The Moonstone (Oxford World's Classics)

Rating:
Summary: The Best Detective Story Imaginable
Review: Although I have heard many criticisms concerning Wilkie Collins' masterpiece, I strongly believe this was his greatest creation. The main problem many people have, deals with the book's end. Taking the diamond, the moonstone, in delirium, and hiding it somewhere "I-know-not-where," deprives the culprit of any MOTIVE, and that's what we, as readers, want to understand- the motive behind the crime. No wonder you can never guess who the "thief" is- how can you, when there's no possible motivation?! Despite all of its inaccuracies, however, "The Moonstone" is the only detective novel produced by a Victorian author that deserves to be read. The prose is superb. The style is unique. Collins' decision to tell the story from the point of view of many, if not all, characters, brings something personal to the narratives on many levels. Ranked second only to "The Woman in White," "The Moonstone" is still a popular classic today- and perhaps the most accessible of all Collins' novels.

Rating:
Summary: Superior to all mysteries
Review: I have read my share of mysteries but I can honestly say that this mystery is superior to any I have read because it offers superb insights into the human condition through interesting, vivid characters.

The plot is tightly woven (throughout the 500+ pages of this volume) and the pieces of the mystery fall together most oconvincingly. Having read this, I imagine that other mystery greats (Christie for one) learned a thing or two about pacing and the psychological make-up of a crime.

More than that, what I love about this book is the characters- especially Gilbert Betteridge, who is a funny, quirky first narrator and the detective who loves roses above crime. Collins' book also struck me in that he writes female characters who are multi-dimensional and interesting, as opposed to some other Victorian authors of his day. This is fantastic! I recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery but and also wants to understand human nature and read a well-written novel.

Rating:
Summary: Go ahead and yawn, you won't miss anything.
Review: I understood that The Moonstone is a classic so I decided to read this to be culturally literate. Well the story line may be interesting but the writing is atrocious. It is curricular, bloated, and seemingly pointless. The characters just keep rattling. A lot of writers fill in the story with descriptions of time and place to give an atmosphere to the story. This writer (Wilkie Collins) just fills it with unrelated trivia. I under stand that this verboseness may be part of the writing style of the era, if this so he has it down pat. Dickens was quite verbose but every word had a relation to the story. Every once in a while I would go back a few pages to see what I must have missed. When I read again there was nothing there to miss. Ether Wilkie is extremely monotonous or other writing from this period is and I am just now lucky enough to find out. I talked to others about this and they said; "Now you know why Sherlock Holmes is so popular"

Rating:
Summary: Nice, but not great.
Review: Much can be said for Wilkie Collins's "The Moonstone". The setting is drawn with a fine hand, and the characters are endearing from the outset. It also begins with a compelling setup which holds the reader's interest and curiousity. The combination of British conventionality in the 1800's--so delightful to read about now that it is safely far away--and the looming spectre of an Asian curse are irrestistible ingredients which seem to bode well for the coming tale.

Much of the writing is satiric, sometimes falling away into almost slapstick humor, which detracts from any deadly seriousness. Examples of this range from the outspoken sententiousness of Miss Clack to the "Robinson Crusoe"-thumping tendencies of Betteredge. These elements add color and life to what would otherwise be a ponderous text.

Unfortunately, "ponderous" sums up "The Moonstone" pretty well. There really is no reason for it to be so long, and most of this length is filled with conversations and descriptions which are simply extraneous and even dull. This becomes painfully clear by the end, when it turns out that the solution to the mystery of the stolen Moonstone is absurdly simple. It is a disappointingly deus ex machina conclusion which rendered all the buildup unnecessary. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has had similar endings to his stories in the past, but those stories were less than a tenth of the length of this novel. As a short story, "The Moonstone" would probably have fared much better.

It is also unfortunate that the most important characters in the story, namely Rachel Verinder and Franklin Blake, are some of the least developed in comparison to others. Rachel is likable, and as an 18th century female character, as strong as any feminist could wish, but she remains at a distance from the reader and it is hard to care about her. Franklin Blake is also likable, but mostly flat. Ironically it is Godfrey Ablewhite, who appears simplistic in the beginning, who displays more dimensions of personality.

As far as execution is concerned, "The Woman in White" is far superior to this novel, and highly recommended to anyone interested in a suspenseful Gothic-style thriller. "The Moonstone" makes for a pleasant read, but with so many good books out there, should be reserved for a rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: If you like detective fiction, then you ought to read this.
Review: Three Indian Brahmins are mysteriously associated with the theft of a priceless diamond - 'The Moonstone'. The book chronicles the gem's theft and subsequent pursuit in a series of narratives written by those people who have been directly involved in the sequence of events, thereby providing the reader with multiple perspectives on the same and intersecting events.

The narrative device is certainly novel, and at times works to good effect; however, if you are more interested in deeper character development, you might consider looking elsewhere. Although, the confiding and charismatic Gabriel Betteredge may make amends for this general shortcoming. Also of note are the hilarious, tract throwing antics of do-gooder, Miss Clack.

The book is most effective in drawing the analogy of a literary, and literal, pilgrimage (of the religious East; and the secular West) in a kind of celebration to the eponymous jewel.

Rating:
Summary: Where the genre began
Review: Wilkie Collins is considered by many to be the "Inventor" of the modern mystery. I state this not as an absolute, rather as a commonly held literary opinion. Other reviewers often refer to Mr. Collins in a review of a Charles Palliser Novel, or many others who are at the top of the Mystery Genre today. Mr. Collins was also a contemporary, literary collaborator, and business partner of another rather well known writer, Charles Dickens.

This book later would influence the novel that Charles Dickens was never to complete "The Mystery Of Edwin Drood" due to his death in the midst of writing what was his final novel. There was a common denominator in these novels and it related to a drug, Laudanum. Mr. Collins was a user of the substance however I have never read of Mr. Dickens also having used the drug. When preparing for the book he was never to finish, Collins took Dickens to the opium dens of London, whether or not Dickens participated is a mystery along with the ending of his final work.

Laudanum is a key factor in the mystery of the "Moonstone" that the book revolves around. Collins wanted to write a story that would be directly impacted by the use of the drug on a person or persons, with or without their knowledge, and how their behavior would be affected during a dramatic event while under the influence.

Mr. Collins as mentioned was a consumer of this drug, when he set out to write the book he stated, "he would write the story as it would have happened, not how it may have happened". He was referring to his own experiences with the opiate, which takes an already complicated plot and adds the altered behavior Laudanum can have. The book is as complex as Palliser's "Quincunx", but I find it easier to follow "Moonstone".

To the extent you feel a familiarity with the Author it may be because so much of what is written today is derivative. The "Diamond" that plays center stage in this work during the England of Queen Victoria was astonishingly "new" when published. I believe were it published again today under a new title and Author, it would be found again on the Bestseller Lists, as it was over a century ago,

Mr. Collins writes with an elegant hand, which immerses the reader and binds him or her to the characters and the roles they play. The book is not brief as this was a time when Authors wrote as much as was needed, not what was allowed or could potentially be shown at the local multiplex.

From the moment the diamond is found, and the story unfolds, clearly for some, less clearly for those who may have been influenced by something other than the dinner wine, the book will delight any reader of Mysteries. If Mr. Collins was not the absolute first to write a modern mystery, he certainly has yet to be surpassed by any other's pen.