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dancarey_404's review against another edition
3.0
I must admit up front I've never been a Dickens fan (or of any of the mid-Victorians). Consequently, I'm sure there are aspects of Pearl's novel that completely blew past me. However, it was still an enjoyable read/listen. I am intrigued enough about Dickens himself to contemplate reading a biography. (Anyone care to recommend one?)
camsand's review against another edition
4.0
This was an entertaining piece of historical fiction with a definite "Dan Brown" bent. Implausible at times, but interesting enough.
lukeisthename34's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable overall, but a little convoluted at the end with a lot of details shoehorned in to fit with history. Sort of also wish the entire son's story had been removed to save on pacing. However, I really enjoyed the flashbacks to the actual visit by Dickens to America and Pearl, as always, does a great job with the characters.
bookthia's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
If there is a sweet spot for me, it’s a novel with real life people as fictional characters. In this book, it was Charles Dickens. The gist of this novel is that Dickens’ last novel (and unfinished) novel — The Mystery of Edward Drood — was in fact finished, and it is a race between the good guys and an assortment of bad guys to find it first. This is a solid 3.5 stars for me. I liked it. In some places it was excellent. The author’s research was fantastic and I especially liked the bits about the development of the publishing industry in the west, and the copyright issues between US and UK publishers. Yet it felt like certain chapters were added just to show off stuff the author learned in his research. These chapters held the story up. The whole subplot about Dicken’s son in India was unnecessary and added nothing to the overall narrative. The protagonists had some good luck - including deductions that happened to always be right — working in their favour. But I was always rooting for them. All in all, an entertaining read.
leapais's review against another edition
3.0
Achei o titulo interessante e o preço ainda mais. € 3,00 por um livro cuja sinopse e capa me atraia? li uma ou duas páginas ao calhas e continuou a interessar e depois ainda me foi recomendado por uma amiga. Ok, vamos lá comprar e ler, já que os livros que tinha levado para férias já tinham acabado e ainda estava em Sesimbra. E comecei a ler um dia antes de me vir embora para casa. Claro que, estando a trabalhar, o tempo disponível para leitura é bastante inferior, tudo tranquilo por ai.
O que não foi tão tranquilo assim foi o livro.
O livro passa-se em três tempos.
Boston em 1870, após a morte do mestre da escrita, Charles Dickens, Osgood fica em desespero. Afinal o último livro de Dickens - O Mistério de Edwin Drood - estava a ser publicado em capítulos e Dickens enviou-lhe apenas cinco dos doze capítulos previstos para o livro. Recebe então uma mensagem a avisar que o sexto capitulo teria sido enviado por navio e envia Daniel, um dos seus homens de confiança para o porto para ir buscar o manuscrito. Mas, no regresso, Daniel morre, atropelado e quando Osgood chega à morgue verifica que Daniel não tem quaisquer papéis com ele. Opta então por ir a Londres, mais exactamente a Kent, à casa de Dickens, numa tentativa de encontrar os capítulos em falta para poder editar o final - ou aquilo que seria o final - daquele que, apesar de incompleto, é considerada a obra prima do mestre da escrita. Com ele viaja Rebecca, a irmã de Daniel.
Índia, 1870. Um roubo de ópio, com a consequente perseguição aos assaltantes, sendo que um é morto na fuga e o outro consegue fugir. Frank Dickens, filho do malogrado Charles Dickens é o responsável pela investigação.
Boston, 1867. Charles Dickens chega à América para um périplo por várias cidades para fazer a leitura e interpretação de alguns dos seus livros. Sempre casa cheia e alguns conflitos com os piratas da escrita, pessoas que se dedicam a copiar os livros dos outros para edições mais baratas e com menor qualidade (temos de perceber que, em 1870, não havia nenhuma lei que obrigasse a respeitar as obras dos escritores).
Confesso que passei o livro todo a tentar perceber o encaixe, na história, das partes referentes a 1867 e à India. Se, no primeiro caso - a ida de Dickens a Boston - é perfeitamente esclarecida no fim (e bem, diga-se de passagem), no que respeita à India e terminado o livro, ainda estou a tentar perceber. Parece-me que foi apenas para "encher chouriços" porque não tem qualquer influência no desfecho final nem em parte alguma da história.
De resto, não sendo o supra-sumo dos livros nem ande lá perto, é um livro que se lê relativamente bem e que traz, consigo, alguns factos verídicos que tornam sempre a leitura interessante.
O que não foi tão tranquilo assim foi o livro.
O livro passa-se em três tempos.
Boston em 1870, após a morte do mestre da escrita, Charles Dickens, Osgood fica em desespero. Afinal o último livro de Dickens - O Mistério de Edwin Drood - estava a ser publicado em capítulos e Dickens enviou-lhe apenas cinco dos doze capítulos previstos para o livro. Recebe então uma mensagem a avisar que o sexto capitulo teria sido enviado por navio e envia Daniel, um dos seus homens de confiança para o porto para ir buscar o manuscrito. Mas, no regresso, Daniel morre, atropelado e quando Osgood chega à morgue verifica que Daniel não tem quaisquer papéis com ele. Opta então por ir a Londres, mais exactamente a Kent, à casa de Dickens, numa tentativa de encontrar os capítulos em falta para poder editar o final - ou aquilo que seria o final - daquele que, apesar de incompleto, é considerada a obra prima do mestre da escrita. Com ele viaja Rebecca, a irmã de Daniel.
Índia, 1870. Um roubo de ópio, com a consequente perseguição aos assaltantes, sendo que um é morto na fuga e o outro consegue fugir. Frank Dickens, filho do malogrado Charles Dickens é o responsável pela investigação.
Boston, 1867. Charles Dickens chega à América para um périplo por várias cidades para fazer a leitura e interpretação de alguns dos seus livros. Sempre casa cheia e alguns conflitos com os piratas da escrita, pessoas que se dedicam a copiar os livros dos outros para edições mais baratas e com menor qualidade (temos de perceber que, em 1870, não havia nenhuma lei que obrigasse a respeitar as obras dos escritores).
Confesso que passei o livro todo a tentar perceber o encaixe, na história, das partes referentes a 1867 e à India. Se, no primeiro caso - a ida de Dickens a Boston - é perfeitamente esclarecida no fim (e bem, diga-se de passagem), no que respeita à India e terminado o livro, ainda estou a tentar perceber. Parece-me que foi apenas para "encher chouriços" porque não tem qualquer influência no desfecho final nem em parte alguma da história.
De resto, não sendo o supra-sumo dos livros nem ande lá perto, é um livro que se lê relativamente bem e que traz, consigo, alguns factos verídicos que tornam sempre a leitura interessante.
karenangela_1's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book but I don't see the point of the chapters set in India,they don't add anything to the story and I think it would have worked just as well without them
mackle13's review against another edition
2.0
I loved Pearl's [b:The Poe Shadow|9533|The Poe Shadow|Matthew Pearl|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166028018s/9533.jpg|1437022] and enjoyed [b:The Dante Club|18402|The Dante Club|Matthew Pearl|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166912978s/18402.jpg|2164481], but I just couldn't get into this one.
Part of me wonders if it's not the subject matter. I adore Poe, but I've never been much of a fan of Dickens - but I don't honestly think that that was it. I think this one just wasn't as suspensful because of the topic of the mystery.
Anyway, it switches perspective a few times. In the 'modern day' perspective, we follow James Osgood and his bookkeeper, Rebecca, as they travel from Boston to London in search of anything which might give them a clu as to how 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' was to end, after Dickens died after writing the 6th (of twelve) installments. Investigation and misadventure happen, and it's all very slow, really.
As this is going on, we sometimes flip to India, where Dickens' son, Frank, is an officer tracking down an opium thief. Opium plays an important role in the story of Drood, and in the story of the time period of our mystery - but, mostly, I feel like these sections could've been done away with, as I didn't feel they added anything to the overall story.
Lastly, we go deeper into the past and watch Dickens' last American tour unfold. It was interesting to see how authors were treated much as movie or rock stars are today, and it was interesting to see the tidbits of Dickens' personality, gleaned, we're told, through correspondence and friend's accounts of the man. But the character never felt fully fleshed out for all the research involved in it. I do think this part may be due to my bias - I don't care about Dickens as an author, which makes me less interested in him as a person. But I also felt the drama of it all was never more than a vaguely interesting historical footnote.
Back to our heroes - Osgood and Rebecca. Once again these are solvers of mystery who never really seem to solve anything, at leat not with outsiders generally coming along and pointing them in the right direction. Essentially, at the end, the villian monologues and reveals all in a last bid attempt to get Rebecca to go back to England with him, since he's gone all smitten on her. Considering other elements of the story, this was patently absurd, but, ah well.
I would've liked Rebecca to have been more part of unravelling the mystery. The few times Osgood did seem to get a clue, she dutifully asked "but how?" so he could weave out the story, but rarely seemed to come up with anything herself.
Anyway - as I said earlier, I think there wasn't really enough on the line. In Dante' Club, they were trying to stop a murderer. In Poe Shadow, we are trying to unravel the mystery of Poe's death, and save him from a slanderous biography. In Last Dickens, we're looking for the ending of a story. Yes, it was very important for the publishers, who might go under if they don't find something to offer the people - but as a reader, the stakes weren't high enough to be really interesting.
It did pick up towards the end, after going very slowly for most of it, but then it kinda petered out again.
Perhaps because we know the ending was never found, so the ending, not only a foregone conclusion, couldn't really be entirely satisfying. Though there was a bit of romance (also a mostly foregone conclusion less than half-way through the book), but I do like a bit of an happily ever-after, I suppose. So, maybe, 2 1/2 stars, if I'm feeling generous.
Part of me wonders if it's not the subject matter. I adore Poe, but I've never been much of a fan of Dickens - but I don't honestly think that that was it. I think this one just wasn't as suspensful because of the topic of the mystery.
Anyway, it switches perspective a few times. In the 'modern day' perspective, we follow James Osgood and his bookkeeper, Rebecca, as they travel from Boston to London in search of anything which might give them a clu as to how 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' was to end, after Dickens died after writing the 6th (of twelve) installments. Investigation and misadventure happen, and it's all very slow, really.
As this is going on, we sometimes flip to India, where Dickens' son, Frank, is an officer tracking down an opium thief. Opium plays an important role in the story of Drood, and in the story of the time period of our mystery - but, mostly, I feel like these sections could've been done away with, as I didn't feel they added anything to the overall story.
Lastly, we go deeper into the past and watch Dickens' last American tour unfold. It was interesting to see how authors were treated much as movie or rock stars are today, and it was interesting to see the tidbits of Dickens' personality, gleaned, we're told, through correspondence and friend's accounts of the man. But the character never felt fully fleshed out for all the research involved in it. I do think this part may be due to my bias - I don't care about Dickens as an author, which makes me less interested in him as a person. But I also felt the drama of it all was never more than a vaguely interesting historical footnote.
Back to our heroes - Osgood and Rebecca. Once again these are solvers of mystery who never really seem to solve anything, at leat not with outsiders generally coming along and pointing them in the right direction. Essentially, at the end, the villian monologues and reveals all in a last bid attempt to get Rebecca to go back to England with him, since he's gone all smitten on her. Considering other elements of the story, this was patently absurd, but, ah well.
I would've liked Rebecca to have been more part of unravelling the mystery. The few times Osgood did seem to get a clue, she dutifully asked "but how?" so he could weave out the story, but rarely seemed to come up with anything herself.
Anyway - as I said earlier, I think there wasn't really enough on the line. In Dante' Club, they were trying to stop a murderer. In Poe Shadow, we are trying to unravel the mystery of Poe's death, and save him from a slanderous biography. In Last Dickens, we're looking for the ending of a story. Yes, it was very important for the publishers, who might go under if they don't find something to offer the people - but as a reader, the stakes weren't high enough to be really interesting.
It did pick up towards the end, after going very slowly for most of it, but then it kinda petered out again.
Perhaps because we know the ending was never found, so the ending, not only a foregone conclusion, couldn't really be entirely satisfying. Though there was a bit of romance (also a mostly foregone conclusion less than half-way through the book), but I do like a bit of an happily ever-after, I suppose. So, maybe, 2 1/2 stars, if I'm feeling generous.
lenny9987's review against another edition
4.0
It was with some hesitation that I took up The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl but after reading Hard Times last week, I was finally ready. Happily, The Last Dickens proved to be a return to the intrigue of a masterfully crafted plot that Pearl demonstrated first in The Dante Club.
It’s 1870 and Charles Dickens is dead but what’s worse, his latest novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood remains unfinished. For the Boston based publishing house of Fields, Osgood, & Co. this news spreads sorrow tinged with desperation when it throws the financial promise of their position as Dickens’ exclusive publisher in America into doubt. Compounding this sorrow is the tragedy of an accident involving one of their promising young clerks, Daniel Sand. In an effort to make their edition of The Mystery of Edwin Drood the monetary success they need, one of the partners, James Osgood, embarks on a mission to find whatever remains there may be of Dickens’ plans for the novel’s hotly disputed ending for their exclusive edition.
For the complete review, visit my blog:
http://nightmaresdaydreamsandimaginedconversations.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/book-review-the-last-dickens-by-matthew-pearl/
It’s 1870 and Charles Dickens is dead but what’s worse, his latest novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood remains unfinished. For the Boston based publishing house of Fields, Osgood, & Co. this news spreads sorrow tinged with desperation when it throws the financial promise of their position as Dickens’ exclusive publisher in America into doubt. Compounding this sorrow is the tragedy of an accident involving one of their promising young clerks, Daniel Sand. In an effort to make their edition of The Mystery of Edwin Drood the monetary success they need, one of the partners, James Osgood, embarks on a mission to find whatever remains there may be of Dickens’ plans for the novel’s hotly disputed ending for their exclusive edition.
For the complete review, visit my blog:
http://nightmaresdaydreamsandimaginedconversations.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/book-review-the-last-dickens-by-matthew-pearl/