Commentaires client les plus utiles
|
|
4.0étoiles sur 5
Unsatisfactory Ending, Aoû 2 2008
I couldn't make up my mind whether I enjoyed this book or not. The premise is interesting; medical student, Joseph Bendix returns to England after squandering his father's money in Paris on wine and a woman. So far all he's earned is a broken heart.
In order to regain wealth and respect in his profession, he becomes the apprentice of a notorious anatomist, Dr. Edmund Calcroft. Bendix moves into the doctor's house and soon discovers the presence of a mysterious young woman which intriques him as much as his insight into the doctor's ghoulish experiments. He feels his own brand of "mind over matter" medicine might do just as well.
Both the narrative and dialogue are written in formal 18th century style which does give a sense of time and place but tends to slow down the pace of the novel. At times it is difficult reading, although some of the macabre scenes are fascinating in a gruesome way.
I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying, but still I couldn't get the story out of my mind which is perhaps the author's intent. And for the reader who wishes to gain insight about London's underworld from after the restoration up to the Georgian era, this is an excellent read.
|
|
|
4.0étoiles sur 5
Very well done, Avril 7 2002
Here is a novel that is the very essence of irony, beautifully written, with fully fleshed characters and a great sense of time and place. To say it is Dickensian (as it does on the dustjacket) is to do the book a disservice because, in fact, the era is the 18th century, not the 19th--in which Dickens wrote his entire body of work.I like books written by contemporary authors that manage successfully to lift you back in time (The Quincunx is a fine example of a truly Dickensian novel; Jack Maggs is another) and allow you to travel about with the characters, seeing what they see, breathing in the aromas, both fragrant and foul, crossing sawdust-covered floors or cobblestoned roadways. It is to Griffin's credit that he accomplishes all this. Not only does he address medical experimentations and the issue of psychosomatic illness, he also takes us along to witness some medical procedures that are jaw-droppingly awful. My only complaint is the maddening use of the verb "smile" as a manner of speech. Almost every character does it. "This time," smiled Defoe. ... "Was not my carriage," smiled the writer ... "See," smiled Calcraft. One can understand the author trying to find some word to replace "said," but this is an irritating affectation, badly overused, that detracts from otherwise fine prose and a really quite gripping narrative. I do recommend this novel for its fine evocation of time, place and character, and its well-executed, wrenchingly ironic ending.
|
|
|
5.0étoiles sur 5
London is Alive, Fév 18 2002
This is a fast moving historical tale, where real life characters are mixed in with fictional ones to recreate London in the eighteenth century. I love this mixing of real and unreal, it blurs the lines and adds an authenticity to the proceedings. Here we have a young man returning from abroad, only he's not as young as he'd like - rather old, in fact, to be beginning an apprenticeship to a surgeon. As a result, he's highly ambitious and keen to get on with life. From there, our hero begins to loose his morals and awareness as he plummets into a world of prostitutes, grave robbers and convicts. The book rushes along with a finely tuned plot but it's the writing that really separates it from the pack. Griffin turns phrase after phrase, which gives the House of Sight a secondary thrill. I'm going back to read his first one and wonder even though I'm not a great reader of historical fiction. This is one good reason to take a break from biographies and such.
|
|
|
Commentaires client les plus récents
|
