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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
There was a lot to enjoy about this mystery written in 1859. Collins tells the tale of two sisters, Marian and Laura. Laura is engaged to be married to a baronet, but shortly before the wedding, she is warned that marrying him would be a terrible idea. On this premise, hinges a very complex plot. In my mind, the plot collapses a bit under its own convoluted weight, but the characters themselves are very entertaining, and on that lies the strength of the book.
Collins also uses a method to tell the story that was interesting. It is told in a strictly linear fashion, but using the voices and perspectives of different characters. I've certainly read tons of books that use first person narratives from the different characters, but I can't recall one adhering to linear timeline in quite the same way.
All in all, I found this book to use a level of detail that creates a feeling that it all could have really happened, but also causes the book to drag on a bit at points. Fortunately, Collins is pretty skilled at using suspense, such that the book begs to be finished despite the length.
Collins also uses a method to tell the story that was interesting. It is told in a strictly linear fashion, but using the voices and perspectives of different characters. I've certainly read tons of books that use first person narratives from the different characters, but I can't recall one adhering to linear timeline in quite the same way.
All in all, I found this book to use a level of detail that creates a feeling that it all could have really happened, but also causes the book to drag on a bit at points. Fortunately, Collins is pretty skilled at using suspense, such that the book begs to be finished despite the length.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This books is definitely long and as a proto-detective/thriller, one can definitely see where in this day and age the 'fat' might have been trimmed but I also, often, didn't mind it? Sure Collins waxed poetic a great deal but it felt very lived in. Like Fosco loved to chew the scenery and so did Collins, my god!
I will second the many reviews talking about the latter half of this as getting CRAZY. I genuinely cannot imagine reading this in the year 1860 and reading the lines of Fosco saying he would spray Walter's brains across the room. Like....I was gagged . I think much of this 'shocking' language is aided by the polite words surrounding it. Sure, in this day and age such speech isn't shocking but when you've marinated in victorian language for so long, it puts you into a time where no one would have spoken like that. There are outsized, at times ridiculous, villains but their motives are so grittily mundane it doesn't feel half so outlandish as it should.
I will also bring up the very interesting and intriguing 'love'-triangle made up by Marian Holcombe, Laura Fairlie and Walter Hartright. This is perhaps the only time when modern sensibilities far outweighed the original text's intentions because from the 2023 it is extremely clear that Walter and Marian have a far deeper connection than Laura who never even has a section of narration. Reading Marian and Walter's sections of each other, it seems clear why one film version had them ending up together and yet another had her as a coded-lesbian (dressing more 'mannish' despite the text describing her as fine in figure but plain-to-mannish in the face). Even the description from Walter focuses on her brightness, her quickness, her verve in admiring terms and he quickly stops describing her by her masculine features. It is curious but if there was ever to be a polyamorous relationship, this might be it. Modern ideas definitely weigh in, making the ideal of peacefulness that is Laura (a gift to Walter after his stressful hardships) into a nothing character - a parody of a fainting woman who is constantly stressed and getting the vapours. I don't know if Marian is a lesbian (her reaction to Fosco would speak otherwise) but I do find it hard to wrap my head round her relationship with Walter, probably because she is so much cooler and dynamic than her half-sister.
I will second the many reviews talking about the latter half of this as getting CRAZY. I genuinely cannot imagine reading this in the year 1860 and reading the lines of Fosco saying he would spray Walter's brains across the room. Like....I was gagged . I think much of this 'shocking' language is aided by the polite words surrounding it. Sure, in this day and age such speech isn't shocking but when you've marinated in victorian language for so long, it puts you into a time where no one would have spoken like that. There are outsized, at times ridiculous, villains but their motives are so grittily mundane it doesn't feel half so outlandish as it should.
I will also bring up the very interesting and intriguing 'love'-triangle made up by Marian Holcombe, Laura Fairlie and Walter Hartright. This is perhaps the only time when modern sensibilities far outweighed the original text's intentions because from the 2023 it is extremely clear that Walter and Marian have a far deeper connection than Laura who never even has a section of narration. Reading Marian and Walter's sections of each other, it seems clear why one film version had them ending up together and yet another had her as a coded-lesbian (dressing more 'mannish' despite the text describing her as fine in figure but plain-to-mannish in the face). Even the description from Walter focuses on her brightness, her quickness, her verve in admiring terms and he quickly stops describing her by her masculine features. It is curious but if there was ever to be a polyamorous relationship, this might be it. Modern ideas definitely weigh in, making the ideal of peacefulness that is Laura (a gift to Walter after his stressful hardships) into a nothing character - a parody of a fainting woman who is constantly stressed and getting the vapours. I don't know if Marian is a lesbian (her reaction to Fosco would speak otherwise) but I do find it hard to wrap my head round her relationship with Walter, probably because she is so much cooler and dynamic than her half-sister.
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
the claim is that this is one of the first mysteries.
although we could likely put jane eyre in the same realm.
although we could likely put jane eyre in the same realm.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the vibe.