|
Rating:  - Compelling Mix of Literary History and Mystery Genre
As I college graduate with a BA in Literature, I found Matthew Pearl's book to be a fascinating blend of American Literary History and intriguing murder mystery fiction. Turning Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, J.T. Fields and Oliver Wendall Holmes Sr. into amature detectives, Pearl interweaves Longfellow's translation of Dante's Inferno, 19th Century immigration (which brought Catholicism to Boston), race relations, and the challenges of finding a serial murderer into a rich tapestry that appeals to all types of readers.
The descriptions of the murder victims are graphic, but necessarily so in order to imitate the punishments of hell that Dante's characters suffer in the epic poem that Longfellow and his friends (who call themselves "The Dante Club") are translating to be read in America for the first time. How has the murderer accessed Dante's writing? When the translation is published, will members of The Dante Club become suspects? What accounts for the detailed parallels between the murders and Dante's punishments?
I heard about The Dante Club while on a literary walking tour of Boston's Beacon Hill area. I thought it might be interesting. Little did I know that I'd be buying copies for my mom and my mother-in-law! It's a book I'd recommend to anyone.
Rating:  - Maybe a little over-hyped?
This review's title isn't meant to imply that Matthew Pearl didn't do a wonderful job writing this book. I simply was unable to finish the book quickly. I typically place a lot of emphasis on how fast I read a book. If I can't put a book down for more than an hour at a time and finish it within a few days, I've obviously greatly enjoyed the book.
Now there are of course great books that one simply cannot finish in a matter of days. The Dante Club likely falls into this category. Period detail in this book is practically impeccable. Matthew Pearl was really able to portray old time Boston and Cambridge exactly how I have imagined them in my own mind.
The plot is intricately woven and completely enthralling, once you get past the first murder anyways. I felt the story started off a little slow, but picked up to a satisfactory pace within just a few chapters.
I did enjoy the book, though perhaps I was expecting something much more exciting with a lot more suspense.
Rating: - Doesn't quite fulfill it's potential
There's been quite a few books lately that weave historical figures into fictional plots (Arcanum, the Poe Shadow, the List of 7, Not Quite Dead, the Terror). I admit to having a soft spot for them. I approached THE DANTE CLUB with great anticipation; the synopsis sounds like the movie SEVEN but set to gaslight. It does fulfil this premise in a surface way, however the execution of the novel come up short of great.
Most of my problem was the choices Pearl makes in unravelling the plot, and his protagonists. It advances in starts and stops, getting somewhere only to seemingly backpedal to a frustratingly leisure gait for long periods. This wouldn't be a problem if the set up of characters was as enjoyable as the 'whodunit' aspects, but after a while all the jolly old men in the story seem to blend into each other. They talk in the same colloquial Boston Elite way, have the same mannerisms, and (almost) all have the same sense of self-greatness (I understand these are respected and lauded men in their time, but none of them could know if they were going to be remembered by anyone. And as it turns out, for the most part their work is currently collecting dust on shelves while people still avidly read millenia-old Greek authors. Sorry fellas!)
There is also a point near the end when a plodding chapter of abbreviated backstory grinds the plot that was finally getting it's pace to a screeching, agonizing halt. Couldn't some of this stuff been worked in eariler, and still not given away the identity of the killer? If not, just drop it entirely, as it just doesn't work.
Still an interesting story that at the core tells a clever tale, but the construction of the novel could have been much improved. And I generally choose not to pick up on things like that unless they are staring me in the face.
Rating: - Great historical look, disappointing ending
The detailed descriptions of Boston/Cambridge during the last century were terrific. Research shown all over this book, and rather than make it stilted or academic, it brought the book to life. The main characters were finely drawn with real believeable personalities and foibles. The setting was also great.
The problem was in the minor characters. The main villian was thinly drawn and a disappointment. The other low life was too dismiss-able and vague. It's as if the book were written by one of the "Brahman" it purports to be about.
Nice historical fiction, but a less than nice who-done-it.
Rating: - a great read
I assign this book for my literature classes to connect a very old text to a more modern text and of bringing Dante to America, so to speak. Pearl does a wonderful job of pulling out parts of the Inferno for readers to remember or reread.
|
