Scan barcode
A review by joe_mcmahon
The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart
3.0
A surprising and unique book, even if not a good one. I had heard of it previously, and decided to try it. It reads unlike any other novel I've ever read.
The viewpoint is chaotic; not just a multiple point-of-view book, but one that veers from viewpoint to viewpoint in the same chapter, nearly in the same paragraph. Sometimes we'll be in one character's thoughts, and other times outside of them. Sometimes we'll shift to omniscient narrator -- and even the omniscient narrator can't explain what's happening!
It is full of mistaken identities, characters withholding facts from one another - sometimes we know them at the time, sometimes we don't -- impostures, bizarre occurrences only later explained, an infallible (or almost so) master criminal. I felt like Lord Peter, as if I were "slightly drunk and tossed in a blanket".
A little research tells me this is actually a novel adapted from a play, so this perhaps explains the oddity of the presentation. It would be interesting to see this as if it were written by Hammett in the manner of "The Maltese Falcon", where everything is described from the outside, and we as the reader are challenged to understand emotions and motivations solely from the author's observations.
Overall: pretty good, the solution makes sense; the presentation of the clues isn't 100% fair, but it's intriguing nonetheless. A good filler novel for an idle evening, and certainly a unique reading experience.
I have to say that I think the writing is bad, but bad in such a unique way that it's worth reading once. It's certainly unlike any other book I've ever read.
The viewpoint is chaotic; not just a multiple point-of-view book, but one that veers from viewpoint to viewpoint in the same chapter, nearly in the same paragraph. Sometimes we'll be in one character's thoughts, and other times outside of them. Sometimes we'll shift to omniscient narrator -- and even the omniscient narrator can't explain what's happening!
It is full of mistaken identities, characters withholding facts from one another - sometimes we know them at the time, sometimes we don't -- impostures, bizarre occurrences only later explained, an infallible (or almost so) master criminal. I felt like Lord Peter, as if I were "slightly drunk and tossed in a blanket".
A little research tells me this is actually a novel adapted from a play, so this perhaps explains the oddity of the presentation. It would be interesting to see this as if it were written by Hammett in the manner of "The Maltese Falcon", where everything is described from the outside, and we as the reader are challenged to understand emotions and motivations solely from the author's observations.
Overall: pretty good, the solution makes sense; the presentation of the clues isn't 100% fair, but it's intriguing nonetheless. A good filler novel for an idle evening, and certainly a unique reading experience.
I have to say that I think the writing is bad, but bad in such a unique way that it's worth reading once. It's certainly unlike any other book I've ever read.