BiblioAddict The First Step on the Road to Recovery

On missing diamonds, oddball characters, comparisons, and how to become a fan:

I almost can’t believe this time last year was the first time I’d ever heard of Wilkie Collins. What’s even more surprising is that I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t heard of Collins or read any of his books.  In his day, Collins was almost as popular as his better-remembered colleague Charles Dickens, and after having read two of Collins’ novels –  first, The Woman in White and, lately, The Moonstone – it’s easy to see why he was so popular.  As I’ve said before, Collins’s books are high Victorian entertainment with murder, mystery, and enough drama to make a soap opera blush.  And all of it is absolutely delicious.  

The Moonstone, one of the Collins’s best, begins with the theft of a large Indian diamond.  Years later, this diamond is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder as a present for her eighteenth birthday.  The diamond is unfortunately cursed, destined to bring tragedy to all who are not its rightful owner.  Not only that, but three determined and violent Indian men are tracking the diamond, hoping to retrieve it by any means necessary.  Before going to bed on the night of her birthday, Rachel gently places her new diamond in the bureau only to wake up the next morning to find the diamond (gasp!) gone.  So the mystery begins: who took the diamond, and why?  How did they get it out of the house? Why is Rachel behaving so mysteriously? And what does the Indian curse have to do with it all? 

I am now an official Wilkie Collins fan.  I didn’t think The Moonstone was as good as The Woman in White for reasons which I’ll explain later, but it was still an enjoyable and entertaining read.  Collins is the master of red-herrings.  I honestly couldn’t figure out the mystery until the very end when Collins spelled everything out.  I also liked that, similar to The Woman in White, Collins uses various characters to tell the story through a series of letters and journal entries.  

Which leads me to what I liked most about this book: its host of eccentric and oddball characters.  First, there’s the butler Gabriel Betteredge who is obsessed with Robinson Crusoe (which has now been added to my TBR list).  Then, there’s Dr. Candy who enjoys telling inappropriate jokes, Drusilla Clack, the sanctimonious religious-track dispensing lady, and Octavius Guy (a.k.a. ‘Gooseberry’), the street urchin with a sharp eye and a quick foot.*  They were all the best part of this book.  They kept things light and fun, and by the end of the novel, I was very attached to them.

I wasn’t, however, very attached to Rachel.  Yes, I appreciated that she was a strong and opinionated female character – something which Collins seems to do really well – but, well, if she hadn’t been so moody and uncooperative throughout most of the novel, the mystery of the missing diamond could have been solved long before it was.  Even when I finally understood the motivation behind her odd behavior I still found it annoying.  

But, that isn’t why I didn’t think The Moonstone was as good as The Woman in White.  That’s because, despite how wonderful The Moonstone is – and it is wonderful - it was still just a simple mystery.  The characters have one concern from beginning to end – the location and retrieval of the missing diamond.  In the end, it was all very much a  long and extremely well-done Sherlock Holmes mystery. The Woman in White, however, is much more than the mystery at the heart of its novel.  It tackles issues of class, loyalty, the rights of married and unmarried women, and so much more.  Because of this, The Woman in White just seemed… deeper, whereas The Moonstone was just a bit of fluff.  Incredibly entertaining and readable fluff, but fluff nonetheless.

But, that’s just me.  People have apparently been debating for years over which is the better book, but whatever their opinion, I think most would tell you The Moonstone is well-worth the read.  And I would recommend anyone who has never read or heard of Wilkie Collins to take their advice: read it, enjoy it, love it.  You won’t regret it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, at the end of it, you officiously declared yourself a Wilkie Collins fan too.  Recommended — only because The Woman in White is ‘highly recommended’.

In the first part of Robinson Crusoe, at page one hundred and twenty-nine, you will find it thus written: “Now I saw, though too late, the Folly of beginning a Work before we count the Cost, and before we judge rightly of our own Strength to go through with it.”

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Penguin Classic / June 1999
$8.00 / 528 pps.

*For those of you who have or are reading Drood, you’ll know that Gooseberry makes an appearance in Simmons’ novel.  This was a very nice touch on Simmons’ part. It tickled me to read that rather cleaver inclusion.

As always, happy reading.

Update: *smacking head* I knew my review was missing something.  Here are the other wonderful bloggers who have reviewed The Moonstone:

Cultural Dessert
Penguin Classics
Farm Lane Books Blog
Suite 101
Llewtra’s Soapbox
Sinner Saved
Nicole Hancock’s Blog
Matt’s Bookshelf
What KT Reads
The Walrus Said
This Pilgrim’s Progress
Joe Barone’s Blog
Book Junkie
The Sleepy Reader
Read, Megan, Read

Let me know if I’ve missed yours!

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