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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
The story starts at a really slow pace. It’s tough to get through the first 100 pages. But after that it picks up and it is worth it to finish this story. Fun fact - this book is often considered the first detective novel in English.
To me the main worth of this book in today's context is the fact that it is considered to be one of the first detective/crime novels written in English. Otherwise, it is a muddled story that is stuffed full of aspects many of which ultimately account to no purpose other than to play the red herring in the story.
One of Collins's strong points is the fact that as he uses multiple narrators to tell his story then the narrators themselves are very interestingly written and have a lot of personality. From the quirky head servant Garbriel Betteredge to people whose tragic backgrounds the reader only gets a glimpse like Ezra Jennings, the characters who have bits of narration for themselves are very interesting. However, the important characters who do not have a place to narrate their own story, here especially meaning Rachel Verinder, and to a lesser extent Rosanna Spearman, whose only source of narration is her letter featured as part of the narrative, unfortunately are somewhat of a cardboard cutouts because of the way that they are perceived by the (men) along them. Especially with Rachel Verinder, it is possible to look at her being perceived only from the outside perspective as a kind of social commentary but I assume that Collins did not attempt it to be that deep.
Regarding the mystery, it is full of plot points that come to heavily feature in future early detective fiction. The several red herrings, the use of which is too messy here and which later authors improve upon, featuring the robbery of a jewel that is stolen from one of the British colonies at the time (usually India) and is said to be cursed, etc. The story is very messy though, if I would have to talk about it to someone who has not read the book it would take a lot of time because of all the red herrings that are put there to confuse the reader from the fairly simple actual mystery. I did like the fact where the diamond ended up at the end though!
Overall, a flawed early detective mystery, similar plots have been drawn out better by later authors. It can get a bit tedious sometimes especially because it is very long for a detective novel if you think about most of the Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie mysteries.
One of Collins's strong points is the fact that as he uses multiple narrators to tell his story then the narrators themselves are very interestingly written and have a lot of personality. From the quirky head servant Garbriel Betteredge to people whose tragic backgrounds the reader only gets a glimpse like Ezra Jennings, the characters who have bits of narration for themselves are very interesting. However, the important characters who do not have a place to narrate their own story, here especially meaning Rachel Verinder, and to a lesser extent Rosanna Spearman, whose only source of narration is her letter featured as part of the narrative, unfortunately are somewhat of a cardboard cutouts because of the way that they are perceived by the (men) along them. Especially with Rachel Verinder, it is possible to look at her being perceived only from the outside perspective as a kind of social commentary but I assume that Collins did not attempt it to be that deep.
Regarding the mystery, it is full of plot points that come to heavily feature in future early detective fiction. The several red herrings, the use of which is too messy here and which later authors improve upon, featuring the robbery of a jewel that is stolen from one of the British colonies at the time (usually India) and is said to be cursed, etc. The story is very messy though, if I would have to talk about it to someone who has not read the book it would take a lot of time because of all the red herrings that are put there to confuse the reader from the fairly simple actual mystery. I did like the fact where the diamond ended up at the end though!
Overall, a flawed early detective mystery, similar plots have been drawn out better by later authors. It can get a bit tedious sometimes especially because it is very long for a detective novel if you think about most of the Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie mysteries.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A cursed diamond! Quicksand! Opium! A doctor with an incurable nervous complaint! What's not to love?
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
A classic. A wonderful and remarkable read, and completely evident why it's the beginning and standard for mysteries.