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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
this took awhile to get interesting but once it did, it was a decent mystery with a literary twist. Nothing to write home about really.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It was a pretty okaish mystery book. It is sometimes a bit hard to follow, but overall decent. Additionaly the writing was a smuge boring.
This book overcame a slightly slow and meandering firt third to become an excellent, taut mystery. I love that it used real poets who really did love Dante, even if the murders were fictional.
My main memory of this book is this it was horribly gruesome and tried quite a bit too hard. Might be one for donating.
adventurous
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Dante Club is a wonderful debut novel from Matthew Pearl. It is the story of the Fireside Poets - Henry Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell - who initially form the Dante Club to assist Longfellow in finishing the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Commedia Divina.
The book starts off with the gruesome murder of Judge Healy, probably the most intense beginning to any book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. The reader finds Healy left out in his own back yard, naked, his clothes folded neatly and left to the side, his head nearly eaten out by maggots... it is a scene to behold.
And one that seems oddly familiar to the Dante Club. Was it not Dante himself who saw the Opportunists in the Inferno with a white flag next to them and maggots and wasps constantly picking at their flesh? With more people in high places dying, the Dante Club notices the pattern and begins an investigation to find their "Lucifer."
In conjunction to their hunt for "Lucifer," the Dante Club faces the dastardly Harvard School who is hell-bent on making sure that the Dante Club's dream of publishing the translated poem never becomes realized.
Pearl creates a well-researched book with rich historical details that perfectly capture post Civil War America. Having read the above description, you can tell that the book is extremely graphic, so it is not recommended for the light of heart. And as far as mysteries go, this one will keep you on your toes up until the very end.
(Overall, I give it a 9 out of 10 and only because once we did find out who Lucifer was there was an entire chapter of expository writing explaining why this was so and how this person got so screwed up - I kind of wanted that left to the imagination).
The book starts off with the gruesome murder of Judge Healy, probably the most intense beginning to any book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. The reader finds Healy left out in his own back yard, naked, his clothes folded neatly and left to the side, his head nearly eaten out by maggots... it is a scene to behold.
And one that seems oddly familiar to the Dante Club. Was it not Dante himself who saw the Opportunists in the Inferno with a white flag next to them and maggots and wasps constantly picking at their flesh? With more people in high places dying, the Dante Club notices the pattern and begins an investigation to find their "Lucifer."
In conjunction to their hunt for "Lucifer," the Dante Club faces the dastardly Harvard School who is hell-bent on making sure that the Dante Club's dream of publishing the translated poem never becomes realized.
Pearl creates a well-researched book with rich historical details that perfectly capture post Civil War America. Having read the above description, you can tell that the book is extremely graphic, so it is not recommended for the light of heart. And as far as mysteries go, this one will keep you on your toes up until the very end.
(Overall, I give it a 9 out of 10 and only because once we did find out who Lucifer was there was an entire chapter of expository writing explaining why this was so and how this person got so screwed up - I kind of wanted that left to the imagination).
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
the beginning is quite slow. it’s a little hard to get ahold of everything, but once you hit the half-way point of the second chapter (about 50 pages in), it really picks up. i read the last 300 pages in two days— i simply couldn’t put it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, Medical content
Minor: Slavery, Grief, Alcohol
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely a page turner. I would say it’s better if you have read Inferno, but not absolutely necessary. Very dark, gruesome descriptions of death.