- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (Feb 10 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0812971043
- ISBN-13: 978-0812971040
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.2 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#146,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #65 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Historical
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In 1865 Boston, not many people spoke Italian. It was much more popular for people to study Latin and Greek; the classic works in these languages were common reading for students and academics. But the small circle of literati in Pearl's inventive novel is bent on translating and publishing Dante's Divine Comedy so that all Americans may learn of the writer's genius. As this group of scholars, poets, publishers and professors readies the manuscript, much more exciting doings are happening outside their circle. The Boston police are hot on the trail of a series of murders taking place around town. In one, a priest is buried alive, his feet set on fire; in another, a man's body is eaten by maggots. It doesn't take a rocket scientist-only a Dante expert-to realize these murders are based on Dante's Inferno and its account of Hell's punishments. Scholars become snoopers, and the Dante Club is soon on the scene, investigating the crimes and trying to find the killer. A tad unlikely, but it makes for a terrific story. Gaines gives an stirring performance, nimbly portraying some of the "Hah-vad" professors' "Bah-ston" accents and impressively reading the Italian passages from Dante's work. Although it's sometimes hard to differentiate between the various characters-after awhile each stuffy Bostonian begins to sound alike-Gaines nonetheless amuses and, via Pearl's historical references, educates.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Pearl's fiction debut should please fans of well-crafted literary mysteries. The title refers to an actual group of 19th-century Bostonians who gathered to translate Dante's Inferno for an American audience. Among the members of this exclusive "club" were poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, and poet James Russell Lowell. While poring over the poem, the men find themselves on the trail of a serial killer who tortures his victims in ways that seem to be taken straight out of the pages of Inferno. The police are at a loss and must rely on the club members' unique knowledge of Dante's work to help catch the killer. Pearl, a recognized Dante scholar, uses his expertise to create an absorbing and dramatic period piece. Using historical figures in a mystery setting is not a new idea (e.g., Sir Isaac Newton plays detective in Philip Kerr's Dark Matter), but Pearl has proven himself a master. Best for medium to large public and academic libraries.
--Laurel Bliss, Yale Arts Lib.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--Laurel Bliss, Yale Arts Lib.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
JOHN KURTZ, the chief of the Boston police, breathed in some of his heft for a better fit between the two chambermaids. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
JOHN KURTZ, the chief of the Boston police, breathed in some of his heft for a better fit between the two chambermaids. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
To Hell and Back in olde New England,
By
This review is from: The Dante Club: A Novel (Hardcover)
" Have you ever told someone or been told to "Go to Hell?"Well!700 years ago in Florence, Italy a middle aged(that's important) man named Dante Alighieri wrote a poem about and drew a map of Hell. It is called the Divine Comedy and is in three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Matthew Pearl has taken certain sins and punishments from the Inferno and has set a murder mystery in post civil war Boston. The Dante Club consists of the poets Longfellow and Lowell,the physician and author Holmes and sveral others. These folks meet often usually at Longfellow's house and decipher a series of hideous killings that only a person familiar with the Inferno could perpetrate.This reviewer studied Dante in college and i have lived my life with his description of the heavenly and, not so heavenly, spheres in the back of my mind. However one need not be a scholar to enjoy The Dante Club. Wait 'til you find out who the real perp turns out to be!Honestly, I havent enjoyed a book so much since I played CLUE as a teenager!I recommend this novel,ThE DANTE CLUB to everyone who likes surprises!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
O Ye Who Enter - get ready for a wonderful novel,
By "curtcow" (Short Hills, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dante Club (Audio Cassette)
The city of Boston is shocked and its police force stumped by the murder of two prominent citizens in 1865. Through forensic analysis and knowledge he shares with Henry Wadwsorth Longfellow and James Russell Lowell, two of the few Americans who have read Dante, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes realizes the victims died in the macabre manner of sinners in "Inferno".Incredibly, Matthew Pearl has crafted a novel that brings Dante to life along with three men who today are portraits hung on Harvard's walls and names on its buildings. In 1865 Holmes, Longfellow and Lowell were prominent members of the Harvard community at odds with Augustus Manning, the omnipotent head of the Harvard Corporation. As Pearl launches the three scholars on a mission to solve the bizarre chain of murders, their conversations portray a formality appropriate to the times and their stature, yet their manner and actions are more believable than what you'll read in a lot of modern crime fiction. Pearl also uses his fiction to provide a quick primer on Dante's life and works. You might want to read his introduction to Longfellow's translation of "Inferno" (it's in the excerpt that appears on Amazon.com) to discover how Longfellow became preoccupied with Dante in the early 1860s. There really was a Dante Club, a group of friends who gathered at Longfellow's house most Wednesdays to read and critique a canto or two. On top of this historical and literary backdrop, Pearl builds an intriguing plot that takes the scholars and his readers through all strata of post Civil War Boston and Cambridge. The end result is an exceptionally well-crafted mystery accompanied by an interesting peek into the lives of Dante, Longfellow and the academic elite of the late 19th century - an ambitious first novel that lives up to its promise.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Join the Club!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dante Club: A Novel (Hardcover)
If you crave a novel that is reminiscent of all the wonderful old American classics, then look no more!This book is written in a style the likes of which we have not seen in American literature for decades! As the words flow effortlessly, the reader is treated to endless pages that are poetic and quotable. If you love and appreciate beautifully written old world American style, you will want to read and re-read this book!The Apocrypha by John A. De Vito is also something you should try. A cult classic in the making, I'd say.
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