Most helpful customer reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Victorian creepy..., Feb 27 2009
Ohh - doesn't the cover just grab you? The script of the title, the foggy background, the mysterious figure in a top hat? It opens with Victorian thriller novelist Wilkie Collins as the narrator.
"This true story shall be about my friend (or at least about the man who was once my friend) Charles Dickens and about the Staplehurst accident that took away his peace of mind, his health, and, some might whisper, his sanity."
It is 1865 and Charles Dickens is riding a train that crashes, killing nearly all aboard. As Dickens tries to help survivors, he notices a tall, thin, pale man with a 'skull like visage', wearing a heavy black cape, also among the survivors. But those the caped man is attending to seem to die despite or as a result of his attentions. This mysterious figure, who introduces himself as Drood, comes to haunt Dickens. Dickens insists that Collins accompany him into the underbelly of London, into the sewers where it is rumoured that Drood may live. It is also rumoured that Drood is responsible for many murders. But Collins begins to believe that Drood does not exist, that Dickens may himself may be Drood.
Dan Simmons' research is detailed and extensive. He has recreated the friendship and rivalry between these two esteemed authors, whose works are known and loved over 150 years later. The social life, dialogue and historical details of Victorian London are impeccably described. I love this time period and Simmons has done an amazing job bringing it to life - opium dens, lime pits, crypts, mesmerism and the slums of London. I found myself taking side trips to the computer to follow up on many pieces of knowledge presented in the novel.
The introduction of a supernatural aspect to the plot line was a bit disappointing and unexpected to me, but shouldn't have been- Simmons has a background as a sci fi writer. I was caught up in the idea of a serial killer living in Undertown and personally would have preferred the story to proceed strictly in that direction. The ending is somewhat ambiguous and ended and left me thinking of several possiblities. But all in all, I really enjoyed it. If you're looking for a historical novel written in the style of the time, you would be hard pressed to find a better (and bigger! 800 pages!) one.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Victorian Sensationalism at its Best!, Mar 28 2009
Where to start with a book of over 700 pages? If I were to have written this review immediately after finishing the book, and closing my hanging jaw, one word would have sufficed, "Wow!"
Wilkie Collins is the narrator of this book, being a memoir of his life from the time of The Woman in White's end of serialization to minutes before his death. Written in an authentic Victorian sensationalist novel voice the book is incredibly brilliant. What starts off as a simple tale of Collins' life and his friendship with Dickens takes a wild turn into murder, mayhem and the supernatural. The reader is taken along for a ride through opium dens, laudanum addiction, underground catacombs and an underground city in London, cemeteries and crypts, Egyptian cults, mesmerism as a science, and well, the list is endless. More of a summary would be a disservice to future readers. You must let the plot (or should I say multiple plots) unfold for yourself.
Filled with wonderful, eccentric characters; most of whom were actual real-life figures, one becomes fascinated with them all from the highest of character to the lowest of the low. As per a Dickens novel, the characters come and go, some shining briefly as main characters only to leave rather quickly while others are around from beginning to end. The writing is superb, simply superb. The Victorian style is followed to a "T", including having certain people named Mrs. G______ and swear words printed as d___n. Never does Simmons loose beat with the style and language of original Victorian novels. I presume this book is an homage to Wilkie Collins' style, but as I have never read him I can only surmise.
The beginning 300 pages or so are what one could call slow-paced presenting an interesting story of Collins and Dickens' friendship, their scandalous affairs concerning women, their failing health and their addictions; Collins with opium and Dickens with mesmerism. While I'm calling it slow paced that is only in contrast to the rest of the book where unbelievable things start to happen and the reader is surprised and surprised again and again as twist after turn takes the story to a place you will not see coming a mile away. The reader is taken through the writing process and life happenings of both Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone and Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood as the author entertains all sorts of possible reasons for how these books' plots came to be.
This is a book that has left me wanting more. I've read plenty of Dickens' but none of Wilkie Collin's work and that must be remedied some time soon. Along with wanting to read his work, I want to read a biography of both men having known nothing about them as people previous to reading this book. After I read the book I Googled them both and was very surprised at how much of the biographical aspects of this novel were based on reality. They are both extremely interesting (and eccentric) men.
This book is not going to be for everyone. If you've never read Victorian novels or either Dickens or Collins you'll probably have no interest in reading it anyway. But if you have, well, you are in for a treat. I read D.J. Taylor's Kept a year or two ago and thought that was brilliant but Drood sweeps it under the carpet. A fantastic ride which makes me want to read some Simmons' The Terror even more now than I did before, which was a lot since I have always been very interested in the Franklin Expedition. Don't let the 775 pages deter you from reading this book, it took me ten days to read and I found myself flying through the pages as I could not put the book down. Lovers of Victorian literature I have one thing to say to you: "Read this book!"
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A promising beginning, but . . ., Aug 12 2009
Apparently it's easier to start a novel well than to finish well as that is common issue in the trade. Charles Dickens himself sometimes had trouble with that problem. Here Dan Simmons concocts a highly suspenseful tale with supernatural overtones about Charles Dickens and his lesser known colleague Wilkie Collins. Collins serves as the first person narrator.
The story begins telling us of Dickens' involvement in the Staplehurst railway accident, a historic event, but adds the involvement of a mysterious character named Drood who appears to be killing off all the victims that he comes in contact with. The story goes on unveiling more information about the mysterious Drood through Dickens' conversations with Collins and the two men's visits to the London underworld where Drood lives.
All is not as it seems - the story peels away layers that cast what has gone before in a new light. The disappointment comes in the final resolution to the mystery, an explanatory twist that doesn't explain enough and is on a par with "it was all a dream" for lameness. However, Dan Simmons keeps our attention all the way through to the end - this is my first experience with Simmons and clearly he does know his way around plot and suspense.
(Full disclosure: I actually listened to the audiobook, which was abridged. Therefore I have no complaints about the book being overlong, as I didn't actually have to endure the entire thing.)
Another good thing about this book - it greatly increased my interest in Wilkie Collins. I'm working on reading some of his better-known novels such as The Moonstone and The Woman in White. So for that reason alone, Dan Simmons has done me a great service. In spite of all this, I really can't justify more than 3 stars for an ending that doesn't do justice to what came before.
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