I'm fairly sure I liked the old movie. ( Who was in that anyway?)  Since I still like to have someone 'read to me,' I've been trying to listen to the Librivox recording of Scaramouche.  Since I have some things to do near the computer, I like the ones I can listen to there without needing headphones and I'm not too picky about the readers.

I thought I'd listen to almost anything and I hated to blame the book, but I kept putting it off (i was somewhere in Chapter 2 where he was getting engaged to the actress).  Last night I tried "The Circular Staircase" by Mary Roberts Rinehart.  I'm no fan of hers but that went much better.

I recall having a copy of "Captain Blood" here and I don't remember if I tried to read it before I tossed it or not.  Is this just me?  I really expected to like this one!

I really enjoyed both Scaramouche and Captain Blood, but that isn't surprising because I adore the old, classic adventure stories. I've always thought of Capt Blood and Scaramouche as swashbuckling at its best. You have the politics of the day combined with fighting and intrigue and all this is happening amidst the French Revolution, gotta love it! I do think it might take more than two chapters to get going well though, so give it a bit longer before you give up on it.

It has to be the reader making this book dull. Or, maybe this is one that needs to be read instead of listened to in order to get the full affect. I enjoy the occasional audio book too, but I do think there are some books that don't seem to convert well to audio. Is it abridged?

I'm actually through what's labelled "Book 2, Chapter 7" and I think I've been listening for about a year ;-)  None of the Librivox readers are professionals but I don't think it's his fault.  Although it might be a better to read it in hard copy, I don't think I'd have lasted this long.

I thought maybe it was my mood but when I could stand Rinehart (and they are alternating readers), I started to wonder.

Perhaps it really does take a long time for the action to start?  I thought I'd like it too.  I never thought I'd say this, but I think Sabatini wrote better movies, lol. 

(I'm not sure if I tried to read Capt. Blood or not.  The copy I had here was a very crappy old hardback and I decided to pitch it.  I may have tried it first or just decided I was never going to read it.)  I remember it had a great, although ratty, dustjacket!  I am kind of envisioning Clark Gable but that can't be right.

There have been a couple of versions of Scaramouche; one version starred Stewart Grainger.  I bet that is the version you are thinking of.  It was a real swashbuckler!

I certainly could have seen the Stewart Granger one.  We only got one channel and I saw a lot of old movies.

I've been searching unsuccessfully for the Captain Blood cover but I've been finding lots of book reviews (Oh, look! Something shiny!).  It does appear as though Scaramouche is my problem.  Someone mentioned reading Scaramouche, The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Tale of Two Cities and the contrast between the views of the aristocracy in each.

ETA:  The site that distracted me is Critical Mass, a site owned by Don D'Ammassa

www.dondammassa.com/R5_2008.htm

I saw the Stewart Granger version years ago. Definitely a swashbuckler!