(posted this to mastodon at the time) am reading the novel of Manon Lescaut, mostly because Dumas' heroine who became Verdi's Violetta owned a copy and I wanted to understand the references in Dumas' #LaDameAuxCamillas better; but also in hopes I might learn to appreciate Massanet and Puccini's Manon operas. Instead, wherein Massanet's upsets me because the young man seems noble and good and his life is ruined by this love, I'm now fed up with his self-involvement. This was not the plan. #opera #ReadingOpera

PS La Dame Aux Camillas is brilliant. Read that instead. Ebook for free on Project Gutenberg. Search for Dumas.