Napoleon
By William R. Jones
In the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer states, "All is vanity," and, "He that increases knowledge increases sorrow." That may or may not be the case, however, "of making many books there is no end.” The latter is indeed so, although nowadays the making of books has increased in the form of digital or e-books. Most can be accessed through the Internet Archive, Google Books, Project Gutenberg or Amazon. The resources are among many, many others, including the first-class National Digital Library of Korea, sometimes referred to as "dibrary," whose goal is to promote “universal access to all knowledge,” and profit, of course.
To get to the point, within this sea of knowledge on the internet, I came across a work of fiction by the Italian, Napoleone di Buonaparte. At first, I was hesitant to read it, due to his disputed reputation. He once stated, "Men of my stamp do not commit crimes." However, it seems he crafted great misery, and his heroic reputation might be a bit exaggerated. As philosopher Max Stirner said, "The state calls its own violence, law, but that of the individual, crime."
Nevertheless, a Francophile student of detailed history will not ignore and eliminate any part of it. Therefore, a little more of the whole man Napoleon is told and disclosed in his tragic romantic story, "Clisson et Eugenie," which is about the two as its principal characters. Actually, the original manuscript was fragmented and scattered as souvenir memorabilia. It was gathered and put together again with a bit of editing and translation from French into English. The British historian, Peter Hicks, living in Paris, and Emilie Barthet, a graduate in French literature, rendered the seventy-seven-page work for us. More than two-thirds of the book is commentary.
In brief, Clisson was a retired French soldier who married Eugenie. After having children, he is recalled to go off to war again. What happens thereafter, I will not spoil; rather, I will leave it for you to find out in your half-hour of reading. There is nearly always some truth in fiction. You may be able to see and read matching episodes in the Little Corporal's life.
A 2007 French language edition appeared, published by the Fayard publishing house in Paris; while the 2009 English language edition of the work is through the London-based publisher, Gallic. Their director, Jane Aiken, insisted that the book will show Napoleon as "an accomplished writer of fiction." There are more pages under the “Introduction of commentary history” and the “Afterword of speculation and interpretation” than there are as the promoted love story. We must keep in mind that the publisher is trying to sell what they just published. You may feel after reading that the successful 26-year-old military man in the autumn of 1795 (before his rise to power) was a mere novice in the writing world. I don't think he believed that "the pen is mightier than the sword!”
Personally, I don't believe that this literary product would have received any critical attention whatsoever, were it not for the identity of its author. Nevertheless, it is interesting enough to warrant a bit of discussion. Some critics do argue that Napoleon “possessed an exceptional skill when it came to writing,” and they say he found refuge in the quiet mental craft. Perhaps, but that was after he lost the love he fell in to ― a love in which “he looked for a little haven of refuge from the world, where he could be sure of being admired when he was not admirable, and praised when he was not praiseworthy.” And, don't most of us look for that kind of love eventually?
“Clisson et Eugenie” does have historical and cultural significance. The opening sentence, “From birth, Clisson was strongly attracted to war,” presents readable and understandable language ― simple and to the point.
The author (wrjones@vsu.edu) published the novella, “Beyond Harvard,” and presently teaches English as a second language.