The Unburied

Rating:
Summary: Slow burn
Review: The story takes nearly 170 pages to hit its stride, but by then everything comes rapidly spiraling forward. Intriguing and atmospheric, Palliser takes us on a mystery that also examines Victorian social mores. The initial slow pace does become tedious at times, but the payoff in the end is well worth it. I must agree with other reviewers that the details of the three mysteries may seem at times to be a bit dense. However, as things fall into place, the events of the stories become quite clear. All in all this is a wonderful and challenging book that I highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: "It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." WSC
Review: The title of this review was borrowed from Sir Winston Churchill. I use the quotation here, as I believe it describes this book beautifully. This book is my first introduction to the work of Mr. Palliser who was unknown to me prior to this volume. I actually bought the novel based upon a quote on the jacket that referred to Mr. Palliser unburying the Author Wilkie Collins as well as others not named. Mr. Collins is credited by some for creating the mystery novel, and is known for such works as "The Moonstone" and "The Woman In White". He was a friend of Charles Dickens and they published a paper together for a time. Some Scholars suggest that the book Mr. Dickens was writing but died before finishing; "The Mystery Of Edwin Drood" was influenced by Mr. Collins. This is one of the top 10 books of this genre I have ever read. I actually bought the Author's previous book "The Quincunx" before I had reached the mid-point of "The Unburied". If as some have written the book prior to this was even better, I look forward to it being astonishing. If it were only as good as this book, I would be thrilled. The book has an interesting structure with an unusual Note at the beginning and end. I will say no more than that. Between those notes is a mystery of the highest caliber. Characters whose names are reminiscent and a tribute to Dickens, not simply badly copied. A plot that while complex can be followed but the reader must pay careful attention. Paper and pen to diagram relationships amongst the players does not hurt, it also allows you to continue hypothesizing when reading is impractical. For those who like naming the conspirators or detailing the crime before the book reveals it's secrets, just as objects and people, both living and dead, throughout the book do, will I believe find this tale wonderfully frustrating. It keeps its secrets until the end, but there is more. Every time you are tempted to think aha! I got it; a few pages later will have you questioning how you ever could have had such a solution. And the Author does not use simplistic literary tricks, the information is there, the reader has to find it. This Author pays tribute to his readers by challenging them to match wits, as opposed to handing down a cliché or re-write of a familiar tale. Mr. Palliser makes you work, he makes you think, he offers bits of information that are false leads unless you catch them before being duped, and admitting for the 10th time your aha! was really another trap presumption led you into. The book is like the wind and the Author the wind's master, your hat or paper are blown from you, and each time it pauses and you reach away it flies once more. When you finally grasp it you stand to find you have been lead into a Labyrinth, and the task you thought was complete has just begun. Get this prize of a book you will not be disappointed. I am off to start The Quincunx!

Rating:
Summary: A sheer joy. Puts the "M" in mystery!
Review: The Unburied by Charles Palliser though a little tricky, was EXCELLENT and a real pleasure to read! The story, set in England; circa late 1800s, was extremely well written and researched. With forays into early English history, Church of England politics and hints of pre-Freudian analysis, this novel is packed with twists and turns at every page. Alan Collins' excellent and articulate review (here at Amazon) is quite accurate and to the point. If you like multi-layered period mysteries, read the excellent 5star book, "An Instance of the Fingerpost" by Iain Pears. Also a very engaging and thought provoking work that should not be missed. I can't wait to read the Quincunx. Thank you Mr. Palliser!

Rating:
Summary: Yuck!
Review: This book was so horrid that I can't recommend it to anyone, nor even in good conscience give it away. Not gothic, mysterious, or even interesting. It would have put me to sleep if I hadn't been so frustrated by it's lameness. I feel especially bad for the people who paid for the hard copy!

Rating:
Summary: Umberto Ecco meets M.R. James
Review: This is a must read book for anyone who enjoyed The Name of the Rose or the stories of M.R. James (especially The Treasure of Abbot Thomas). Those who are familiar with English history will appreciate the references to Anglo-Saxon Britain, the English Cival War, and the Victorian time in which the action occurs. This is not a novel for the casual reader - many of its puzzles are left for the reader to answer. Why was the fairy tale so disturbing to Dr. Courtine? As the author says, it is open to conjecture - only one of the pleasures of this fascinating book.

Rating:
Summary: A ripping yarn
Review: This is a wonderfully satisfying novel. Although not as spectacular in its range as the "Quincunx", Palliser's latest returns to the same period and provides another furiously enjoyable pastiche of the Victorian novel. Much of the pleasure of "The Unburied" comes from being one step ahead of the protagonist and wondering when he will at last realise what has happened - a little like a literary equivalent of "Look out, he's behind you!" The stifling world of the cathedral close is rendered perfectly and the whole novel is bathed in an eerie atmosphere that makes you keep turning the pages, eager for more.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, complex, ingenious mystery of many layers!
Review: This is an absolutely amazing book! A very complex three layered mystery involving dusty academic types of the Victorian era researching/discussing murders of centuries past and at the same time becoming involved in a present day murder mystery! Slow going at first, with tons of historical detail about the "past" murders (I was annoyed at the amount of print devoted to this at first - but stick with it!). The "current" mystery is, of course, the one that most interests the reader - and we are not given the solution until the afterword! At points I felt like strangling the author - with all the maze-like detours away from what I wanted to know - but after reading the last page - I THINK I understood everything. (A question for anyone - what exactly does that fairy-tale that Courtine read represent? Please email me if anyone has an idea - I'm not sure I get it.) This book is meticulously written. When we are given all the pieces of the puzzle at the end - I found myself paging through the book looking for several incidents that are key to understanding the solution. I love how the author presents the most important information as trivial - and the most trivial information as important! This may seem manipulative to the reader, but so be it - Charles Palliser is a master storyteller, as proven with his earlier novel the Quincunx - I think I enjoyed the Unburied even more!

Rating:
Summary: Atmospheric charmer
Review: This is an awesome book! Just finished reading this novel and have nothing but praise for it. It is a first rate mystery but literarily superior to most of that genre. It's themes deal with evil, deception, motive, human character, perception, guilt, and most importantly - the "unburied dead". All puzzling elements are elegantly revealed. Any book that has you going back to reread passages just for the joy of it is a winner.

Rating:
Summary: Atmospheric charmer
Review: This is an awesome book! Just finished reading this novel and have nothing but praise for it. It is a first rate mystery but literarily superior to most of that genre. It's themes deal with evil, deception, motive, human character, perception, guilt, and most importantly - the "unburied dead". All puzzling elements are elegantly revealed. Any book that has you going back to reread passages just for the joy of it is a winner.

Rating:
Summary: Read and re-read and even re-purchase
Review: This is one of my favorite books. I'm not sure why, either, but it really was a delight to read. I enjoyed it more the second time, and understood more too, because, as many people have pointed out: there is alot of "history" in the book that you hear from multiple perspectives. I let my father barrow it, and it took him much longer to get into it that it did me, but by the end he told me that after I took it back to reread it, he wanted to borrow it again to reread himself. That says alot I think. In fact, since he wanted to let my grandfather borrow the book, when i was finished I let my dad have the copy we'd been exchanging and bought a new one for myself. I'm just now reading his prior work "Quincunx" and looking very much forward to it. The only downside to this book is that you must love reading and reading deeply to enjoy it... it is not for the quick readers, skimmers or those that just like escapism... this is a delight, yet somewhat of a challenge to read well.