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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
challenging
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:
N/A
Read for the 2022 52 Book Club Challenge
12. Set on at least two continents—The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
As promised, it starts slow, but once I hit the halfway point it ramped up quickly. I am such a huge fan of Collins' The Woman in White, which I read for the book challenge last year, that I wanted to make sure that I included another one of his classics this year. If given a choice between the two, I probably prefer WiW slightly more, but that doesn't prevent Moonstone from being a ride in and of itself. I don't want to say too much without giving the story away--it's one of those tales where nothing is as it seems and even the smallest, seemingly harmless detail has meaning later on. Books from this era though give readers that beautiful satisfaction of everyone getting their comeuppance, and no one is left with an ambiguous ending. Part of me wishes the whole story was told from the perspective of Miss Clack though--hysterical!
12. Set on at least two continents—The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
As promised, it starts slow, but once I hit the halfway point it ramped up quickly. I am such a huge fan of Collins' The Woman in White, which I read for the book challenge last year, that I wanted to make sure that I included another one of his classics this year. If given a choice between the two, I probably prefer WiW slightly more, but that doesn't prevent Moonstone from being a ride in and of itself. I don't want to say too much without giving the story away--it's one of those tales where nothing is as it seems and even the smallest, seemingly harmless detail has meaning later on. Books from this era though give readers that beautiful satisfaction of everyone getting their comeuppance, and no one is left with an ambiguous ending. Part of me wishes the whole story was told from the perspective of Miss Clack though--hysterical!
The Moonstone is a rather spectacular Victorian novel, but it took me ages to get properly into it. I felt like I needed to have extensive reading sessions to get anywhere with it, as reading a chapter each night wasn't cutting it, and I kept forgetting who all the characters were. This is the first book for which I have compiled a list of characters and who they all were as the story progressed. This technique might have been useful for [b:Wolf Hall|6101138|Wolf Hall (Wolf Hall, #1)|Hilary Mantel|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336576165s/6101138.jpg|6278354]. Wolf Hall and The Moonstone had one thing in common when referring to its characters: Many characters had a first name and a surname which they were alternately called by. For example, often Mr Franklin Blake was called either Mr Franklin or Mr Blake, the same as Mr Godfrey Ablewhite being called Mr Godfrey or Mr Ablewhite, which I found most confusing. That's why I wrote them all down with their full names.
The story is about a yellow Indian diamond, once stolen from the "Hindoos" and believed by them to be sacred. It finds its way into the hands of a young lady before it is promptly stolen away again. The novel is told in several "narratives" by several different narrators, each being given the task of describing only what they experienced first-hand to contribute to the story. The first narrative from Mr Gabriel Betteredge was the most tiresome. It set out the main events of the family and the theft, but it seemed to drag on and on when I was trying to get into the story. At one point, Betteredge says,
"If you are as tired of reading this narrative as I am of writing it - Lord how we shall enjoy ourselves on both sides a few pages further on!"
How apt!
Once the novel moved onto the second narrative of Miss Clack, it seemed to get going a bit more, and flowed more easily. Thereafter the narratives seemed shorter and perhaps more to the point.
As far as the individual characters are concerned:
My favourites were probably Franklin Blake, Gabriel Betteredge the housekeeper (who I did find incredibly amusing, especially when he talked about the predictions of Robinson Crusoe), Ezra Jennings the doctor's assistant, and Sergeant Cuff the detective.
My least favourites were Drusilla Clack the fanatical Christian shove-in-your-face, and I suppose Rachel Verinder because for the majority of the novel she is petulant and annoying, and by the time she redeemed herself it was too late for me to like her.
I did enjoy this novel, even though it took me a full month to read. Apart from it being slow and rather long, I did appreciate the intricacy of the writing and Wilkie Collins' ability to make me feel like the characters were really fleshed out. One exception is Franklin Blake, whom I thought I felt okay about while he was being described by Betteredge, but as soon as his own narrative began, his characterisation got lost.
The story is about a yellow Indian diamond, once stolen from the "Hindoos" and believed by them to be sacred. It finds its way into the hands of a young lady before it is promptly stolen away again. The novel is told in several "narratives" by several different narrators, each being given the task of describing only what they experienced first-hand to contribute to the story. The first narrative from Mr Gabriel Betteredge was the most tiresome. It set out the main events of the family and the theft, but it seemed to drag on and on when I was trying to get into the story. At one point, Betteredge says,
"If you are as tired of reading this narrative as I am of writing it - Lord how we shall enjoy ourselves on both sides a few pages further on!"
How apt!
Once the novel moved onto the second narrative of Miss Clack, it seemed to get going a bit more, and flowed more easily. Thereafter the narratives seemed shorter and perhaps more to the point.
As far as the individual characters are concerned:
My favourites were probably Franklin Blake, Gabriel Betteredge the housekeeper (who I did find incredibly amusing, especially when he talked about the predictions of Robinson Crusoe), Ezra Jennings the doctor's assistant, and Sergeant Cuff the detective.
My least favourites were Drusilla Clack the fanatical Christian shove-in-your-face, and I suppose Rachel Verinder because for the majority of the novel she is petulant and annoying, and by the time she redeemed herself it was too late for me to like her.
I did enjoy this novel, even though it took me a full month to read. Apart from it being slow and rather long, I did appreciate the intricacy of the writing and Wilkie Collins' ability to make me feel like the characters were really fleshed out. One exception is Franklin Blake, whom I thought I felt okay about while he was being described by Betteredge, but as soon as his own narrative began, his characterisation got lost.
Not quite what I expected, although I guess I didn’t really know what to expect. I listened to this on audio, and the narrator (BJ Harrison) was spectacular! He had a lot of different voices to keep track of, and he did very well.
Like “The Woman in White”, the beginning of this book starts out slowly. Very slowly. I could hardly get through Betteredge’s initial portion of the story. Once I did, I think the story started to pick up, and I became more interested! At one point, it was hard to stop listening because I wanted to know what happened.
I also discovered that, despite my initial impatience with the butler/steward, anytime Gabriel Betteredge came back into the story, I realized that I had a fondness for him due to his initial telling of the story. And probably due to how long his narration was. Some of his old-fashioned notions were definitely a bit cringey. But I was fond of his character overall.
I very much enjoyed this book! Would I read it again? Not sure. But I’m really glad that I’ve read it.
Like “The Woman in White”, the beginning of this book starts out slowly. Very slowly. I could hardly get through Betteredge’s initial portion of the story. Once I did, I think the story started to pick up, and I became more interested! At one point, it was hard to stop listening because I wanted to know what happened.
I also discovered that, despite my initial impatience with the butler/steward, anytime Gabriel Betteredge came back into the story, I realized that I had a fondness for him due to his initial telling of the story. And probably due to how long his narration was. Some of his old-fashioned notions were definitely a bit cringey. But I was fond of his character overall.
I very much enjoyed this book! Would I read it again? Not sure. But I’m really glad that I’ve read it.
A cursed diamond that goes missing, what's not to like? If you're a fan of Downton Abbey, I'm not, then this book might be of interest. The book read too much like a soap opera for my tastes. While sections were fairly gripping there were other, longer sections, that were snoozers. The mystery does have an unexpected twist that might be a bit of a stretch.
funny
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Murder
mysterious
slow-paced
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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
It's like a kinda sexist "Knives Out" meets Sherlock meets Downton Abbey vibe.