Rating: 
Summary: Praise for THE UNBURIED
Review: "Elegant . . . both modern in its concerns and wholly convincing as an artifact of another age."--Bob Hughes, The Wall Street Journal"[THE UNBURIED offers] ample rewards--moody atmospherics, shrewd character analysis and surprise after surprise."--Dan Cryer, Newsday "Like A.S. Byatt's Possession or the bookish thrillers of Arturo Perez-Reverte, THE UNBURIED provides a fine literary diversion for a winter's night or two."--Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World
Rating: 
Summary: This is a dreadful book
Review: A dreadful book by almost any measure. The characters are not terribly interesting, the plot meanders through a failed marriage, a school days friendship gone bad, an ancient murder, and contemporary murder and the ins and outs of academic life and intrigue. The problem is, however, throughout this tangled scenario, it was impossible to care much for any of the characters and the only reason I finished the thing was because I'm stubborn. And even at that, the book in not worth the effort.
Rating: 
Summary: The Unburied
Review: An interesting mystery that took a while to pique my interest. It wasn't until I read the last sentence that I realized how Palliser managed to successfully keep his readers on their toes, while revealing nothing. I literally went back and re-read passages again and I felt duped like Courtnine himself. I agree with most readers that it takes a while to get into this book and the several layers of story-telling and past and present-day characters became difficult to follow. My advice: don't give up. The ending will surprise you and make it worthwhile.
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Summary: Ultimately very satisfying, after a rough beginning
Review: Another reviewer hit the nail on the head when he suggested that you forge ahead to the conclusion of the book, since I too thought long and hard about giving up the fight around the 150 page mark. Ultimately, a book that early on seemed ponderous and slow turned out to be a pageturner at the end, which I stayed up very late to finish. The Unburied is supposedly an account of a murder at Thurchester Cathedral in Victorian England written in the 1880's by academic historian Courtine, with an intriguing Foreword and Afterword written by an editor, Barthram, in 1919. Initially the novel appears to be about 200 year old murder mysteries of the cathedral, a search for a lost manuscript in the catherdral library (a la Name of the Rose), and a philosophical discourse on organized religion vs. atheism. Happily, about halfway through the book, a recent murder transforms the plot into a thinking man's whodunit with many possible (and plausible) scenarios. Like the novels of Patrick McGrath, you are not sure entirely whether to trust the conclusions and observations of Courtine, the narrator of most of the novel, since it becomes readlily apparent that he has certain pre-conceived notions and beliefs which are not always borne out by the facts. As mentioned above by other reviewers, you ultimately come to learn that many of the "mysteries" and details of long ago misdeeds are put up as a smokescreen, having little to do with the plot of the novel and its climax. These dead-ends can be a little frustrating, until you realize the cleverness of inserting parallel mysteries within a mystery to keep the reader (and Courtine) guessing. It is fun, after finishing the novel, to go back to Courtine's opening sentence about having encountered a man who was walking about, "despite the inconvenience of having been brutally done to death" and understand his reference. Ultimately the book could've picked up steam a little faster, and maybe an editor's pen could have deleted some of the more obscure, confusing details, but by the end I was wrapped up in the plot and was very happy to stick with Palliser to the end. Now I have to grab a copy of The Quincunx.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorely Dissappointed
Review: As a major fan of the Quincunx I anxiously awaited this release. Unfortunately it had none of the appeal of the earlier book. The plot was convoluted, and frequently difficult to follow. This is particularly the case due to all the characters involved and the circular nature of the plot. While it is well written, and had times had great ambiance, it's hard to recommend this dissappointing effort.
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Summary: If you like Umberto Eco ...
Review: As mentioned by other reviewers, the style of this novel is very similar to Name of the Rose - which I loved. If you do not like plot shifts, twists and turns, and having to concentrate to keep things straight while reading, then this book is not for you! On the other hand, I could hardly put the book down while I sat in front of a fire with a snow storm raging outside.
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Summary: A Parting Place of Ghosts
Review: Charles Palliser is obviously a familiar of ghosts. He has a penchant for weaving together the intricate threads of the Classic Victorian Mystery, ala Wilkie Collins, stark with the emphatic colours of the darkest side of human nature -Indeed- upon the furthest extent anything even the likes of Charles Dickens ever conceived! And his sense of atmosphere is uncanny. Unlike with THE QUINCUNX, which I'd read a few weeks prior to picking up this one, Palliser tenders the gentle reader with a very likeable protagonist: Dr. Edward Courtine. Courtine is a Cambridge scholar who, in 1882, as he nears the age of 50, accepts an invitation from his old school chum, Austin Fickling, after some 20 years of separation stemming from a supposed betrayal. Since Austin resides in the Cathedral Close of the ancient village of Thurchester, Courtine views the visit as more than just the renewal of their friendship -- For, somewhere within the vast labyrinth of the Cathedral Library, there supposedly houses an ancient manuscript confirming the heroism of the -notably obscure- 9th-century Saxon king, Alfred, of whom Courtine has long held a scholarly fascination. When I say that Palliser has "woven," I do mean that in almost the most literal sense: for he has intricately threaded four mysteries into one: the earliest being that of Alfred the Great and the martyr, St. Wulflac. Second is the unsolved 17th-century murder of a Canon-Treasurer, William Burgoyne, inside the Thurchester Cathedral itself. Burgoyne's ghost appears to still haunt certain paths nearby the Cathedral. Then, during the course of Courtine's visit, another murder takes place within the Close: that of a reclusive banker residing at the New Deanery, who was found to have been killed very shortly after Courtine and Fickling had had tea with him. Finally, there's the mystery of Courtine himself - his past, his passions, and his own personal ghosts. And by the time he leaves, some four days after having first arrived in Thurchester, Courtine finds himself less content with his life and how he's lived it. But he's by far a wiser man. Palliser's style of tale-telling is something one must develop a taste for reading. He certainly has a tendency to get too tedious in his detailing, especially of historical elements. There was quite a bit less active motion, especially during the first 1/3 of the novel, than one could have wished there to be. Also, as with THE QUINCUNX, the reader may well be working out in their head a certain portion of the clues given, well before the hero does. Yet, I must say that- though I read through the more than 800 pages of THE QUINCUNX without even the tinge of anxious thirst, nor verily a hunger pain- I had, by the end, found that it roused my brain sufficiently to really think about it, even -perchance- dream about it. Thus, THE UNBURIED coerced its way into my perusal embrace. And there's no denying that I'm very glad that it did.
Rating:
Summary: A Parting Place of Ghosts
Review: Charles Palliser is obviously a familiar of ghosts. He has a penchant for weaving together the intricate threads of the Classic Victorian Mystery, ala Wilkie Collins, stark with the emphatic colours of the darkest side of human nature -Indeed- upon the furthest extent anything even the likes of Charles Dickens ever conceived! And his sense of atmosphere is uncanny. Unlike with THE QUINCUNX, which I'd read a few weeks prior to picking up this one, Palliser tenders the gentle reader with a very likeable protagonist: Dr. Edward Courtine. Courtine is a Cambridge scholar who, in 1882, as he nears the age of 50, accepts an invitation from his old school chum, Austin Fickling, after some 20 years of separation stemming from a supposed betrayal. Since Austin resides in the Cathedral Close of the ancient village of Thurchester, Courtine views the visit as more than just the renewal of their friendship -- For, somewhere within the vast labyrinth of the Cathedral Library, there supposedly houses an ancient manuscript confirming the heroism of the -notably obscure- 9th-century Saxon king, Alfred, of whom Courtine has long held a scholarly fascination. When I say that Palliser has "woven," I do mean that in almost the most literal sense: for he has intricately threaded four mysteries into one: the earliest being that of Alfred the Great and the martyr, St. Wulflac. Second is the unsolved 17th-century murder of a Canon-Treasurer, William Burgoyne, inside the Thurchester Cathedral itself. Burgoyne's ghost appears to still haunt certain paths nearby the Cathedral. Then, during the course of Courtine's visit, another murder takes place within the Close: that of a reclusive banker residing at the New Deanery, who was found to have been killed very shortly after Courtine and Fickling had had tea with him. Finally, there's the mystery of Courtine himself - his past, his passions, and his own personal ghosts. And by the time he leaves, some four days after having first arrived in Thurchester, Courtine finds himself less content with his life and how he's lived it. But he's by far a wiser man. Palliser's style of tale-telling is something one must develop a taste for reading. He certainly has a tendency to get too tedious in his detailing, especially of historical elements. There was quite a bit less active motion, especially during the first 1/3 of the novel, than one could have wished there to be. Also, as with THE QUINCUNX, the reader may well be working out in their head a certain portion of the clues given, well before the hero does. Yet, I must say that- though I read through the more than 800 pages of THE QUINCUNX without even the tinge of anxious thirst, nor verily a hunger pain- I had, by the end, found that it roused my brain sufficiently to really think about it, even -perchance- dream about it. Thus, THE UNBURIED coerced its way into my perusal embrace. And there's no denying that I'm very glad that it did.
Rating: 
Summary: The Triumphant Return of the Victorian Novel
Review: Charles Palliser is the author who brought the Victorian novel out of the drawing room with The Quincunx, a fast-paced novel of adventure and intrigue. With The Unburied, however, he takes us back into the drawing room...literally. Much of this book involves fireside conversation over sherry or port, and much of it moves at a pace that would make writers such as Dickens and George Eliot proud. At first glance, The Unburied seems to be no more than a ghost story, and it is certainly atmospheric, filled as it is with all the spookiness and gloom one usually finds only in the Gothic form of the genre. Palliser, however, deviates somewhat from a standard thriller as he leads us down first one unexpected path, then another. The book centers on the character of Dr. Edward Courtine, an academic who has come to the English town of Thurchester to visit an old acquaintance. Courtine gradually learns the details of a murder at the local cathedral more than two centuries earlier and of a ghost that some still believe to haunt the area. Courtine, however, hasn't come to Thurchester to hunt ghosts; he has come to look for a lost book about Alfred the Great. So great is his preoccupation with his search, in fact, that he overlooks what the reader can see quite clearly: all of the townsfolk are acting as if they had something to hide. It is at this point that the unexpected paths make their first appearance. Unexpected paths, red herrings, false clues, the reader really doesn't know what to make of this story. Is the centuries old murder the book's focal point or is it, instead, the murder that has just been committed? Perhaps it both. Palliser cleverly uses a recently revealed manuscript as a framing device and proceeds to tell his tale in the first-person, with Courtine as the narrator. The story is rewoven many times and readers who fail to pay attention will find themselves at a loss. The Unburied unfolds in a typically slow Victorian fashion as Courtine embarks on a personal journey, addressing old wounds and looking towards a newly bright future. There is a lot of exposition is this book, but that is all to the good and Palliser has succeeded in creating one of those dark, brooding and intensely atmospheric Victorian novels that he, himself, loves so very much. Some readers, however, may find this frustrating. The Quincunx balanced its nineteenth century setting with a sense of urgency about the plot; The Unburied takes its time as gaslights, fog, architecture and landscape come to be regarded almost as characters in their own right. By the time we near the end of this amazing book, we begin to wonder if this is a story of murders long ago or ghosts that still walk. Or is it even more? Is it an exploration of the things that can, and often do, haunt a man internally? The answer is something that each reader will have to decide for himself, for this is certainly an ambitious work. The Unburied is a book for mystery lovers and for non-mystery lovers alike. Anyone who enjoys a well-constructed novel written with meticulous care and detail will find this book time well spent.
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Summary: Dickens revisited
Review: Charles Palliser once again scores with a crisply written English and stylishly legal/murder 'who done it'! Thrusting the reader into the 19th century, Palliser's haunting prose is vivid and enthralling. This is not a book for those who do not like twists and turns, although this book is easier than Pallisers masterpiece, The Quincunx (which I have read 5 times at last count!). Palliser uses intriguing techniques to tell his story - an editors Foreward followed at the end by an editors Afterword, in which the mystery is more clearly defined. There is a ghost-story, tales of King Alfred, and even a fairy tale thrown in for good (or should I say bad?) measure. It's a wonderful mix! In this book, you can feel the English countryside - its fogs and mists and rains and gloom-laden scenery; its strange mixture of suspicious and creepy characters. It is a quintessentially English novel - every page evokes emotions; I found myself drifting off into the English countryside I once knew well so vivid are the descriptions. This is a book to be read in one sitting, preferably beginning late afternoon, settling into a cozy chair by a roaring log fire, glass of red wine to hand. As darkness descends, and, with luck, the rains begin and the winds rattle the windowframes, the added atmosphere will add to the excellent story-telling. Savor the wonderful language. It is a pleasure. Its the English language that should be - like Mervyn Peake and J R R Tolkien. Enjoy! And, for those who have not read The Quincunx I urge you to rush to read it. The Quincunx is truly sensational!
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