Armadale

Rating:
Summary: Fine case-study of a Victorian adventuress
Review: "Armadale" was published between "No Name" and "The Moonstone". It is an interesting and very well written story, about human wills against fate and against each other. As with the case of the major works of Collins, there are many themes, scenes and morales that would be selected as their favorites, by different readers. My assessment is that this fine book boils down to the story of Miss Gwilt. From the pages of her diary, you explore the mind of a sophisticated, audacious and long-suffering beauty, of magnetic attraction. It is amazing how Collins could switch personalities and have written those diary pages as if he were actually inside Miss Gwilt's mind. There are many other characters and descriptions, so realistic that you wonder if all the story really happened. And Collins' eye is so keen and his writing so effective, that in some cases even very minor characters get alive in your mind. For instance, the scene where the nurse of Mrs. Milroy (an invalid who can't leave her bed) asks for an special handkerchief of her patient, as a bribe, before opening for her an envelope adressed to other person and then close it and give it back. The operation is carried out by the nurse efficiently and silently. As those little extortions we see, with so many people! Miss Gwilt has 2 very clever allies, in different parts of the story, but they don't have strong opponents (as in "No Name", also reviewed by me). Their fight is mainly against fate and Miss Gwilt tortured soul. This is an excellent book, but not so memorable as its 3 famous brothers ("The Woman in White", "No name" and "The Moonstone") as to re-read it. I'm planning to go over those 3 master pieces again, in the near future.

Rating:
Summary: A great unsung character
Review: Collins' efforts with his justly famed "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White" have perhaps overshadowed his very fine work as seen in "Armadale." Lydia Gwilt (don't you love the last name?) is one of the great unsung characters in English (or any western) literature. Collins seems to delight in making her as full-bodied, as attractive to men, and as dangerous as he can without ever losing his grip and falling over the slippery precipice into satire. Given the tenor and social conventions of the time, her quest for revenge on the despicable Alan Armadale seems perfectly in keeping. Lydia Gwilt is like an early, English Scarlett O'Hara without the redeeming humor Scarlett was known to exhibit. All in all, an extraordinarily well-written and three-dimensional character study.

Rating:
Summary: A great unsung character
Review: Collins' efforts with his justly famed "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White" have perhaps overshadowed his very fine work as seen in "Armadale." Lydia Gwilt (don't you love the last name?) is one of the great unsung characters in English (or any western) literature. Collins seems to delight in making her as full-bodied, as attractive to men, and as dangerous as he can without ever losing his grip and falling over the slippery precipice into satire. Given the tenor and social conventions of the time, her quest for revenge on the despicable Alan Armadale seems perfectly in keeping. Lydia Gwilt is like an early, English Scarlett O'Hara without the redeeming humor Scarlett was known to exhibit. All in all, an extraordinarily well-written and three-dimensional character study.

Rating:
Summary: Prophetic dreaming?
Review: She's the red-haired, shapely and mercurial beauty who forms one of the best character studies ever done on the dynamics of evil in nineteenth century England. In Armadale, she is the tarnished but profound heroine who remains in memory long after you put the novel to rest. Early reviews of the book were savage, decrying the voyeuristic approach of Collins in laying bare the foibles of class as well as the seedy underside of British society. Arguably the most sensational of Collins' novels, it was backed by painstaking research into the scandals and murder trials splashed across the newspapers of the day. If you're looking for attempted murder, espionage, bigamy, double identity, drug addiction, and promiscuity, you've picked up the right book. Much more than pure sensationalism, however, it scrutinizes the role of fate in determining our future, and examines the sinister effects that early decisions can have on our lives.

Although a contemporary and friend of Dickens, Collins adopted a daring and down-to-earth writing style that is much closer to the tastes of modern readers. Departing from straight narrative and dialog, he inserted letters and diary entires throughout the work, giving the reader tremendous personal insights into the leading characters. Considered by T.S. Eliot as one of the top three romances of Wilkie Collins, Armadale is one of those stories that keeps you guessing to the very end.

Rating:
Summary: Better than The Moonstone
Review: This book by Collins was an unexpected masterpiece. It was better than The Moonstone. I recommend that everyone who is interested in Collins or Victorian sensational novels this is a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Better than The Moonstone
Review: This book by Collins was an unexpected masterpiece. It was better than The Moonstone. I recommend that everyone who is interested in Collins or Victorian sensational novels this is a good read.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazingly Good Read!
Review: This novel is quite on par with _The Woman In White_, and I think I may even like this novel just a little bit more. I particularly like the fact that in this novel, Collins lets the villain tell a large portion of the story, making her a more sympathetic character than Count Fosco ever was. Throughout the novel, you know full-well that Lydia Gwilt is a wicked woman and that she is out to destroy Alan Armadale, but you can't help wishing her success. (The fact that Alan Armadale is a complete jerk doesn't hurt her case, either!)

Of course, the Most Sympathetic Character Award doesn't go to Lydia; it goes to the ever-suffering Ozias Midwinter. From his birth, this poor guy never gets a chance to be happy, but you'll have to read the book yourself to find out why not.

This book doesn't have the humorous, tension-easing characters of _The Moonstone_ or _The Woman In White_, but, as you might expect from Wilkie Collins, this book is fast-paced, entertaining, and an amazingly good read!

Rating:
Summary: average Wilkie Collins = above average entertainment
Review: Wilkie Collins, even in his less accomplished works, never fails to entertain. Armadale is a case in point. It doesn't have all the endless plot-twists of The Woman in White, nor does it have the 'herione is also a demon" intrigue of No Name. But it still has all of Collins's rich writing, and it does contain one very curious and incredibly evil woman: Miss Gwilt. For those Wilkie Collins fans who enjoy really nasty, scheming people (ala Count Fosco of The Woman in White) will adore Miss Gwilt.

Like most of Wilkie Collins's larger novels, it is hard to summarize the story of Armadale. It is a complex tale of confused identities, folks wanting to inherit fortunes, and gentlemen falling in love with "Ms. Wrong"s. The complicated story does take a while to get rolling (..it takes some two hundred pages before we are introduced to the chief protaganist Miss Gwilt), but it does collect momentum quickly to a satisfying conclusion.

So Armadale is best read after first enjoying The Woman in White or No Name. It is a worthy member to everyone's Wilkie Collins collection.

Rating:
Summary: average Wilkie Collins = above average entertainment
Review: Wilkie Collins, even in his less accomplished works, never fails to entertain. Armadale is a case in point. It doesn't have all the endless plot-twists of The Woman in White, nor does it have the 'herione is also a demon" intrigue of No Name. But it still has all of Collins's rich writing, and it does contain one very curious and incredibly evil woman: Miss Gwilt. For those Wilkie Collins fans who enjoy really nasty, scheming people (ala Count Fosco of The Woman in White) will adore Miss Gwilt.

Like most of Wilkie Collins's larger novels, it is hard to summarize the story of Armadale. It is a complex tale of confused identities, folks wanting to inherit fortunes, and gentlemen falling in love with "Ms. Wrong"s. The complicated story does take a while to get rolling (..it takes some two hundred pages before we are introduced to the chief protaganist Miss Gwilt), but it does collect momentum quickly to a satisfying conclusion.

So Armadale is best read after first enjoying The Woman in White or No Name. It is a worthy member to everyone's Wilkie Collins collection.

Rating:
Summary: It cannot be compared to The Moonstone or The Woman in White
Review: Wilkie Collins, in his serial novel style, writes of the murderous redheaded villianess, Lidia Gwilt, and her quest for vengeance and discovery of true love- with the man who bears the name of the object of her revenge. Wrapped up in this quest for revenge are disguises, fights, near drowning, and poisonings. Included are the plot twists and usual scores of characters common to this genre. I say that this is the perfect winter day's book, one of my favorite novels to read, over and over.