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nataliesboooks's review
4.0
Not my very favorite work by Wilkie Collins, but overall enjoyable, and surprisingly funny at times.
manek_m's review
3.0
I got interested in Wilkie Collins after reading Drood, by Dan Simmons. Collins is the narrator of that book, which is about Dickens's last few years of life.
erinbirnel's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lnatal's review against another edition
3.0
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Introductory words:
The critical reader may possibly notice a tone of almost boisterous gayety in certain parts of these imaginary Confessions. I can only plead, in defense, that the story offers the faithful reflection of a very happy time in my past life. It was written at Paris, when I had Charles Dickens for a near neighbor and a daily companion, and when my leisure hours were joyously passed with many other friends, all associated with literature and art, of whom the admirable comedian, Regnier, is now the only survivor.
Page 43:
Love is generally described, I believe, as the tender passion. When I remember the insidiously relaxing effect of it on all my faculties, I feel inclined to alter the popular definition, and to call it a moral vapor-bath.
Page 71:
Whatever may be said about it in books, no emotion in this world ever did, or ever will, last for long together.
Page 99:
We Rogues are the spoiled children of Society. We may not be openly acknowledged as Pets, but we all know, by pleasant experience, that we are treated like them.
A quite enjoyable reading for a free afternoon, just before Christmas.
3* The Woman in White
4* The Moonstone
4* Who Killed Zebedee?
4* The Dead Alive
4* Mrs. Zant and the Ghost
3* A Fair Penitent
4* The Frozen Deep
4* The Haunted Hotel
4* The Law and the Lady
4* No Name
3* My Lady's Money
3* Mad Monkton And Other Stories
TBR Poor Miss Finch
TBR Blind Love
TBR The Dead Secret
TBR Armadale
TBR Man and Wife
TBR Basil
Introductory words:
The critical reader may possibly notice a tone of almost boisterous gayety in certain parts of these imaginary Confessions. I can only plead, in defense, that the story offers the faithful reflection of a very happy time in my past life. It was written at Paris, when I had Charles Dickens for a near neighbor and a daily companion, and when my leisure hours were joyously passed with many other friends, all associated with literature and art, of whom the admirable comedian, Regnier, is now the only survivor.
Page 43:
Love is generally described, I believe, as the tender passion. When I remember the insidiously relaxing effect of it on all my faculties, I feel inclined to alter the popular definition, and to call it a moral vapor-bath.
Page 71:
Whatever may be said about it in books, no emotion in this world ever did, or ever will, last for long together.
Page 99:
We Rogues are the spoiled children of Society. We may not be openly acknowledged as Pets, but we all know, by pleasant experience, that we are treated like them.
A quite enjoyable reading for a free afternoon, just before Christmas.
3* The Woman in White
4* The Moonstone
4* Who Killed Zebedee?
4* The Dead Alive
4* Mrs. Zant and the Ghost
3* A Fair Penitent
4* The Frozen Deep
4* The Haunted Hotel
4* The Law and the Lady
4* No Name
3* My Lady's Money
3* Mad Monkton And Other Stories
TBR Poor Miss Finch
TBR Blind Love
TBR The Dead Secret
TBR Armadale
TBR Man and Wife
TBR Basil
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