The Moonstone

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I am also taking the liberty to take this compliment a step further by stating that this is one of the finest mystery novels of all time. I must confess that I have never actually read a book such as this that captures the sensation of a mysterious theft and a thorough investigation that follows it.

It was a fascinating read throughout as the solution to the mystery was also entirely above my suspicion. I also thoroughly enjoyed the use of multi-narration where the reader obtains various different viewpoints during the inquiry concerning the loss of the Indian diamond. I believe that this novel, The Moonstone, has successfully maintained the same exceptional level of quality as your masterpiece, The Woman in White, and it ranks among the top tiers of the written pages from our fellow countrymen. I have not the shadow of a doubt that this book will continue to enthrall readers for centuries to come.

The Moonstone is a best-seller at the local bookseller here in Kent and my excitement for your continued success is immense. Well done, my dear friend Wilkie. We shall celebrate this achievement over a glass of Cognac. Best wishes and I look forward to reading your future works. Your friend always, Charles Dickens View all 15 comments. Dec 02, Paul Bryant rated it liked it Shelves: The problem with mysteries — for me, anyway, is that I don't care who did it.

Which is a drawback. I just think well, it's one of those characters the author has given a name to, it won't be the fourth man back on the upper deck of the omnibus mentioned briefly on page It will be someone with a name. And further, it will be someone who you don't think it will be, because that's the whole point. You don't think it's going to be that person so it's a surprise. So, if it turns out to be the no The problem with mysteries — for me, anyway, is that I don't care who did it. So, if it turns out to be the not-obvious person how could the little spinster with the gammy foot batter the ten foot Guardsman to death and scale the west wall on the fateful night?

Well, she was on Victorian crack is how I say — wow, how obvious. She was really not obviously the murderer, so she was obviously the murderer. In a modern detective tale, you have your detective, and there is a detective in this one, but he only occupies a short part of the story, he quickly retires to grow roses, literally, that's not a euphemism for some kind of rent boy scandal, so the rest of the story is made up by narratives from five or six main characters.

Now comes the dance of the seven veils. Because if two narrators had been given their voice, the whole novel would have been over in 50 pages. You get the longwinded thoughts of all the people who DON'T know what actually happened. Memo - write future review of Victorian novel as if invested into it Fantastic Voyage-style. Actually, there is a point to all this pages of Moonstone. The whole plot, and this, strangely enough, is not a spoiler, hangs on the attempt of one guy to give up smoking.

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So The Moonstone is a very elaborate warning that going cold turkey is a bad idea, you must use the patches. The Moonstone is often cited as the earliest medical warning story — later examples are Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde , which concerns self-medication and its dangers, and Henry James' Daisy Miller , which explains to tourists that they must get all their vaccinations. The genre is still thriving - the recent movie Bad Lieutenant — Port of New Orleans is all about inappropriate methods of combating severe back pain.

View all 28 comments. May 29, Alex rated it it was amazing Shelves: You can see things invented here that were directly borrowed by future writers: Holmes' overconfidence and his use of London urchins as agents ; Agatha Christie's exploration of narrative reliability. And if the mystery's not enough for you, how about mysterious Oriental cultures?

This is a ludicrously entertaining book, almost on the level of Count of Monte Cristo for sheer kicks. Like Woman in White, it's set up like a court case: Many characters also cite other texts: Which, by the way: Also unlike Woman in White, which features one of my all-time favorite female heroines, the diamond-sharp Miss Halcombe, The Moonstone has an awkward relationship to women.

Many of its narrators are prone to statements like this: When a woman wants me to do anything, I always insist on knowing why. The first couple times you see stuff like this you can figure Collins means for you to laugh at it - but after like ten different people say things along similar lines, you do start to wonder a little. Woman in White just edges out Moonstone for me as my favorite Collins.

I like Collins better than his buddy Dickens.

The 100 best novels: No 19 – The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)

This book is a gang of fun. View all 13 comments. Though Wilkie Collins was long-time friends with Charles Dickens, they had drastically different writing styles, and suffered some rough patches in their relationship. In a letter to someone, Dickens talks about his thoughts on The Moonstone: Who's this Dickens guy, anyway?

What the heck does he know about writing? I don't know what book the vaunte Though Wilkie Collins was long-time friends with Charles Dickens, they had drastically different writing styles, and suffered some rough patches in their relationship. I don't know what book the vaunted Mr. Charles Dickens read, but the book I read was absolutely wonderful. It was hilarious, entertaining, smart, and everything else that makes a good novel. Beyond that, it was especially surprising! Being one of the first detective novels, I expected it to be rather dry. Maybe a little dull, or outdated feeling.

Perhaps even a bit shallow and boring. I'm pleased to say, that it was none of these things. For a book written in the mid's this novel has a remarkably modern feel. Though the main plot is a detective-style mystery, there is a wonderful underlying social commentary aspect, all revealed through the lenses of the unique cast of characters. The story is brilliantly told by using various written narratives of different people, all which not only tease us with knowledge of the mystery at just the right pace, but also provide wildly entertaining character studies of the people writing them.

From my favorite character the chauvinistic old butler, who wants nothing more than to serve his household faithfully while leaning upon the crutch of Robinson Crusoe and his tobacco pipe, to the absolutely, but painfully , hilarious distant cousin who is on a mission to convert everyone to her particular brand of christian values. Each character's narrative is written in their unique voice, and it makes you love them all even when you're hating them. I think Collins himself puts it perfectly, when he said that, unlike examining the influence of circumstances upon character as many other novels , this book examines the influence of character upon circumstance.

This isn't some novel where you place an average person in an extraordinary situation, and watch what becomes of them. This is a novel where the extraordinary characters are the movers and shakers of the plot. Yet, even as wonderfully unique as these characters are, they are all at the same time, so wonderfully human. With the narrative style Collins chose, we are allowed insight into the characters' thought processes, and feelings; we are able to see more than what actually happens. In many other novels, this approach might generate superfluous noise, but in The Moonstone it keeps the book churning at a page-burning pace, and allows us to appreciate the smaller aspects of the novel, even when the larger parts might normally be prepared to overshadow them.

This book almost feels like one of those "guilty pleasure books" people always try to judge others for reading, but you can hold your head high on this one. It's fun, fast-paced, and riveting, but nobody can accuse it of being shallow.

The Moonstone - Wikipedia

Let's explore what I mean with a couple of my favorite gentlefolk, shall we?: People in low life have no such privilege. Necessity, which spares our betters, has no pity on us. We learn to put our feelings back into ourselves, and to jog on with our duties as patiently as may be. I don't complain of this--I only notice it.

Franklin, in our conduct to our mothers, when they first start us on the journey of life. We are all of us more or less unwilling to be brought into this world. And we are all of us right. He received it with an oath; upon which I instantly gave him a tract. If I had presented a pistol at his head, this abandoned wretch could hardly have exhibited greater consternation. He jumped up on his box, and, with profane exclamations of dismay, drove off furiously.

Quite useless, I am happy to say! I sowed the good seed, in spite of him, by throwing a second tract in at the window of the cab. I was so lighthearted that I sang a verse of the Evening Hymm. I was so lighthearted that I fell asleep before I could sing another. Quite like a child again! So I passed the blissful night.

On rising the next morning, how young I felt! I might add, how young I looked, if I were capable of dwelling on the concerns of my own perishable body. But I am not capable--and I add nothing. Basically, read this book. If you like detective novels, or if you like Victorian novels, or if you like novels in general, read this. The true mark of a great mystery novel is that even if you know or "solved" the mystery, the book still manages to keep your attention and make you want to see the conclusion unfold for yourself.

I can't imagine re-reading most mystery novels I can think of, but I can't imagine not re-reading The Moonstone again in the future. It's simply too much fun.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

View all 11 comments. It will save you from many troubles of the vexing sort. Cultivate a superiority to reason, and see how you pare the claws of all the sensible people when they try to scratch you for your own good! I've discovered a new favourite author. And the final essay by Eliot delighted my literature student crave for a little literary history. More detailed comment to follow View all 4 comments. Eliot called "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels.

Large chunks of the novel seem to drag on and on with I was torn between giving two stars and three stars to Wilkie Collins's "The Moonstone," a book T. Large chunks of the novel seem to drag on and on with few advancements being made to the plot in the process. The latter parts of the section narrated by Gabriel Betteredge, chief servant to the Verinder household, and almost all of Drusilla Clack's section really could have used some judicious editing. I suspect, though, that long after I forget what a slog much of "The Moonstone" was to get through, I'll remember its many charms.

Betteredge is a particularly fun narrator, given his obsession with Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" -- a book he treats as a cross between the Holy Bible and Nostradamus's "Prophecies" -- and his jaundiced eye toward male-female relations. Collins also must have had a ball making Drusilla Clack one of the most judgmental, grating Christian evangelists in English literature.

Particularly priceless are the passages in which she wanders around the Verinder household and strategically places religious tracts in spots where family members, she hopes, would just happen upon them, instantly putting her relatives on the path to salvation. Betteredge and Clack are so compelling that almost every other character in "The Moonstone," with the possible exception of opium addict Ezra Jennings, pales in comparison. Rachel Verinder -- despite being at the book's center as the recipient of the Indian diamond known as the Moonstone, the theft of which the plot revolves around -- isn't as fully drawn as the other characters, perhaps because she never takes over narration of the story.

This, in a way, actually demonstrates one of Collins's chief skills as a writer: And that, ultimately, is what makes "The Moonstone" an interesting book.

Despite being such an early and influential mystery novel -- it predated Arthur Conan Doyle's introduction of Sherlock Holmes by almost two decades -- it's really more about the characters themselves, their view of the world, and the decisions they make than it is about solving the mystery of the diamond's disappearance. It's a shame that more of today's mystery novelists haven't learned that lesson from "The Moonstone.

I cannot overstate just how much this book tests the reader's patience, and for scores of pages at a time. View all 12 comments. Nov 27, knig rated it it was amazing Recommended to knig by: Literary is closing on an auspicious high, no doubt about it. These are the facts. Second, upon finding out that my favourite film Marienbad was based on The Invention of Morel , which now ordered will see me through to the New Year, there was flushed excitement. Third, I have not stopped laughing since I took up The Moonstone.

A veritable boon of emotions. Some have pointed out it might be less the influen Literary is closing on an auspicious high, no doubt about it. Now there will be those who say this is a poor sort of protracted mystery indeed with oodles of trivia and asides not pertinent to the matter at hand. To them, I would say something. Then I will instantly exert my wits but being of a slovenly English sort, they are consequently muddled until someone takes them in hand points out what they ought to do.

In this case, things stand just like the relationship with Betteredge and his deceased wife, who seemed, with the best of motives, to be getting in one anothers way: And so it is here: No need to have read Robinson Crusoe to get the gist. The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first full length detective novel in the English language.

The Moonstone tells of the events surrounding the disappearance of a mysterious and cursed yellow diamond. Eliot called it 'the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels'. It contains a number of ideas which became common tropes of the genre, including a crime bein It contains a number of ideas which became common tropes of the genre, including a crime being investigated by talented amateurs who happen to be present when it is committed, and two police officers who exemplify respectively the 'Scotland Yard bungler' and the skilled, professional detective.

Mar 17, Jason Koivu rated it liked it Shelves: I guess a review of this requires me to say that Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone is one of the first mystery novels ever written. Now that I've got that out of the way, let's get on with the review. It also used the popular-in-its-time epistolary form of storytelling, with about a half dozen characters taking up their pens to relate thei I guess a review of this requires me to say that Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone is one of the first mystery novels ever written.

It also used the popular-in-its-time epistolary form of storytelling, with about a half dozen characters taking up their pens to relate their portion of this story. What is the story? Well, it starts off like an adventure with a mysterious diamond discovered in a faraway land. The diamond is passed down as inheritance and then it is stolen. Lovers are torn asunder and the mystery of the missing diamond must be solved if love is to prevail. In fact, love plays a large roll in this, so large actually that I'm inclined to call it a romance as much as a mystery.

If memory serves, it is even referred to as such as a subtitle, as in The Moonstone, a romance. Regardless, if you've come solely for the mystery you'll be disappointed in much of this. As I say, it started out great. The first quarter or so of the story is related by the butler and much of his portion of the tale involves the facts of the case.

He's also a colorful character, who it seems Collins enjoyed writing about. After him, we move on to less charming characters such a fanatic Christian, a lawyer, a physician, detective and one of the principle suspects involved in the disappearance of the diamond. The faults, for me, in this novel are its overlong explanations, its unnecessary sidebar storylines, occasional repetition, and the time spent dwelling on the mundane. Many scenes could have been easily reduced, some could have been dispensed with all together, and the book would've been all the better for it.

All in all, it's not horrible. I'd put it in league with Dickens' middling work. Not worth rushing forth to read, but I wouldn't dismiss it altogether. Esta novela es para muchos, uno de las tres mejores novelas policiales de todos los tiempos y todos esos componentes que yo enumero en mis preguntas iniciales lo confirman. Dupin fue el pionero, dado que ese cuento fue publicado en Es destacable la manera en que Collins delinea a sus personajes. Tanto lectores como escritores expertos en la materia sostienen que esta es una de las tres mejores novelas policiales de la literatura.

Ha sido un placer llegar al final para descubrir el robo de la asombrosa piedra lunar. View all 10 comments. The other day, however, I bragged to a friend that I was reading The Moonstone, but instead of congratulations all I got was: The essence of the story is simple enough. A British officer steals a sacred diamond from an Indian idol. Years later, in accordance with his will, it is presented to a young lady, Rachel Verinder, on her eighteenth birthday. And the same night, it mysteriously disappears.

One of the house guests at the birthday party, or the three Brahmans who mysteriously appear, disguised as traveling jugglers? Fortunately, the Indians mainly lurk as a background threat, keeping the main focus on the English characters, both above and below stairs. And when the theft is followed by a suicide, more robberies, and a murder, the mysteries deepen and proliferate.

The original crime in The Moonstone , the theft of the Tippoo diamond after the fall of Seringapatam, is Collins's masterstroke. It connects every detail of the plot to the great imperial drama of India, the society over which Queen Victoria would eventually declare herself "Empress". The Indian factor imbues the tale with the sinister mystery of the east. Mid-century, this "moonstone" is given to a young Englishwoman, Rachel Verinder, on her 18th birthday and then mysteriously disappears.

A quest ensues in which, after murder and marriage, the Moonstone is restored to its Indian source. However, although this is classic detective fiction, its greatness really lies in its qualities as a novel. Collins signalled his ambitions for the book in the preface to the first edition, in which he wrote: In the present story I have reversed the process.

Rosanna's tragic obsession with the adventurer Franklin Blake is among the most poignant renderings of thwarted love in Victorian literature. The fascinating and eccentric figure of Cuff based on Scotland Yard's real life Inspector Whicher introduces a figure central to the unravelling of the mystery on whom most readers come to dote. A second, crucial element to the success and longevity of The Moonstone is less about detection than storytelling. Also, a number of critics suggest that Charles Felix's pseudonym for Charles Warren Adams lesser known Notting Hill Mystery —63 preceded The Moonstone by a number of years and first used techniques that came to define the genre.

Adapted to the screen by Adele S. On 16 November and 23 November , "The Moonstone", starring Peter Lawford, was broadcast in a 2-part episode of the radio drama "Suspense". In a German version was shown. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the novel. For other uses, see Moonstone disambiguation. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

May Learn how and when to remove this template message. Cambridge University Press, Twentieth century literary criticism. The Romance of Private Life. From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel. The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press, The Decatur Daily Review.

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