared several chapters later, the author included brief reminders of what the characters were doing when they last appeared in the story. I miss the occasional passage when road conditions require intense concentration, so I appreciated the brief reminders of characters and events interspersed throughout the story. Had I read the book instead of listening to it, I might have viewed those same features as interrupting the flow of the story.Recommended for readers of historical fiction, classics, and gardening enthusiasts.
    • 4/5
      I like this story. there are a lot of scene I could sympathize. This not only be a love story but also excited me. It was interesting to be think about boyh yhe whereabouts of the black tulip and the whereabouts of love.
    • 2/5
      There are many pictures in this book. So it’s like comic books and easy to read. But it’s not interesting so much for me. The end is good, but common.
    • 3/5
      Two main chracter race to bloom the bluck tulip.A person who bloom the bluck tulip can recieve a lot of money.And this story contains a facter of love story.But the ending of this story was so called"Justice doesn't always win."
    • 3/5
      There is a placard that be written “If you could bloom black tulip, you will get a lot of money”. So Cornelius try to bloom black tulip. This story is kind of sad because the good person sacrificed themself for bad person's desire.
    • 4/5
      Very good book.
    • 5/5
      this is my favorite book that I've read as an adult. Taking place in Holland during "tulipmania", it is a captivating story about a young aristocrat who's only love in life is growing tulips and chasing the elusive Black Tulip. When he is thrown in prison he is befriended by the jailer's daughter. This story is suspenseful and beautifully written. The drama and excitement is difficult to turn away from until you've finished reading entire thing. The first chapter is a little dry but I still LOVE LOVE LOVE this book and would encourage anyone to read it!
    • 5/5
      Major themes include family relationships and botany most obviously, combined with a manipulative malcontent and the strength of the underdog, economical and political.I'm so glad I picked this up, mentioned somewhere on the BBC Books board a few weeks ago. The best character has to be the baddie Boxtel. He's brilliant! Complete cartoon character. And as the writing is almost like the unfolding of a fairytale, complete with some very avuncular observations by Dumas, it's hard to shake the cartoon imagery from your mind (might have been easier in 1850 of course!).There is much darkness in the novel too, not least in the title of course. There is the violent martyrdom of the (real) de Witts, the Canetti-style mob, the cloak-and-dagger of politics and royal ambition (or is that ultimately patriotism...?), abject violence (much of which is softened by the cartoon-style of story-telling), a drunken abusive father, Dumas' own use of irony to express something dark in a light, almost flippant, aside, and much more that will keep coming back to me over the course of today I'm sure.Out of this darkness rise two flowers, the black tulip and Rosa, the gaoler's Frisian daughter. Her father is like the porter in Auto da Fe (more Canetti!), we have godfathers, tutors, nurses and brothers, and even where relationships do not exist, Dumas likens Rosa (and tulip too) to mother here, daughter there, sister somewhere else, and 'Sire's and 'My child's crop up in poignant places throughout the dialogue. And, as a book of two parts, out of the darkness of the first, where pale Prince William is skulking around signifying doom, blooms the light of the second, where the dark tulip is the focus amongst all the other flowers of Holland, signifying hope.In its fairytale way the whole book is neat, a neat story with some neat twists, and God in his neat place, and then cluttering the thing up delightfully are often incongruous references to Dutch paintings, to myths of Greece and Rome, to the Bible and snippets of history. There's something liberatingly, childishly slapdash about some of the inaccuracies too; about Dumas' mistaking a Juvenal quote for a Horace, bestowing Medusa's snakes on someone else (Envy), or mixing his monarchs' epithets, and bounding all the way to the publishers without bothering to check.The wicked Boxtel himself (with whom it IS possible to feel some sympathy for if you've ever felt the guilt of jealousy) bears the two names Isaac and Jacob, which would probably be changed for the Disney version.The focus on the flower is reminiscent of the focus of Harris' chocolate or The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Rosa could have stepped out of Dickens, the President of the Horticultural Society is a cartoon butler-meets-town-mayor - there are so many superb cameo parts. AND, thanks to LM pointing out Dumas quarter-African status from his grandmother, it does make me wonder if either consciously or subconsciously she and her role in his family's life aren't partly being paid tribute here.And guess what, as in Seth's Equal Music, there is a dog who knows: the greyhound sitting at the feet of King William in the Dumas (p.214), the dog in Vittore Carpaccio's painting of St Jerome and St Augustine at the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice in the Seth (p.358).
    • 5/5
      Who would have thought that a book, with a simple plot about two rivals trying racing to be the first to grow a black tulip, could be so unputdownable? There are no lords and ladies, no swashbuckling heros, no evil cardinals or Miladys -- nothing but a darn good yarn, and a very sweet love story. Dumas is just brilliant (as always) and his dialogue (as always) is among the finest I've ever come across. A very quick, albeit enjoyable, read. Highly recommended.