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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
We follow several literary big wigs around Boston during 1865 and their adventures with translating Dante into English. That doesn't sound too exciting in itself; however, someone has started murdering people in the fashion of Dante. The Dante Club now has the task of finding out who "Lucifer" really is and stopping him before he kills again. To be honest, I had a difficult time getting into this book. I am not sure if it was the person reading it (I had the audio version) or if I just wasn't connecting with the text. After awhile though, the story blossomed and it did indeed get good. The plot was interesting, but I felt that there was too much extra information and it dragged a bit. I think the people who would enjoy this book the most would either be people interested in literary history or Dante. As I have little experience with either, it was a bit of a stretch for me.
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
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:
No
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This is actually Matthew Pearl's first novel and while it doesn't flow quite as well as the Poe Shadow (that might be at least partly due to me not knowing much Dante though) it is still a superb read. Pearl has managed to recreate the era through his descriptive and detailed prose and his brilliantly written characters who seem to have been taken straight from the pages of the history books (which in fact they are). Pearl also manages to portray the Dante Club's passion and slight obsession with the Comedy, so much so that it becomes a passion of the reader too and you cannot stop reading until the murderer has been caught. The finale of the book and the identity of the killer is utterly shocking as are his reasons for his actions, which are not what you would've thought. This book combines the best of historical fact, fiction, murder and mystery complete with a slight commentary on the perils and impacts of war (which are still surprisingly relevant). A superb read and I cannot wait to read more from Pearl.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Lots of adjectives
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
