Vernicious Knids

Random musings and snapshots about life, love, travel and everything in between...

Friday, January 26, 2007

"Carbon, Betteredge! Mere carbon, my good friend, after all!"

In January 2006 I read my first ever Wilkie Collins, the magnificent The Woman in White, and now in January 2007 I have finished my second Wilkie Collins and my first choice for the 2007 Winter Classics Challenge sponsored by A Reader's Journal - The Moonstone.



An exquisite jewel, mysterious Hindoo curses and spies, morally and financially bankrupt gentlemen, exotic locales, opium eaters, bumbling cops and shrewd detectives, the Shivering Sand, scientific experiments, an overly pious and venomous spinster, philosophy courtesy of Robinson Crusoe and detective fever.

All this awaits your discovery in The Moonstone.





"Very good, sir. I'll just rest my eyes, and then I'll go on again. In the meantime, Mr Franklin - I don't want to hurry you - but would you mind telling me, in one word, whether you see your way out of this dreadful mess yet?" (Collins, 1999:298-99.)

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8 Comments:

  • At 3:31 pm, Blogger Booklogged said…

    I just read Woman in White for the 1st time. Absolutely loved it and am looking forward to reading Moonstone, I hope within the next year.

    I found him very easy to read, unlike some of the other classics I've tried.

     
  • At 3:42 pm, Blogger verniciousknids said…

    Booklogged: I loved both of these...and you are right, he's a very accessible author, with well developed and amusing characters.

     
  • At 3:47 pm, Blogger Begered said…

    I myself am not a big reader, but this sounds like an author that I just might want to try. Thanks for the suggestion. I would like to do more reading...one of my New Year's resolutions. Michele sent me over.

     
  • At 3:51 pm, Blogger utenzi said…

    Thanks for the heads up on my Panda problem, V'knids. I can't believe I made that mistake.

    I've never heard of Wilkie Collins before this. LOL I was expecting a romance writer or something but was quite surprised to find in Wiki that he was a English novelist and died over a hundred years ago. I guess you learn something new every day. Wilkie and Pandas. Thanks, V'knids.

     
  • At 4:06 pm, Blogger nutmeg said…

    Loved the quote at the bottom of the post. Now you've got me flummoxed. I don't which to read first. Could you make a call VK?

     
  • At 4:22 pm, Blogger verniciousknids said…

    Begered: I hope you voted in my resolutions poll on my sidebar! Thanks for visiting.

    Utenzi: No problem...you can read about koalas in my archive if you're interested! I rarely read romances, I prefer mysteries and vampires!

    Nutmeg: A very tough call to make! TWIW is more melodramatic whilst TM is more of a detective novel...in fact TS Eliot calls it "The first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels"...if that helps you?!

     
  • At 4:29 pm, Blogger Miss Kim said…

    I read Collins "Man and Wife" in 2006 and loved it. His writing is timeless and thoughtful. I'll have to look for more of his books. Our local bookshop has a good supply of classics actually, much better than the new book section!

     
  • At 6:43 pm, Blogger verniciousknids said…

    T1: Japan is the same...better range of classics than contemporary!

     

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