You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
Published at the same time as Dracula, this gothic novel received greater critical acclaim and outsold Bram Stoker's novel for more than a year afterwards - and I can see why.
Where Dracula is fine gothic storytelling with numerous psychological layers, The Beetle has more variety. Intensely Gothic in parts, it opens with social realism in its description of late Victorian destitution and, further on, in the socially aware and "radical" speeches of the MP Paul Lessingham. (That last sentence makes it sound as if the book is dry and boring... believe me, it's far from it. Anyway, that clarified... )
It also contains a strong crime and detection thread, perhaps not quite akin to Conan Doyle's Holmes but nevertheless close: Edward Marston perhaps? And on top of that, there's mysticism and dealth cults. Oh and romance, murder and mayhem.
Witten when it was, of course there's racial stereotyping, but it's of its time of course and we have to be intelligent enough not to be influenced by the mores of the day when considering and assessing this work.
It's been a long time that I've enjoyed reading an unknown author (unknown to me, that is...I mean, where have I been hiding...?) So much so, that I've immediately downloaded a couple more titles.
Where Dracula is fine gothic storytelling with numerous psychological layers, The Beetle has more variety. Intensely Gothic in parts, it opens with social realism in its description of late Victorian destitution and, further on, in the socially aware and "radical" speeches of the MP Paul Lessingham. (That last sentence makes it sound as if the book is dry and boring... believe me, it's far from it. Anyway, that clarified... )
It also contains a strong crime and detection thread, perhaps not quite akin to Conan Doyle's Holmes but nevertheless close: Edward Marston perhaps? And on top of that, there's mysticism and dealth cults. Oh and romance, murder and mayhem.
Witten when it was, of course there's racial stereotyping, but it's of its time of course and we have to be intelligent enough not to be influenced by the mores of the day when considering and assessing this work.
It's been a long time that I've enjoyed reading an unknown author (unknown to me, that is...I mean, where have I been hiding...?) So much so, that I've immediately downloaded a couple more titles.
medium-paced
What a great discovery. This was an amazing Gothic horror, gripping and creepy.
Even if it's a bit slow at the beginning, it gets faster after a bit and keeps you hooked till the last page.
It aged well and I loved the style of writing, the character development and the world building.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Even if it's a bit slow at the beginning, it gets faster after a bit and keeps you hooked till the last page.
It aged well and I loved the style of writing, the character development and the world building.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I see from another site I've been 'reading' this for at least 3 years on and off. It was worth the effort to finish it at last. The ending was a little bit lacklustre if I'm honest, and kind of petered out rather than ending with a gasp or a bang, but nevertheless it wasn't bad all things considered.
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having not yet read Dracula, or really any piece of proper Fin-de-siècle Gothic literature, I went into The Beetle with no real expectations beyond a vague sense that I would be extremely grossed out by the end (insects of any kind are certainly not my favorite subject to read about). However, I was pleasantly surprised on almost every account; The Beetle proved to be exciting, humorous, and certainly intriguing novel. Put simply, I was hooked.
The book is a mystery and a proper mystery at that, with a cast of very diverse characters each giving their report on a series of unusual events occurring in 18--, regarding a mysterious Egyptian figure who bears a grudge against a rising star of Parliament. Its vengeance on him will be wreaked in a most unusual way, the most obvious being that it can apparently transform into a beetle at will.
For the squeamish, take heart. There are plenty of disturbing elements here (it's Gothic fiction after all) but they tend to be the read-between-the-lines variety and not the bugs-cruching-beneath-your-feet-Men-in-Black variety. And between the uncomfortable-to-imagine bits are plenty of snappy dialogue and good old fashioned thrilling chases.
Overall, quite a good read, 4 stars.
Ok one small note: I will admit there was a part of me that really wanted Paul Lessingham to be a bad guy, the kind who would marry an Egyptian wife in his youth, but then, seeing as she was going to hamper his political career, have her murdered and try to hide the evidence. Until of course, the Beetle finds him. But then he turned out to be a good guy after all, and I was like "ok, that's acceptable." But I was kind of hoping for a gruesome revenge scene. Just thought I should get that out in the open. Ok, we're good. Go about your business.
The book is a mystery and a proper mystery at that, with a cast of very diverse characters each giving their report on a series of unusual events occurring in 18--, regarding a mysterious Egyptian figure who bears a grudge against a rising star of Parliament. Its vengeance on him will be wreaked in a most unusual way, the most obvious being that it can apparently transform into a beetle at will.
For the squeamish, take heart. There are plenty of disturbing elements here (it's Gothic fiction after all) but they tend to be the read-between-the-lines variety and not the bugs-cruching-beneath-your-feet-Men-in-Black variety. And between the uncomfortable-to-imagine bits are plenty of snappy dialogue and good old fashioned thrilling chases.
Overall, quite a good read, 4 stars.
It's very similar to Dracula (unsurprising; they came out at the same time) and follows the multi-narrator format of Wilkie Collins (has anyone written about this craze for multiple narrators and Victorian mysteries?). I hated the last section, since I didn't know why Marsh felt the need for an outsider character to do the narration (I often forgot Champnell wasn't Atherton) and the end was TOO DARN FAST. Train accident, madness, was the Arab a woman or a man?? The world may never know. This wasn't scary, however, as the beetle never bothered anyone ever again. Frankly, Alcott's short story "Lost in a Pyramid" is a heck of a lot creepier.
In toto, this is merely another book in the league of Ryder's She, and Marsh knows it, too.
In toto, this is merely another book in the league of Ryder's She, and Marsh knows it, too.
This book is traumatizing and addicting. It is the weirdest thing I've ever read and I am an English major who likes fanfiction.
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
British politician Paul Lessingham, a handsome man of wealth, talent and ambition, has a strange and disturbing past which threatens to destroy him. Tale of terror starring Robert Holt as Robert Harper; Gerald McDermott as Paul Lessingham and Tracy-Ann Oberman as Dora Grayling.
Marsh's Gothic novel about a fantastical creature was first published in 1897 - the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula, which it outsold six times over after winning popular appeal amongst readers in the Victorian period. Marsh published over 80 novels, yet much of his work has been largely forgotten.
Directed by Marion Nancarrow.
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
British politician Paul Lessingham, a handsome man of wealth, talent and ambition, has a strange and disturbing past which threatens to destroy him. Tale of terror starring Robert Holt as Robert Harper; Gerald McDermott as Paul Lessingham and Tracy-Ann Oberman as Dora Grayling.
Marsh's Gothic novel about a fantastical creature was first published in 1897 - the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula, which it outsold six times over after winning popular appeal amongst readers in the Victorian period. Marsh published over 80 novels, yet much of his work has been largely forgotten.
Directed by Marion Nancarrow.
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
As he came on, something entered into me, and forced itself from between my lips, so that I said, in a low, hissing voice, which I vow was never mine, “THE BEETLE!”
***
Paul Lessingham! Beware! THE BEETLE!
Poisoned Pen Press is an American publisher of (primarily) crime and detection novels, including the US editions of the highly successful British Library Crime Classics series which is resurrecting many forgotten classics of the Golden Age of crime fiction. Poisoned Pen has recently embarked on a new project which promises to be just as exciting Together with the Horror Writers Association, it is launching The Haunted Library of Horror Classics, a collection of classic horror novels presented in new editions, with commentaries and notes to introduce the contemporary reader to the historical and cultural context of the featured works.
One of the first publications in the series is The Beetle by Richard Bernard Heldmann, better known by his pen-name Richard Marsh. The novel was originally issued as “The Beetle: A Mystery” in 1897. This was the same year which saw the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and it may come as a surprise that The Beetle initially outsold Stoker’s cult vampire novel, going into no less than 15 editions before the Great War. Like Dracula, Marsh imagines a supernatural entity unleashed in Victorian London, except that the monster here is no vampire, but an entity rather more difficult to pin down: a “Nameless Thing” which, although vaguely bearing the features of a hideous man, scarcely seems to be human and, if it is, is of indeterminate sex. This Being, which calls itself one of the “Children of Isis”, and I therefore, presumably, of Egyptian origin, appears to have mesmeric powers and the magical ability to turn into a beetle – or rather THE BEETLE. Indeed, the characters who come across this infernal monster tend to lose their composure as soon as they hear the said two words, which Marsh generally expresses in GARISH CAPITAL LETTERS whenever they appear in the text. Although it is not clear how THE eponymous BEETLE ended up in Kensington, it seems that the main purposes of its City sojourn is to haunt one Paul Lessingham, an upcoming politician who, in younger days, made the fatal mistake of visiting a dubious Egyptian establishment, ending up a prisoner of an ancient esoteric cult. Lessingham’s past has caught up with him with a vengeance and threatens to put his and his fiancée’s life in mortal danger.
As is common in many Gothic and sensation novels of the era, each one of The Beetle’s four “books” features a different first-person narrator. In “The House with the Open Window”, unemployed clerk Robert Holt seeks shelter in a seemingly abandoned house, only to fall under the mesmeric powers of the Egyptian fiend. In “The Haunted Man”, the story is taken up by eccentric, hyperactive inventor Sydney Atherton, an acquaintance of Lessingham and his rival in love. The object of their attention is Miss Marjorie Lindon, who seems to be the most wanted young woman in London and is also being pursued by the monster him/her/itself. Marjorie is also the narrator of the third Book: “The Terror by Night and the Terror by Day”. The novel ends with notes “extracted from the Case-Book of the Hon. Augustus Champnell, Confidential Agent”, a Sherlock-Holmes-like figure who tries to bring his detective skills to bear on the lurid mystery of THE BEETLE and leads a feverish hunt all over London for the elusive Egyptian insectoid.
This edition opens with a rather convoluted warning that THE BEETLE and novels of its ilk might “exemplify ideas that are no longer current, attitudes and behaviours that are no longer tolerated, standards that are no longer judged valid”. You don’t say so! Like most examples of “Egyptian Gothic”, Marsh’s novel relies for its effect on racist and xenophobic fears, much as first and second-wave Gothic was often decidedly prejudiced against Southern Europeans and Roman Catholics. Knowing the cultural context helps one to turn a blind eye on ideas which are past their sell-by date. Even so, the constant references to “that Arab” and “diabolical Asiatic” and the idea that the civilised Western world is under threat from a creature hailing from the “dirty streets and evil smells” of Egypt starts to become jarring. And, frankly, the very thought that an ancient cult favours as choice cuts for human sacrifice, not just “white women” but, more specifically, fine examples of English maidenhood, is frankly ludicrous.
Marsh’s attitudes to women and the working classes are not much better. In that respect, however, the narrative has several redeeming features, not least the strong character of Marjorie Lindon (so much more than just a demure “damsel in distress) and the fact that he lampoons all sectors of society (the farcical figure of Marjorie’s politician father is a case in point).
This brings me to another aspect of Marsh’s novel which might be puzzling to a modern reader. Horrific though it is, THE BEETLE has an underlying comedic streak, which is particularly evident in Atherton’s narrative segment. This ambivalence might not be to everyone’s taste and, to be honest, I found that the changes in tone dampened the more horrific aspects of the novel and sometimes hovered towards self-parody. To a generation used to explicit horror or, on the other hand, to subtly unsettling psychological thrills, THE BEETLE might seem like a madcap roller-coaster ride.
There’s no doubt however that at its best, as in Holt’s encounter with the fiend, or the final, thrilling chapters, THE BEETLE still packs a punch and is a worthy addition to The Horror Library. This edition features an introduction by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, together with biographical details about Richard Marsh (including the fact that he is the grandfather of Robert Aickman, celebrated author of ‘weird fiction’), questions for discussion and suggestions for further “horrific reading”.
***
Paul Lessingham! Beware! THE BEETLE!
Poisoned Pen Press is an American publisher of (primarily) crime and detection novels, including the US editions of the highly successful British Library Crime Classics series which is resurrecting many forgotten classics of the Golden Age of crime fiction. Poisoned Pen has recently embarked on a new project which promises to be just as exciting Together with the Horror Writers Association, it is launching The Haunted Library of Horror Classics, a collection of classic horror novels presented in new editions, with commentaries and notes to introduce the contemporary reader to the historical and cultural context of the featured works.
One of the first publications in the series is The Beetle by Richard Bernard Heldmann, better known by his pen-name Richard Marsh. The novel was originally issued as “The Beetle: A Mystery” in 1897. This was the same year which saw the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and it may come as a surprise that The Beetle initially outsold Stoker’s cult vampire novel, going into no less than 15 editions before the Great War. Like Dracula, Marsh imagines a supernatural entity unleashed in Victorian London, except that the monster here is no vampire, but an entity rather more difficult to pin down: a “Nameless Thing” which, although vaguely bearing the features of a hideous man, scarcely seems to be human and, if it is, is of indeterminate sex. This Being, which calls itself one of the “Children of Isis”, and I therefore, presumably, of Egyptian origin, appears to have mesmeric powers and the magical ability to turn into a beetle – or rather THE BEETLE. Indeed, the characters who come across this infernal monster tend to lose their composure as soon as they hear the said two words, which Marsh generally expresses in GARISH CAPITAL LETTERS whenever they appear in the text. Although it is not clear how THE eponymous BEETLE ended up in Kensington, it seems that the main purposes of its City sojourn is to haunt one Paul Lessingham, an upcoming politician who, in younger days, made the fatal mistake of visiting a dubious Egyptian establishment, ending up a prisoner of an ancient esoteric cult. Lessingham’s past has caught up with him with a vengeance and threatens to put his and his fiancée’s life in mortal danger.
As is common in many Gothic and sensation novels of the era, each one of The Beetle’s four “books” features a different first-person narrator. In “The House with the Open Window”, unemployed clerk Robert Holt seeks shelter in a seemingly abandoned house, only to fall under the mesmeric powers of the Egyptian fiend. In “The Haunted Man”, the story is taken up by eccentric, hyperactive inventor Sydney Atherton, an acquaintance of Lessingham and his rival in love. The object of their attention is Miss Marjorie Lindon, who seems to be the most wanted young woman in London and is also being pursued by the monster him/her/itself. Marjorie is also the narrator of the third Book: “The Terror by Night and the Terror by Day”. The novel ends with notes “extracted from the Case-Book of the Hon. Augustus Champnell, Confidential Agent”, a Sherlock-Holmes-like figure who tries to bring his detective skills to bear on the lurid mystery of THE BEETLE and leads a feverish hunt all over London for the elusive Egyptian insectoid.
This edition opens with a rather convoluted warning that THE BEETLE and novels of its ilk might “exemplify ideas that are no longer current, attitudes and behaviours that are no longer tolerated, standards that are no longer judged valid”. You don’t say so! Like most examples of “Egyptian Gothic”, Marsh’s novel relies for its effect on racist and xenophobic fears, much as first and second-wave Gothic was often decidedly prejudiced against Southern Europeans and Roman Catholics. Knowing the cultural context helps one to turn a blind eye on ideas which are past their sell-by date. Even so, the constant references to “that Arab” and “diabolical Asiatic” and the idea that the civilised Western world is under threat from a creature hailing from the “dirty streets and evil smells” of Egypt starts to become jarring. And, frankly, the very thought that an ancient cult favours as choice cuts for human sacrifice, not just “white women” but, more specifically, fine examples of English maidenhood, is frankly ludicrous.
Marsh’s attitudes to women and the working classes are not much better. In that respect, however, the narrative has several redeeming features, not least the strong character of Marjorie Lindon (so much more than just a demure “damsel in distress) and the fact that he lampoons all sectors of society (the farcical figure of Marjorie’s politician father is a case in point).
This brings me to another aspect of Marsh’s novel which might be puzzling to a modern reader. Horrific though it is, THE BEETLE has an underlying comedic streak, which is particularly evident in Atherton’s narrative segment. This ambivalence might not be to everyone’s taste and, to be honest, I found that the changes in tone dampened the more horrific aspects of the novel and sometimes hovered towards self-parody. To a generation used to explicit horror or, on the other hand, to subtly unsettling psychological thrills, THE BEETLE might seem like a madcap roller-coaster ride.
There’s no doubt however that at its best, as in Holt’s encounter with the fiend, or the final, thrilling chapters, THE BEETLE still packs a punch and is a worthy addition to The Horror Library. This edition features an introduction by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, together with biographical details about Richard Marsh (including the fact that he is the grandfather of Robert Aickman, celebrated author of ‘weird fiction’), questions for discussion and suggestions for further “horrific reading”.