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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
This book came highly recommended to me as a literary mystery featuring some of the 19th century's most notable poets, but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations either as an exploration of the literary community or as a mystery. Dull, slow, overwrought, and plodding, with a cast of characters who should be entertaining but are barely distinguishable from one another (aside from Nicholas Rey, who was barely on the page compared to the others.) Not to mention the cast of characters is deeply lacking in women who are written as distinct people rather than maids, wives, secretaries, set pieces or accessories. Also worth mentioning, for a book about a group of poets, it's devoid of all captivating language or imagery, instead relying on overcomplicated prose that clearly pats itself on the back for sounding historically accurate.
I just couldn't get into this book at all. I got about maybe seventy pages in before I decided I didn't really want to read it anymore.
A lot of the beginning also seemed to happen way too quickly and I missed a lot of it - or maybe I wasn't paying attention. Despite the really gruesome murder though, the story spent a good deal of time with some egotistical old, white men who talked about Dante a lot. I get that the book is "The Dante Club", but I wasn't seeing yet how they connected to the murder, and it was just so abrupt to go from such an intense murder, to such a boring club. It's super boring despite being a murder mystery.
Plus, I kept getting a lot of the characters confused. All of them were famous poets, I believe. Or maybe just one of them. I don't remember. They all sort of blended into each other.
A weird issue I had was some of their names though. One was named Holmes, which I get is a rather normal name, but it still felt a bit like Pearl specifically named him Holmes after Sherlock Holmes. And another character was named George Washington Something (I don't remember his last name). Pearl deliberately named these characters after famous people. It's weird. Unless, of course, these people actually were real people, in which case please disregard this paragraph.
I just have too many other books to read that I didn't feel like getting much farther into this one.
A lot of the beginning also seemed to happen way too quickly and I missed a lot of it - or maybe I wasn't paying attention. Despite the really gruesome murder though, the story spent a good deal of time with some egotistical old, white men who talked about Dante a lot. I get that the book is "The Dante Club", but I wasn't seeing yet how they connected to the murder, and it was just so abrupt to go from such an intense murder, to such a boring club. It's super boring despite being a murder mystery.
Plus, I kept getting a lot of the characters confused. All of them were famous poets, I believe. Or maybe just one of them. I don't remember. They all sort of blended into each other.
A weird issue I had was some of their names though. One was named Holmes, which I get is a rather normal name, but it still felt a bit like Pearl specifically named him Holmes after Sherlock Holmes. And another character was named George Washington Something (I don't remember his last name). Pearl deliberately named these characters after famous people. It's weird. Unless, of course, these people actually were real people, in which case please disregard this paragraph.
I just have too many other books to read that I didn't feel like getting much farther into this one.
DENSE. Interesting concept. I wanted to persevere, but I ran out of steam near the end. The writing was great, though.
3,5 ster. Ik had dit boek als Dante-fan graag een hoger cijfer gegeven. Het verhaal is interessant en goed opgebouwd met een plottwist hier en daar. Daarnaast merk je dat het gestoeld is op gedegen onderzoek. Wat ik ook leuk vind, is het feit dat de personages hele andere karakters en kwaliteiten hebben die gaandeweg goed van pas komen. Echter, het verhaal vordert zo ontiegelijk traag en het taalgebruik is zo wollig dat het lastig door het boek heen komen is. Zonde. Ik twijfel dan ook of ik het vervolg zal lezen, aangezien daar geen Nederlandse vertaling van is.
I really liked this book! It was hard for me, because so many characters are introduced in the first part of the book, it was difficult for me to keep them all straight. So, I started over, with a cheat sheet and then I could follow the story.
This book requires some effort from the reader, but it's worth it in the end. I'm not naturally a murder-mystery kinda gal, but I enjoyed this book.
The murders are particularly gruesome. I gagged my way through the first one. Since I had to start it over, I gagged my way through the first one twice!
This book requires some effort from the reader, but it's worth it in the end. I'm not naturally a murder-mystery kinda gal, but I enjoyed this book.
The murders are particularly gruesome. I gagged my way through the first one. Since I had to start it over, I gagged my way through the first one twice!
Poets Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, and their publisher Fields race to solve a murder mystery. This historical fiction/mystery is quite the page-turner (and, yes, there really was a Dante Club). You don't have to know anything about Dante to enjoy the book, but it certainly doesn't hurt. It was so good that I am contemplating going back and reading The Inferno again.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I've never read Dante's 'Inferno', but after finishing this novel, I just might look into doing so. I've always had a fascination with serial killers, both real and fictional, and 'The Dante Club' didn't disappoint in that respect. In fact, it didn't disappoint in any respect. The fact that it was written by an actual Dante scholar certainly helped with the overall believability of the story...even though it's main plot is fictional.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history, literature and/or murder mysteries...this book displays each of those subjects impeccably.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history, literature and/or murder mysteries...this book displays each of those subjects impeccably.