Manon Lescaut

I ain't Manon Lescault is a gold digger, but she aint messin' with no broke Chevalier des Grieux.

I read this as part of the Great Courses, er, course called A Day's Read. This thing actually took me a couple years, because I stalled out the first time around, unable to finish, and then I got distracted by life.

It also felt longer than it was because my constant eye rolls slowed down the process.

Essentially, we have this guy from a wealthy family who falls for a lower middle class girl, and runs off with her. She is all he wants. While she might have some love for him, her actions throughout indicate she will choose money and comfort every time. They are constantly losing money, and on each occasion she chooses a suitor who will keep her in a manner she deems appropriate. In her defense, she claims to value fidelity of the heart over fidelity of the body.

This guy, the Chevalier des Grieux, will do anything to keep her in luxury, and the story finds him degrading and embarrassing himself over time. Every time he loses her, or their choices lead to imprisonment for one or both of them, what he will do to be reunited with her becomes more extreme. The thing is that he blames their woes on anything other than poor choices, and never seems to truly get how despicable he has grown.

Even while I read about their various calamities, I think he almost always gets off lighter than he deserves. He calls on assistance from a devoted friend, uses his education and/or demeanor as a gentleman to secure privileges and favors, and when he has money he greases lots of palms. He is imprisoned on multiple occasions, but never experiences prison. He also always has the promise of a future inheritance.

I can enjoy books with unsympathetic main characters, but I kept wondering how much Prevost wanted me to buy into this guy's delusions and privilege, and that made this a slog. Am I supposed to sympathize or root for these two? I do believe if I had to pick between the two, I'd root for Manon. Yeah, she is happy to be a mistress if the price is right, but that's her choice. He claims all he desired was her happiness, but he kept her from the security that might achieve that for her.

Of course, I can project a lot onto Manon's choices, because we don't truly get to know her, and I left the story wondering if her devoted lover knew who the truth of her, if he ever saw the real woman.

3 stars for a classic? Yeah, that might speak poorly of my tastes, but what can you do? As usual, I ended up glad I read this, and the rating reflects that as well as my enjoyment. If it was merely enjoyment, it would lose a star.