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mattym 's review for:
The Moonstone
by Wilkie Collins
It is the problem of a certain section of Victoria literature to be excessively wordy, never writing a sentence where a chapter will do the job so much more thoroughly. Many writers were paid by the word so we can't blame them but it does mean that reading their books now can be a tiring affair as it was for me with The Moonstone.
This is often cited as the progenitor of the detective story and I see no reason to argue. When placed beside (for instance) one of Conan Doyle's Holmes novels it is three times the length and half as exciting.
For all that though it's a book worth persevering with, the final third being a superbly paced pay off to the lacklustre first four hundred pages!
This is often cited as the progenitor of the detective story and I see no reason to argue. When placed beside (for instance) one of Conan Doyle's Holmes novels it is three times the length and half as exciting.
For all that though it's a book worth persevering with, the final third being a superbly paced pay off to the lacklustre first four hundred pages!