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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
L’histoire…
La tentative de meurtre sur la personne de Mlle Stangerson et la disparition incompréhensible du coupable m’ont tenue incontestablement en haleine même si mon intérêt pour la découverte du mystère de la chambre jaune s’est étiolé au fil de l’histoire.
J’ai beaucoup aimé le fait que l’auteur donne plein de détails sur les faits, sur le déroulement de l’enquête, les péripéties de Rouletabille… Cela donne le sentiment de participer à l’enquête ou du moins, de la vivre au côté de son ami avocat qui nous la narre.
Quant au dénouement, j’ai été un peu déçue m’attendant à une révélation plus spectaculaire pour expliquer le mystère de la chambre jaune. Le motif de la tentative de meurtre m’a semblé, en outre, plutôt banal même si je ne l’avais pas deviné. En revanche, les indices donnés par l’auteur m’avait permis de trouver le coupable avant la fin du livre.
Les personnages…
Dès le début du livre, j’ai souri puisqu’il est difficile de garder son sérieux face à un personnage du nom de Rouletabille. J’ai bien aimé l’effet comique d’un tel nom. Le livre n’est d’ailleurs pas exempt d’humour avec cette impression d’une certaine caricature des enquêtes policières par l’auteur.
J’ai toutefois été un peu gênée par les trop nombreux effets de manche de Rouletabille. C’est vrai que cela correspond bien à ce personnage rocambolesque et haut en couleurs, mais ça finit tout de même par le desservir. Il en devient fatiguant avec toutes ces simagrées qui alourdissent la lecture ! Cela donne même le sentiment qu’il fait des tours et des détours dans l’enquête afin de mieux étaler sa supériorité intellectuelle et ainsi briller devant les autres. Il faut dire que le jeune homme ne connaît pas vraiment le mot modestie…
Je dis jeune homme car ce cher journaliste n’a que 18 ans ce que je ne trouve pas du tout crédible au regard de son comportement, de ses analyses, de ses déductions… Je pense que cela était voulu par l’auteur, mais ce trop jeune âge m’a quand même gênée.
Quant aux autres personnages, certains m’ont semblé caricaturaux comme l’amoureux transi prêt à tout pour sa dulcinée quand d’autres m’ont franchement agacée comme la victime, Melle Stangerson. Par son silence, elle complique une histoire qui aurait pu être réglée très rapidement. Il est vrai que si on se replace dans le contexte de l’époque, son comportement peut mieux se comprendre, mais il n’empêche, difficile de ne pas avoir envie de la secouer.
En conclusion, j’ai pris plaisir à lire ce roman notamment grâce à la plume de l’auteur très agréable à lire. L’enquête pour découvrir le mystère de la chambre jaune se révèle globalement intéressante même si elle souffre de quelques longueurs. Si vous aimez jouer les détectives, découvrir des personnages hauts en couleurs et apprécier les retournements de situation, ce roman devrait vous plaire.
La tentative de meurtre sur la personne de Mlle Stangerson et la disparition incompréhensible du coupable m’ont tenue incontestablement en haleine même si mon intérêt pour la découverte du mystère de la chambre jaune s’est étiolé au fil de l’histoire.
J’ai beaucoup aimé le fait que l’auteur donne plein de détails sur les faits, sur le déroulement de l’enquête, les péripéties de Rouletabille… Cela donne le sentiment de participer à l’enquête ou du moins, de la vivre au côté de son ami avocat qui nous la narre.
Quant au dénouement, j’ai été un peu déçue m’attendant à une révélation plus spectaculaire pour expliquer le mystère de la chambre jaune. Le motif de la tentative de meurtre m’a semblé, en outre, plutôt banal même si je ne l’avais pas deviné. En revanche, les indices donnés par l’auteur m’avait permis de trouver le coupable avant la fin du livre.
Les personnages…
Dès le début du livre, j’ai souri puisqu’il est difficile de garder son sérieux face à un personnage du nom de Rouletabille. J’ai bien aimé l’effet comique d’un tel nom. Le livre n’est d’ailleurs pas exempt d’humour avec cette impression d’une certaine caricature des enquêtes policières par l’auteur.
J’ai toutefois été un peu gênée par les trop nombreux effets de manche de Rouletabille. C’est vrai que cela correspond bien à ce personnage rocambolesque et haut en couleurs, mais ça finit tout de même par le desservir. Il en devient fatiguant avec toutes ces simagrées qui alourdissent la lecture ! Cela donne même le sentiment qu’il fait des tours et des détours dans l’enquête afin de mieux étaler sa supériorité intellectuelle et ainsi briller devant les autres. Il faut dire que le jeune homme ne connaît pas vraiment le mot modestie…
Je dis jeune homme car ce cher journaliste n’a que 18 ans ce que je ne trouve pas du tout crédible au regard de son comportement, de ses analyses, de ses déductions… Je pense que cela était voulu par l’auteur, mais ce trop jeune âge m’a quand même gênée.
Quant aux autres personnages, certains m’ont semblé caricaturaux comme l’amoureux transi prêt à tout pour sa dulcinée quand d’autres m’ont franchement agacée comme la victime, Melle Stangerson. Par son silence, elle complique une histoire qui aurait pu être réglée très rapidement. Il est vrai que si on se replace dans le contexte de l’époque, son comportement peut mieux se comprendre, mais il n’empêche, difficile de ne pas avoir envie de la secouer.
En conclusion, j’ai pris plaisir à lire ce roman notamment grâce à la plume de l’auteur très agréable à lire. L’enquête pour découvrir le mystère de la chambre jaune se révèle globalement intéressante même si elle souffre de quelques longueurs. Si vous aimez jouer les détectives, découvrir des personnages hauts en couleurs et apprécier les retournements de situation, ce roman devrait vous plaire.
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A locked room mystery which Agatha Christie considered one of the best.
Mathilde Stangerson is assulted and nearly killed in her room in the pavilion at her father's estate. The room is next to the laboratory where she had been working with her father on a chemistry experiment toward a theory they were working on. They had finished and she had gone to her room while her father and a servant were talking when they heard her screaming and they also heard a gunshot. They rushed to her room but the room was locked on the inside. Then the servant ran round to the window (which was barred). It also was locked and they could not get in. When they finally managed to break down the door, Mathilde was lying on the floor with scratches at her throat and a wound on her head, unconscious in the floor. There was also a bloody handprint on the wall.
Joseph Rouletabille, a young journalist, who has proved his ability for solving mysteries is interested in the case and talks his friend Sainclair to going down to the village where it happened and investigating with him. There is also a famous detective from the Surete there doing his own investigation, Frederic Larsan. Mathilde has not been killed, but is sorely wounded.
Larsan is convinced that it is her fiancee that has tried to kill her, but Rouletabille believes him innocent. But he has to pull all the clues together from divergent sources to find proof - especially since Mathilde will not tell them anything.
Mathilde Stangerson is assulted and nearly killed in her room in the pavilion at her father's estate. The room is next to the laboratory where she had been working with her father on a chemistry experiment toward a theory they were working on. They had finished and she had gone to her room while her father and a servant were talking when they heard her screaming and they also heard a gunshot. They rushed to her room but the room was locked on the inside. Then the servant ran round to the window (which was barred). It also was locked and they could not get in. When they finally managed to break down the door, Mathilde was lying on the floor with scratches at her throat and a wound on her head, unconscious in the floor. There was also a bloody handprint on the wall.
Joseph Rouletabille, a young journalist, who has proved his ability for solving mysteries is interested in the case and talks his friend Sainclair to going down to the village where it happened and investigating with him. There is also a famous detective from the Surete there doing his own investigation, Frederic Larsan. Mathilde has not been killed, but is sorely wounded.
Larsan is convinced that it is her fiancee that has tried to kill her, but Rouletabille believes him innocent. But he has to pull all the clues together from divergent sources to find proof - especially since Mathilde will not tell them anything.
I was intrigued by the synopsis so I dived into it. I have never read Gaston Leroux but I didn't want Phantom of the Opera to be the one book by him that I read. This book is praised as being a great detective novel and a top notch locked room mystery. I can honestly say that I didn't not see the book playing out as it did; I had no idea who the murderer was or how they got out of the Yellow Room. I was probably as shocked as the courtroom at the time of the big reveal. While the story did its job stumping me, I thought the characters were insufferable. In the right story, this is a good quality of characters, but in this case, the characters felt very unbelievable, annoying, arrogant, and stupid.
Overall, this story could have been told in half the time with much less dialogue and would have been fantastic. I wish I had read Phantom first because now I am unsure if I will even attempt another Leroux novel in the foreseeable future.
Overall, this story could have been told in half the time with much less dialogue and would have been fantastic. I wish I had read Phantom first because now I am unsure if I will even attempt another Leroux novel in the foreseeable future.
“Il mistero della camera gialla“, scritto nel 1908, è il primo romanzo di Leroux in cui appare il giovane giornalista e detective amatoriale Joseph Rouletabille. Questo grande classico della narrativa poliziesca appartiene al fortunato sottogenere del <>.
Il romanzo è ambientato nel cupo e misterioso castello di Glandier, alle porte di Parigi, dove il professore Joseph Stangerson e sua figlia Mathilde si sono ritirati per dedicarsi allo studio della dissociazione della materia. Una notte la giovane Mathilde viene aggredita, quasi mortalmente, da un’entità sconosciuta che inspiegabilmente è riuscita ad entrare e ad uscire dalla sua camera -La camera gialla- senza che alcuna porta o finestra venisse aperta.
“Il mistero della camera gialla” è un esempio perfetto di romanzo giallo/poliziesco con le atmosfere tipiche dei romanzi del primo Novecento, ossia quelle opere nelle quali il mistero viene sbrogliato attraverso l’ipotesi e la deduzione, l’osservazione delle prove tangibili e senza l’ausilio delle moderne tecniche d’investigazione a cui siamo abituati al giorno d’oggi.
Gaston Leroux ha saputo costruire un’opera magistrale, lontanissima dai romanzi polizieschi/noir contemporanei, ricca di pathos psicologico, d’astuzia e corroborata da quella patina -che definirei protettiva- propria dei romanzi di inizio Novecento. Un vero capolavoro!
Potete leggere la recensione completa sul blog (link in bio).
Il romanzo è ambientato nel cupo e misterioso castello di Glandier, alle porte di Parigi, dove il professore Joseph Stangerson e sua figlia Mathilde si sono ritirati per dedicarsi allo studio della dissociazione della materia. Una notte la giovane Mathilde viene aggredita, quasi mortalmente, da un’entità sconosciuta che inspiegabilmente è riuscita ad entrare e ad uscire dalla sua camera -La camera gialla- senza che alcuna porta o finestra venisse aperta.
“Il mistero della camera gialla” è un esempio perfetto di romanzo giallo/poliziesco con le atmosfere tipiche dei romanzi del primo Novecento, ossia quelle opere nelle quali il mistero viene sbrogliato attraverso l’ipotesi e la deduzione, l’osservazione delle prove tangibili e senza l’ausilio delle moderne tecniche d’investigazione a cui siamo abituati al giorno d’oggi.
Gaston Leroux ha saputo costruire un’opera magistrale, lontanissima dai romanzi polizieschi/noir contemporanei, ricca di pathos psicologico, d’astuzia e corroborata da quella patina -che definirei protettiva- propria dei romanzi di inizio Novecento. Un vero capolavoro!
Potete leggere la recensione completa sul blog (link in bio).
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
<b>1.5 stars</b> rounded up
I'm typing this review sitting in a cafe during my last day in Mexico City before coming back home (one of my favorite cafes in town, by the way). During this 3-day trip to the city where I lived for 5 years, in order to close another stage of my life, I happened to pick up <b>The Mystery of the Yellow Room</b>—my second Leroux's—after having read <b>The Phantom of the Opera</b> early this year, and I must say that, again, it has been quite a disappointment (perhaps it was even worse this second time).
For instance, when I read <b>The Phantom of the Opera</b> there were certain elements of the book that didn't live up to my expectations, and furthermore, that were quite disappointing, in my view. To begin with, the story was not even what I got in mind, an unbelievably fake love story, where every chapter was about everything but love. Secondly, a style of writing that was not for me—I'm not saying it wasn't good, but I never got used to it for any reason—and that made the characters extremely annoying, and consequently, difficult for the reader to empathize with them.
Well, after having this first experience reading this author, I sincerely believe <b>The Mystery of the Yellow Room</b>—as my second attempt and unfortunately failure of enjoying a novel by Leroux—was my last chance of picking up one of his books.
Speaking of this novel, the experience was exactly the same, but with quite a few differences in terms of the content: first of all, this is supposed to be a mystery novel, and it really feels like that at times, but alas!, its characters are insufferable and ridiculously fool. Almost all of them are literally making the case really difficult to solve by making foolish assumptions throughout the story; unfortunately, this is only happening for the sake of the book, that might have been a brief and to-the-point novel, otherwise I can't see a different reason to do that. Secondly, there is no character who has been likable or friendly; and I'm not saying you expect a villain to be friendly, not at all, but at least you expect to care for those characters, and nothing of that sort happened to me at any moment.
And here it comes my main problem with this book as a whole: <i>its protagonist</i>. Oh boy, is he really annoying! An extremely pretentious guy—probably the most pretentious character I've come across so far—that there is no way to know anyone that pretentious, either in real life or in fiction books. He is always trying to be the best—whatever that means—and he knows he is the best doing what he does, but this is not because he is super smart or astute, but because the rest of the characters are really stupid to that point where something might be happening—something very important for the plot—in front of them, and they won't notice anything. Take the hint, dude, it's in front of you. Others just don't want to tell what they know, which is not a problem beforehand, whether or not they decide to keep their secrets it's completely fine, I get it, but again, when you finally know theirs reasons why they decided to do such a thing, it's utterly ridiculous and unbelievable – their reasons are poorly developed or they are just weak, not enough to do what they did.
In short, not a good plot, not memorable characters, and definitely not my type of writing style. Nevertheless, the 2-star rating is basically because of the resolution of the case, albeit at times absurd, was somehow acceptable. As a mystery novel the book was actually compelling, especially during this final explanation, so I couldn't complain about that. Ultimately, at the end of the day, there are plenty of authors who have written good mystery novels so that we can keep reading them; from now on, I think I'll keep picking up those ones I know might be my cup of tea, for instance, based on my previous experiences – coming back where you are not happy doesn't seem a pretty good idea.
Perhaps you have noticed I'm kinda angry while I type my review; that's right, I am. Not only was my reading experience a complete failure, but also my trip has been downright sad in terms of the food. I used to love eating out in Mexico City, especially when I lived here before 2020 because I used to try almost everything; now that I'm a vegetarian, my whole experience has changed as well (not in a bad way because of my choice, but because of the circumstances). First day: I went to the cafeteria where I used to have lunch a lot when I was a student, a cafeteria which is very near my School of Engineering, and where the food was outrageously delicious. This time, I saw the menu, and surprisingly there was only one vegetarian option in the entire menu, why?!
Second day: I thought, 'okay, in order for you to eat vegetarian or vegan dishes, let's try a vegetarian/vegan restaurant.' So, that was my plan, and the restaurant was chosen. Once I was there, I ordered a Mexican dish—my favorite Mexican dish named <i>flautas</i>—but with a big difference: it is stuffed with no meat, but vegetables and mushrooms. Nevertheless, to my surprise, when I tasted the first mouthful of it, suddenly the flavor—oh my...—the dish tasted like pork, exactly like a dish called <i>carnitas</i>—sorry if you have never tried this Mexican dish, but it's basically greasy, chewy pork; when I wasn't a vegetarian I didn't liked it, and now I couldn't even bear the smell and flavor of it—that I sometime tried way back when I was not a vegetarian. It turns out that apparently they are trying to keep similar flavors to the original dish using veggies, but why? It's not like you are now a vegetarian because you want your vegetables to taste like meat. I want my veggies to taste like veggies, not like pork, or beef, or anything of that kind. In that case, I will go and eat a whopper burger in Burger King, but no, that's not the point.
I don't know if someone who is a vegetarian has felt the same thing before or lived a similar experience, and I know this has nothing to do with this book or my review itself, but can you imagine my bitter disillusionment after living such experiences? Bad reading experience plus bad 'veggie' food: it really is impossible to believe, but unfortunately, it was quite real. That being said, the rest of my trip was absolutely awesome, a lot of things to do and places to go; I really missed my second home, if you know what I mean.
Well, it seems like, after all, <b>The Mystery of the Yellow Room</b> was not the worst experience I had during these last few days, but it definitely made me feel angry and disappointed to a certain point. Finally, after putting all my cards on the table, so to speak, it's time to move on.
<i><b>'I can only say it is the strangest affair I have ever known. The more we think we know something, the further we are from knowing anything!'</b></i>
I'm typing this review sitting in a cafe during my last day in Mexico City before coming back home (one of my favorite cafes in town, by the way). During this 3-day trip to the city where I lived for 5 years, in order to close another stage of my life, I happened to pick up <b>The Mystery of the Yellow Room</b>—my second Leroux's—after having read <b>The Phantom of the Opera</b> early this year, and I must say that, again, it has been quite a disappointment (perhaps it was even worse this second time).
For instance, when I read <b>The Phantom of the Opera</b> there were certain elements of the book that didn't live up to my expectations, and furthermore, that were quite disappointing, in my view. To begin with, the story was not even what I got in mind, an unbelievably fake love story, where every chapter was about everything but love. Secondly, a style of writing that was not for me—I'm not saying it wasn't good, but I never got used to it for any reason—and that made the characters extremely annoying, and consequently, difficult for the reader to empathize with them.
Well, after having this first experience reading this author, I sincerely believe <b>The Mystery of the Yellow Room</b>—as my second attempt and unfortunately failure of enjoying a novel by Leroux—was my last chance of picking up one of his books.
Speaking of this novel, the experience was exactly the same, but with quite a few differences in terms of the content: first of all, this is supposed to be a mystery novel, and it really feels like that at times, but alas!, its characters are insufferable and ridiculously fool. Almost all of them are literally making the case really difficult to solve by making foolish assumptions throughout the story; unfortunately, this is only happening for the sake of the book, that might have been a brief and to-the-point novel, otherwise I can't see a different reason to do that. Secondly, there is no character who has been likable or friendly; and I'm not saying you expect a villain to be friendly, not at all, but at least you expect to care for those characters, and nothing of that sort happened to me at any moment.
And here it comes my main problem with this book as a whole: <i>its protagonist</i>. Oh boy, is he really annoying! An extremely pretentious guy—probably the most pretentious character I've come across so far—that there is no way to know anyone that pretentious, either in real life or in fiction books. He is always trying to be the best—whatever that means—and he knows he is the best doing what he does, but this is not because he is super smart or astute, but because the rest of the characters are really stupid to that point where something might be happening—something very important for the plot—in front of them, and they won't notice anything. Take the hint, dude, it's in front of you. Others just don't want to tell what they know, which is not a problem beforehand, whether or not they decide to keep their secrets it's completely fine, I get it, but again, when you finally know theirs reasons why they decided to do such a thing, it's utterly ridiculous and unbelievable – their reasons are poorly developed or they are just weak, not enough to do what they did.
In short, not a good plot, not memorable characters, and definitely not my type of writing style. Nevertheless, the 2-star rating is basically because of the resolution of the case, albeit at times absurd, was somehow acceptable. As a mystery novel the book was actually compelling, especially during this final explanation, so I couldn't complain about that. Ultimately, at the end of the day, there are plenty of authors who have written good mystery novels so that we can keep reading them; from now on, I think I'll keep picking up those ones I know might be my cup of tea, for instance, based on my previous experiences – coming back where you are not happy doesn't seem a pretty good idea.
Perhaps you have noticed I'm kinda angry while I type my review; that's right, I am. Not only was my reading experience a complete failure, but also my trip has been downright sad in terms of the food. I used to love eating out in Mexico City, especially when I lived here before 2020 because I used to try almost everything; now that I'm a vegetarian, my whole experience has changed as well (not in a bad way because of my choice, but because of the circumstances). First day: I went to the cafeteria where I used to have lunch a lot when I was a student, a cafeteria which is very near my School of Engineering, and where the food was outrageously delicious. This time, I saw the menu, and surprisingly there was only one vegetarian option in the entire menu, why?!
Second day: I thought, 'okay, in order for you to eat vegetarian or vegan dishes, let's try a vegetarian/vegan restaurant.' So, that was my plan, and the restaurant was chosen. Once I was there, I ordered a Mexican dish—my favorite Mexican dish named <i>flautas</i>—but with a big difference: it is stuffed with no meat, but vegetables and mushrooms. Nevertheless, to my surprise, when I tasted the first mouthful of it, suddenly the flavor—oh my...—the dish tasted like pork, exactly like a dish called <i>carnitas</i>—sorry if you have never tried this Mexican dish, but it's basically greasy, chewy pork; when I wasn't a vegetarian I didn't liked it, and now I couldn't even bear the smell and flavor of it—that I sometime tried way back when I was not a vegetarian. It turns out that apparently they are trying to keep similar flavors to the original dish using veggies, but why? It's not like you are now a vegetarian because you want your vegetables to taste like meat. I want my veggies to taste like veggies, not like pork, or beef, or anything of that kind. In that case, I will go and eat a whopper burger in Burger King, but no, that's not the point.
I don't know if someone who is a vegetarian has felt the same thing before or lived a similar experience, and I know this has nothing to do with this book or my review itself, but can you imagine my bitter disillusionment after living such experiences? Bad reading experience plus bad 'veggie' food: it really is impossible to believe, but unfortunately, it was quite real. That being said, the rest of my trip was absolutely awesome, a lot of things to do and places to go; I really missed my second home, if you know what I mean.
Well, it seems like, after all, <b>The Mystery of the Yellow Room</b> was not the worst experience I had during these last few days, but it definitely made me feel angry and disappointed to a certain point. Finally, after putting all my cards on the table, so to speak, it's time to move on.
<i><b>'I can only say it is the strangest affair I have ever known. The more we think we know something, the further we are from knowing anything!'</b></i>
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No