Riassunto
Riassunto di Il servo di Satana
A chi è rivolto
Readers who love true crime, travel across old empires, and the glittering society of the nineteenth century, and who enjoy a fast-moving life story full of disguises, daring escapes and narrow escapes from the law.
Che cos’è questo libro
A Servant of Satan is the life story of a man who moved through the finest drawing rooms of Europe, Asia and America while leaving a trail of dead behind him. It is told by Louis Berard, a young man who befriends a charming nobleman called Comte Linska de Castillon in Madrid, and who later watches the same man stand trial in Paris under the name Prado.
Just before the end, the prisoner hands Berard a sealed packet of notes about his past, with two conditions. The wrapping must stay shut until after the execution, and the name on the inner envelope must stay secret until the prisoner's old father dies. Berard keeps both promises, then arranges the scattered jottings into one continuous narrative and changes the real family name. The result follows Frederick von Waldberg, the son of a Prussian general, from a royal christening in Berlin to prison ships, harems, army barracks and ballrooms.
You get a fast tour of the 1870s and 1880s: Naples, Paris in wartime, Cairo, Baroda, a French convict ship, Java, Japan, Niagara Falls, London and Madrid. You also get the portrait of a man who charms everyone he meets and forgives himself everything. Let us begin with the strange scene in Madrid where Berard first meets him.
In questo riassunto
- 1A charming count hands over a packetFree
- 2A secret marriage ruins a golden boy
- 3A father's love turns to rejection
- 4Betrayal teaches him to use women
- 5Baroda brings a second killing
- 6Rose returns and justice finds a mask
- 7From convict island to a Dutch officer
- 8Poison, a sea burial and Niagara
- 9The slide into ruin and the author's judgment
Punto chiave 1 di 9
A charming count hands over a packet
The book opens in Madrid in April 1880. Louis Berard has just watched the execution of a regicide named Francisco Otero when a runaway carriage smashes against a post in the Puerta del Sol. Its passenger is thrown almost at Berard's feet and breaks his ankle. Berard drives him home to a handsome suite on Calle del Barquillo, and the man gives him a card reading Comte Linska de Castillon.
Berard calls again and finds a gifted talker. The count describes tortures at the courts of Indian and Chinese princes, lynch law on the American frontier, and military executions of spies, all as if he had seen them. He speaks four languages without an accent, dresses with quiet taste, and has a smile that lights his whole face. For about two years the two men stay close, and the count is welcome in the best salons and at diplomatic receptions.
Then Berard is called to England by his mother's illness. When he returns to Spain years later, the count has lost his money and vanished. He learns that the man on trial in Paris as Prado, charged with robberies and with the murder of a demi-mondaine named Marie Aguetant, is his old friend. He attends the trial every day and sees a coarse, gray prisoner whose fate rests largely on two women who feel betrayed.
In the condemned cell, the prisoner stays calm. He fears only that his elderly father will learn of his disgrace. Whenever Berard asks the father's name, the answer is a smile and the word tomorrow. He speaks bitterly of a stepmother, half brothers and half sisters, whom he blames for his ruin.
Two days before the end, he gives Berard a sealed packet and sets his conditions. He says what he told the magistrate was invented, and that the truth lies in these notes. After the execution, Berard opens the outer wrapping and sees a name known at every court in Europe. A week later the newspapers announce that statesman's death, and Berard reads the confessions through a night and a day.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Questions about Il servo di Satana
What is A Servant of Satan about?
It tells the life of Frederick von Waldberg, a Prussian general's son who becomes a deserter, convict, soldier and society adventurer under many false names. His path runs through Naples, Paris, Cairo, India, New Caledonia, Java, Japan, North America, London and Madrid.
Who was Prado in this book?
Prado is the name under which the book's central figure was tried in Paris. In the narrative he is Count Frederick von Waldberg, who also uses names such as Baron Wolff, Frederick Gavard and Count Linska de Castillon.
Who is Louis Berard and how does he come to tell the story?
Berard is the young man who befriends the count in Madrid after a carriage accident. The count gives him a sealed packet of papers before his death, and Berard arranges them into one continuous account.
Is A Servant of Satan a true story?
It is presented as a true story, drawn from the confessions of a man tried in Paris under the name Prado. Berard says he kept every fact from the manuscript but changed the real family name to protect innocent relatives.
Is A Servant of Satan worth reading?
Readers who enjoy adventure and crime will find a fast narrative with short chapters, vivid scenes and exotic settings. Each chapter shifts to a new place, new disguise or new danger, so the story keeps moving.