Dark Room at Longwood: A Voyage to st Helena

This book is, on the surface, a history of Napleon's last years in exile on Saint Helena. What it really is, however, is an evocative reliving of those final 6 years by a French writer who truly feels the presence of this chapter from history in the setting of modern Saint Helena. Napoleon, in this view, died as much from melancholy as from disease, and Jean-Paul Kauffman brilliantly invokes that feeling, allowing the reader to relive Napoleon's experience in a unique - and very French - way.

I am not disparaging the earlier reviews of this book. But, I found the theme to be one of reconciliation. Kauffmann used his trip to reconcile the mythical glory of Napoleon's reign with the factual emptiness surrounding his imprisonment. Along the way, he found other aspects that needed reconciliation. The "Saints" enjoy the benefits of their status with the United Kingdom, yet don't appreciate them. The French consul's father had a productive life in France, yet chose to live as a recluse in St. Helena. The consul paints flowers that grow on a desert island. And Napoleon's former tomb is a lush contrast to his living quarters at Longwood. There are also failed attempts at reconciliation, such as Napoleon's frequent attempts to understand how he lost at Waterloo. Behind all these attempts is the almost silent struggle by Kauffmann to reconcile his own experiences as a captive with those that Napoleon endured.It's a very ambitious project that Kauffmann undertook. Fortunately, he pulled it off with incredible elegance. His descriptions of St. Helena and Longwood give a vivid image of the bleakness of both settings. Addtionally, his reflections on Napoleon's deteriorating condition are very poignant. Non-fiction does not ususally make one reflect on such things as the effect of isolation on a soul and the need for reconciliation in one's life. The fact that Kauffman has made a book that tackles such issues in an intelligent manner makes it one which everyone should read.

and Kauffmann tells it with language that can only be described as poetic. As promised, this book is a mix of travelogue, historical biography, and memoir -- it's not a blood-and-guts military history, and doesn't pretend to be one. I found it to be one of the most moving books I've ever read. Kauffmann was for several years a prisoner himself, and this book uses the trope of enforced confinement to explore what it means to be human. Pretty big theme to fit in a mere 300 pages (of glorious writing); pretty grand accomplishment. Makes me proud to be a human, for once.

This is a fantastic, engrossing book! For all fans of Napoleon, it really grabs you, and brings you into the dreary, boring world that is St. Helena. Absorbing book, I highly recommend it!

...but more than that: a diary of a traveler voyaging to one of the more obscure places on the planet, a brief history of one of the most intriguing men in history. Lovely translation.