You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
This book took me FOREVER to finish! Kind of boring and much more complex than necessary, but if you're into Victorian novels of this sort then this will be perfect for you. I thought it went on forever!
The different narrators was kind of fun, but I wanted more action - the middle 200 pages were like a desert. It wasn't until about page 400 that things started to pick up and get resolved in an interesting way.
Despite this, I think it would make a fantastic mini-series on Masterpiece Theatre!
The different narrators was kind of fun, but I wanted more action - the middle 200 pages were like a desert. It wasn't until about page 400 that things started to pick up and get resolved in an interesting way.
Despite this, I think it would make a fantastic mini-series on Masterpiece Theatre!
I loved this. High Victorian drama with fevers, laudanum and mysterious strangers; characters commit suicide to protect the good reputations of their secret loves; murder is committed in grotty circumstances.
But at the same time it's impossible to read without a modern eye. Firstly, the odd levity, the unadorned language and the characterisation make the book feel more modern, Edwardian rather than right from the middle of the Victorian era. There are enlightened attitudes lamenting the servitude of others, mocking evangelical religion and more.
But at the same time, it's a book from the height of empire, full of dark, swarthy evil. Despite the empire being sustained by brutal repressive violence, here on the home front the violence is committed by "Hindoos" seeking to return what law breaking adventurers had stolen from them. This is a book from the time of gentleman white big game hunters, from the Elgin Marbles etc when the English went out and took any culture and heritage they found. And the evil ones are the ones seeking its return.
But at the same time it's impossible to read without a modern eye. Firstly, the odd levity, the unadorned language and the characterisation make the book feel more modern, Edwardian rather than right from the middle of the Victorian era. There are enlightened attitudes lamenting the servitude of others, mocking evangelical religion and more.
But at the same time, it's a book from the height of empire, full of dark, swarthy evil. Despite the empire being sustained by brutal repressive violence, here on the home front the violence is committed by "Hindoos" seeking to return what law breaking adventurers had stolen from them. This is a book from the time of gentleman white big game hunters, from the Elgin Marbles etc when the English went out and took any culture and heritage they found. And the evil ones are the ones seeking its return.
Some dubious plot twists and light nineteenth-century racism, but absorbing nonetheless
"I am not superstitious; I have read a heap of books in my time; I am a scholar in my own way. . . . You are not to take it, if you please, as the saying of an ignorant man, when I express my opinion that such a book as Robinson Crusoe never was written, and never will be written again. I have tried that book for years - generally in combination with a pipe of tobacco - and I have found it my friend in need in all the necessities of this mortal life. When my spirits are bad - Robinson Crusoe. When I want advice - Robinson Crusoe. In past times, when my wife plagued me; in present times, when I have had a drop too much - Robinson Crusoe. I have worn out six stout Robinson Crusoes with hard work in my service. On my lady's last birthday she gave me a seventh. I took a drop too much on the strength of it; and Robinson Crusoe put me right again. Price four shillings and sixpence, bound in blue, with a picture into the bargain" (Collins 22).
"Most things they say have a moral, if you only look for it" (Collins 33).
"The man who doesn't believe in Robinson Crusoe . . . is a man with a screw loose in his understanding, or a man lost in the mist of his own self-conceit! Argument is thrown away upon him; and pity is better reserved for some person with a livelier faith" (Collins 90).
"Most things they say have a moral, if you only look for it" (Collins 33).
"The man who doesn't believe in Robinson Crusoe . . . is a man with a screw loose in his understanding, or a man lost in the mist of his own self-conceit! Argument is thrown away upon him; and pity is better reserved for some person with a livelier faith" (Collins 90).
If you haven't read Wilkie Collins yet and you like Bronte and/or Dickens, what are you waiting for?
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-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
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Best detective novel in which all the characters try to escape the fact that they are in a detective novel.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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