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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
It’s said to be the earliest detective novel and in that aspect, it’s quite an achievement.
Some parts of the book have not aged well and as a person of colour, I find it difficult to sympathise with the main characters who lament the loss of the diamond which they stole from the people it rightfully belongs. The book is steeped in imperialist and puritan Christian ideology. The humour would probably not match the taste of most modern readers. The narrative style of the book really dragged towards the end. The switching of perspectives and introduction of journals and letters was interesting at first but then began to seem tedious and unnecessary. Overall, an underwhelming read.
Some parts of the book have not aged well and as a person of colour, I find it difficult to sympathise with the main characters who lament the loss of the diamond which they stole from the people it rightfully belongs. The book is steeped in imperialist and puritan Christian ideology. The humour would probably not match the taste of most modern readers. The narrative style of the book really dragged towards the end. The switching of perspectives and introduction of journals and letters was interesting at first but then began to seem tedious and unnecessary. Overall, an underwhelming read.
I read it for a class, I didn't like it very much at all.
mysterious
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Suicide
‘The Moonstone’ basically created the detective novel. Originally serialized in Charles Dickens’ magazine “All The Year Round’ in 1868, it tells the story of a missing diamond and invites the reader to guess who purloined the jewel, and why.
This book has it all: desperate people, wealthy people, desperate wealthy people, a mansion and servants (both of which hold their own secrets), a detective, an heiress, a priceless jewel presumably stolen from the Raj, and basically everything the reader could want this side of Colonel Mustard. That said, I think this book holds limited appeal for the contemporary mystery reader. Author Wilkie Collins may have invented many of the tropes of the detective novel, but they’re wrapped in the longwinded 19th-Century style of a writer who’s getting paid by the word. If written today, ‘The Moonstone’ would need half as many pages to tell its story, but that’s only because a contemporary writer is (consciously or not) so versed in Collins’s creation that s/he can afford to take shortcuts with confidence the reader will follow.
Nevertheless, I found ‘The Moonstone’ both academically interesting and intrinsically entertaining. I recommend it to fans of detective fiction.
This book has it all: desperate people, wealthy people, desperate wealthy people, a mansion and servants (both of which hold their own secrets), a detective, an heiress, a priceless jewel presumably stolen from the Raj, and basically everything the reader could want this side of Colonel Mustard. That said, I think this book holds limited appeal for the contemporary mystery reader. Author Wilkie Collins may have invented many of the tropes of the detective novel, but they’re wrapped in the longwinded 19th-Century style of a writer who’s getting paid by the word. If written today, ‘The Moonstone’ would need half as many pages to tell its story, but that’s only because a contemporary writer is (consciously or not) so versed in Collins’s creation that s/he can afford to take shortcuts with confidence the reader will follow.
Nevertheless, I found ‘The Moonstone’ both academically interesting and intrinsically entertaining. I recommend it to fans of detective fiction.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No