Book Review: The Wolf Leader by Alexandre Dumas

The Wolf Leader by Alexandre Dumas

Not so humble cobbler Thibault lives a quiet life in his small home in the woods. He gets caught up in a deer hunt by the local lord and wis beaten by one of the lord's lackeys. In a bad mood, Thibault finds himself wishing for revenge. Unfortunately for him, the Devil in the form of a talking wolf comes to him and makes a deal. Thibault's any wish will come true at the cost of one hair on his head. The catch is that each subsequent wish will cost double. So the second wish costs two hairs, the third four hairs, and so on. Thibault has heard the story of the wise man who asked for a chessboard full of grain, starting with one on the first square, two on the second, and doubling all the way to the sixty-fourth square. The wise man became quite rich, an outcome that Thibault wants, along with the deer's capture and the lackey's suffering. Thibault goes for the deal, but as in many wish-fulfillment schemes, things do not turn out the way Thibault wants.

The story makes for an interesting morality tale that has quite a bit of humor in it. Thibault is initially sympathetic but his poor decisions and imprecise wishes quickly lead him down the path toward evil. He winds up a leader to the wolves of the forest, using them to get his way as much as wishing his way. He does amass some wealth which only puts him in social circles he is not prepared to participate in. His romantic pursuits grow more and more selfish as they get more and more absurd in the higher echelons of society. Thibault can't escape from the tragedy that he's inserted himself into.

While this is claimed as a werewolf book, it has only a few instances of a person transformed into a wolf, including the demonic wolf at the beginning who pops up every now and again. It's really a Faustian bargain which goes awry for the protagonist. The writing is very entertaining, not surprising for the guy who wrote about the Musketeers and Monte Cristo.

Recommended.

For more commentary on the book, listen to A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #343.