The Cat and the King

Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Cat and the King by Louis Auchincloss, HMH Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Louis Auchincloss ISBN: 9780547947013
Publisher: HMH Books Publication: March 17, 1981
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Language: English
Author: Louis Auchincloss
ISBN: 9780547947013
Publisher: HMH Books
Publication: March 17, 1981
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Language: English

A cat may look at a king, says an old proverb. The king is the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, whose fabled court at Versailles was the wonder of Europe; the cat is the watchful chronicler, Louis de Rouvroy, second duc de Saint-Simon, author of the famous Memoirs which are the definitive record of Louis’ reign.
   Auchincloss has conceived his novel as an extension of the Memoirs, in which Saint-Simon reveals his own story—as well as a great deal about the private lives of the great and near-great that did not find its way into the published record. With his inimitable gift for characterization, Auchincloss portrays Saint-Simon, the meticulous, proud aristocrat of the old school who is at once fascinated and threatened by the powerful centralized monarchy Louis is building and by the king’s plot to bolster his position by marrying off his illegitimate children to princes of the blood.
   Elegant, crisp, and abounding in authentic detail, The Cat and the King shows us the factions, liaisons, intrigues and dalliances that made up daily life at Versailles as they might have been seen from Saint-Simon’s highly critical perspective. Auchincloss imagines the dominant figures of this greatest period in French history—the aging Louis; his pious morganatic spouse, Madame de Maintenon; Monsieur, the king’s homosexual brother; the great warrior and ladies’ man Conti; and many others—as wholly believable individuals with peculiar tics and foibles of their own; but none is stranger, more fascinating, or more believable than Saint-Simon himself.
   A remarkable portrait of a quintessential man of his time, a discerning study of the use and abuse of power, and an utterly convincing recreation of a turbulent age that bears no small resemblance to our own, The Cat and the King is a many-faceted jewel that represents a new dimension of achievement in Louis Auchincloss’ distinguished career as a novelist.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A cat may look at a king, says an old proverb. The king is the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, whose fabled court at Versailles was the wonder of Europe; the cat is the watchful chronicler, Louis de Rouvroy, second duc de Saint-Simon, author of the famous Memoirs which are the definitive record of Louis’ reign.
   Auchincloss has conceived his novel as an extension of the Memoirs, in which Saint-Simon reveals his own story—as well as a great deal about the private lives of the great and near-great that did not find its way into the published record. With his inimitable gift for characterization, Auchincloss portrays Saint-Simon, the meticulous, proud aristocrat of the old school who is at once fascinated and threatened by the powerful centralized monarchy Louis is building and by the king’s plot to bolster his position by marrying off his illegitimate children to princes of the blood.
   Elegant, crisp, and abounding in authentic detail, The Cat and the King shows us the factions, liaisons, intrigues and dalliances that made up daily life at Versailles as they might have been seen from Saint-Simon’s highly critical perspective. Auchincloss imagines the dominant figures of this greatest period in French history—the aging Louis; his pious morganatic spouse, Madame de Maintenon; Monsieur, the king’s homosexual brother; the great warrior and ladies’ man Conti; and many others—as wholly believable individuals with peculiar tics and foibles of their own; but none is stranger, more fascinating, or more believable than Saint-Simon himself.
   A remarkable portrait of a quintessential man of his time, a discerning study of the use and abuse of power, and an utterly convincing recreation of a turbulent age that bears no small resemblance to our own, The Cat and the King is a many-faceted jewel that represents a new dimension of achievement in Louis Auchincloss’ distinguished career as a novelist.

More books from HMH Books

Cover of the book Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Jane Austen by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book The Bad Food Bible by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Split by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Christianity and Culture by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book The Stone Circle by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book The Best American Comics 2016 by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Borrowed Time by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on St. Augustine's Confessions by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Curious George Ready for School by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Malory's Le Morte d’Arthur by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book The Tigress of Forli by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Savage Lands by Louis Auchincloss
Cover of the book Be Near Me by Louis Auchincloss
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy