The Moonstone -

Wilkie Collins

Oxford UK

2009

560 páginas

18h 40m

ISBN-13: 9780199536726

The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie Collins' best novels. Besides creating many of the characteristics of detective novels, The Moonstone also represented Collins' social opinions by his treatment of the Indians and the servants in the novel. Collins adapted The Moonstone for the stage during 1877, but the production was performed for only two months.

Resenhas (1)

4 (Muito bom)

Surprisingly long for a relatively short book.

This is a bit so long book that feels like a one thousand page one. The reading doesn't flow easily, the beginning feels long and dragged (as well as troubled) and the choice of narrative downstairs seem to help. Collins chose to narrate the story via several narrators. I mean, several. "Lots" of characters have a say in the telling of this story, and just as the reader is getting used to the style and point of view, then the narrator changes and we have to familiarize ourselves from scratch. The story picks up towards the end, becoming one of those that's hard to put down, but even that doesn't last. The end doesn't satisfy. It may have been the first (?) investigation story in the history of English literature and it has its merits, but definitely not the best or gripping book of this genre I've read.