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A review by mattlefevers
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
3.0
The Dante Club initially struck me as a sort of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" of historical figures, in which the author throws together a bunch of famous folk and makes them do cool stuff and fight crime. The plot has renowned poets (and, apparently, enthusiasts of triple names) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J.T. Fields attempting to introduce Dante's "Divine Comedy" to American audiences for the first time. Their work on a translation that will bring this renowned poet to the New World is interrupted by the conservative faculty of Harvard and then, more unsettlingly, by a string of seemingly Dante-inspired murders in the city. As virtually the only men familiar with the Inferno, the club is certain they'll be accused of the murders if they come forward, and as such, find themselves trying to find the killer on their own.
What I didn't realize until midway through the novel is that this wasn't merely a grab-bag of characters, like a child throwing their Iron Man and Ninja Turtles figures together and making them form a team. Most of the novels' events (excepting, of course, the Se7en-style ritual homicides) are historical, and these famous poets really did form a Dante Society where they met and translated the Commedia into English despite cultural opposition. These historical details are what set this novel apart -- the author has clearly done his research, and most of the book feels less like a thriller than a tour through post-Civil-War-era New England. This realism is probably The Dante Club's greatest strength and weakness -- the captivating realism and fascinating historical details also sometimes mean that, like real history, nothing is *happening* much of the time. The book starts off a little bit slow, and since the characters are middle-aged poets, there is a great deal less crime-fighting than there is researching and talking. As the tension ratchets up, however, and the stakes become higher, the book really does lock into its pace, and I found myself pretty enthralled for most of its running time.
I should also give a shout-out to Matthew Pearl's obvious love and respect for Dante. The detail and mastery with which the characters discuss and dissect the Inferno was so interesting that I actually had to re-read that book as soon as I finished this one. Well played, Dante Club.
What I didn't realize until midway through the novel is that this wasn't merely a grab-bag of characters, like a child throwing their Iron Man and Ninja Turtles figures together and making them form a team. Most of the novels' events (excepting, of course, the Se7en-style ritual homicides) are historical, and these famous poets really did form a Dante Society where they met and translated the Commedia into English despite cultural opposition. These historical details are what set this novel apart -- the author has clearly done his research, and most of the book feels less like a thriller than a tour through post-Civil-War-era New England. This realism is probably The Dante Club's greatest strength and weakness -- the captivating realism and fascinating historical details also sometimes mean that, like real history, nothing is *happening* much of the time. The book starts off a little bit slow, and since the characters are middle-aged poets, there is a great deal less crime-fighting than there is researching and talking. As the tension ratchets up, however, and the stakes become higher, the book really does lock into its pace, and I found myself pretty enthralled for most of its running time.
I should also give a shout-out to Matthew Pearl's obvious love and respect for Dante. The detail and mastery with which the characters discuss and dissect the Inferno was so interesting that I actually had to re-read that book as soon as I finished this one. Well played, Dante Club.