Story summary
Краткое содержание: Марсианин
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 10 parts
- Аудио скоро
A schoolboy in Paris pulls a white mouse from his jacket, and a lifelong friendship begins.
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Марсианин — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 8 h 30 min6 h 45 min fast, 10 h 10 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 121 800
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Средний longer sentences, everyday words
- Первая публикация
- 1897by Джордж Дю Морье
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
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Марсианин in short
The Martian is the life of a famous writer told by the friend who loved him. It begins with a boy and a white mouse in a Paris school, and moves through Barty Josselin's orphan childhood, his years as a Guardsman, his poverty and the fear of blindness that nearly ends his life. The mystery sits alongside the biography.
What Марсианин is about
What if the funniest, kindest man you ever knew carried a secret that explained his gift? In The Martian, a prosperous wine merchant who serves in Parliament begins writing the life of his closest friend, the novelist Barty Josselin, following his recent death.
He gives the telling to Robert Maurice, called Bob, a big, warm, self-mocking businessman. Bob starts in a Paris school in 1847, where a fair-haired English boy pulls a white mouse from his jacket and wins the whole room. Underneath runs a mystery: Barty has a strange sense of where north lies, and a voice that writes through him in his sleep.
Для кого. Readers who love a warm, talkative narrator, schoolboy pranks, French songs, Victorian London and Paris, ghostly mysteries and a friendship told with humour.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A wine merchant promises the whole truth
The book opens with a death. Barty Josselin is gone, and a vast pile of praise and blame has already gathered around his name. Bob Maurice, his oldest friend, decides to cut through the legend and show the real man.
Bob is an odd choice. He calls himself a mere tradesman and a busy politician with no literary training. He fears that trying to sound clever will make him stiff, so he vows to write in plain, homely words, in what he jokingly calls telegraphese.
He has known Barty for fifty years. Besides Barty's wife, he alone knows the strange secret behind the gift that made Barty famous. Barty asked for the absolute truth, and Bob treats the request as a sacred trust.
He admits the biography will wander, because telling his own life is the easiest way to tell his friend's. A story told by a loving friend reveals the teller as much as the subject.
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A boy with a mouse conquers a classroom
The story proper begins on a hot Saturday in 1847 at the Institution Brossard, a boys' school near Paris.
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Barty's strange gifts mark him out early
Bob calls the school years the happiest of his life.
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A son of love and scandal finds a home
Barty carries a secret of birth.
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From schoolboy to Guardsman and man about town
The years pass.
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Shame, poverty and the kindness of poor friends
A quarrel with Lord Archibald breaks Barty's cheerful life.
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Going blind, and a voice that saves his life
At Antwerp, Barty is happy, painting and singing, when his left eye suddenly fades.
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Two women, one choice, and an angry spirit
At Düsseldorf, Barty meets a circle of English visitors, among them the beautiful heiress Julia Royce, whom everyone calls divine.
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A marriage, a book and a house full of children
Back in London, Barty sells sketches and small picture books while the Gibsons struggle.
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Memory, loss and the telling of the tale
Under the comedy runs a quiet theme: memory.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Barty Josselin A beautiful, funny, soft hearted Anglo French boy who grows into a famous writer, with a strange sense of north and one failing eye.
- Bob Maurice The big, kind, self mocking narrator, a wine merchant and politician who loves his friend and promises to tell the whole truth.
- Leah Gibson A tall, black eyed, steady woman who runs her father's shop and becomes Barty's wife and the heart of his home.
- Martia A mysterious voice who writes to Barty in his own hand at night and wants to guide his life.
- Lady Caroline Grey Barty's devout, loving aunt, who nurses him in Malines and forgives his past.
- Julia Royce A golden haired, wealthy beauty who falls for Barty and learns to let him go.
- Monsieur Bonzig The stern usher turned poor painter of ships, who longs to see the sea.
How it ends (spoiler)
The book follows its frame to the end. Barty's death is announced at the opening, before Bob begins recalling their lives. Their youngest daughter Marty, crippled by a fall, is told the story of Martia by Bob and finds comfort in it, but dies young. Bob mingles her ashes with her parents' and scatters some near the old school ground, left alone with his memories.
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Вопросы о книге Марсианин
What is The Martian by George du Maurier about?
It tells the life of Barty Josselin, a gifted writer, as recalled by his lifelong friend Bob Maurice. The story follows school days, love, illness and fame, with a mysterious spirit called Martia guiding the hero.
Is The Martian about aliens from Mars?
No. It is a Victorian novel from 1897. Martia says she comes from Mars as a soul, but the book is mostly a warm story of friendship, family and memory, not a tale of spaceships.
Who is Martia in the novel?
Martia is a voice that writes to Barty in his own handwriting while he sleeps. She calls herself a spirit from Mars who loves him, and she guides and sometimes quarrels with his choices.
Is The Martian based on a true story?
It is fiction, though du Maurier drew on his own youth in Paris, his art studies in Antwerp and Düsseldorf, and his life in London. The narrator pretends to write a real biography.
Is The Martian easy to read?
The narrator speaks in a chatty, friendly voice, with short scenes, jokes and songs. Schoolboy pranks, travel and family warmth keep the pages lively and easy to follow.
Как сослаться на это издание
Du Maurier, George. The Martian: A Novel. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-martian-a-novel.
Du Maurier, G. (2026). The Martian: A novel. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-martian-a-novel (Original work published 1897)
Du Maurier, George. The Martian: A Novel. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-martian-a-novel.
@book{dumaurier2026martian,
author = {Du Maurier, George},
title = {The Martian: A Novel},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-martian-a-novel},
note = {First published 1897}
}
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