Cinco estrellas tenía, con cinco estrellas se queda :)

Me leì por primera vez "Carter Engaña Al Diablo" en diciembre de 2003 así que, dados mis problemas de alzheimer literario, me apetecía mucho repetir lectura; sobre todo, porque el recuerdo, hasta donde llegaba, era muy bueno, más que bueno... ¿Qué recordaba yo? La apasionante historia de un mago que se enamora de una chica ciega, pero eso es sólo la punta del iceberg.

La verdad es que esta magnífica primera novela de Gold (por cierto que la segunda se centra en la vida de Chaplin, y tiene también muy buena pinta) es una maravillosa combinación de géneros y temáticas: el toque negro del misterio, la fantasía de una magia cuya mayor virtud está en ser de la de verdad, aunque hablando de escapismo y prestidigitación puede que tal afirmación resulte paradójico; un maravilloso fresco histórico de la América de principios de siglo y una pizca de drama y romance. Y, por supuesto, personajes de esos tan bien construidos y entrañables que permanecen para siempre en la memoria: el propio Carter, su hermano James, Phoebe, el león Baby, el malvado Mysterioso, el obstinado agente Griffin y también los históricos como el Presidente Harding, Philo Farnsworth (inventor de la televisión) o Houdini.

Más de 600 páginas que se leen con igual deleite la primera vez que la segunda y que, personalmente, recomendaría a todo el mundo; aunque, por supuesto, especialmente a aquellos que, como yo, sienten fascinación por las historias de grandes magos con toque histórico y aventura a raudales :)

Si dudaba de mi criterio de hace casi nueve años, he confirmado que era tan bueno como lo pueda seguir siendo hoy en día. Después de todo, y como de costumbre... cuestión de gustos.

I originally decided to read Glen David Gold’s “Carter Beats the Devil” because it was mentioned in another book I was reading—“Little Princes” by Conor Grennan. I also love magicians and magic shows! I was hoping for this book to have the essence of the magical realism genre as is seen in the works of Haruki Murakami. Unfortunately, asides from the general plot I did not get an overwhelming sense of magic imbued in the story.

As for a historical fiction I do believe it captured the essence of the 1920s, but I disliked how the author distorted historical figures and locations for his plot. For example, Gold describes San Francisco’s Orpheum theatre, “The lobby had a million-dollar Tiffany glass barrel-vaulted ceiling depicting peacocks in top hats courting peahens in ball gowns among Elysian fields. The walls were mosaics and frescoes improving on Pompeii’s finest discoveries…” (p.107). Gold describes the theatre beautifully, but only with partial truth. It is correct that the Orpheum theatre had Pompeii inspired decor, but it did not have a Tiffany stained glass ceiling. Others may find small details to be insignificant, but I believe this can lead to misunderstandings of historical places and figures—such as Philo Farnsworth or Borax Smith who are depicted by Gold. I also found it confusing because I would not have known which characters were based upon real people if I had not Google searched them. It would have been nice if he included a short description of the real people at the end of the book.

Overall, I found Gold’s writing to be entertaining. I felt the plot was a bit convoluted, but I was able to follow it well enough and Gold illustrated characters quite well. I would give this book a rating of 3.5 stars.

"I'm intrigued by all forms of misdirection."

This book is, well, magical in its evocation of early 1920s America. I'd never heard of the real-life magician Charles Joseph Carter (aka Charles the Great), but other big names I had heard of from the era play at least supporting roles, including TV inventor Philo Farnsworth, BMW's Max Friz, and others, but none more integrally than Warren G. Harding and, especially, Houdini. Liberties were taken, of course, but this was most fun for me just in its transportive element back to that decade. Probably my favorite line was from a (presumably) made-up character, the archive librarian and apparent Secret Service groupie Olive White, who says at one point, "Ever since I read Keats, I've waited for a moment of wild surmise; isn't that exactly what you'd call this?" Less magical were the number of typos herein; I know a certain amount of those aren't that uncommon in first editions, but the repeated uses of, e.g., the word "breath" for what was meant to be "breathe" and "though" for what was meant to be "through" (one egregious example of which went "breathing in though his nose and out through his mouth") happened too frequently and had a disruptive effect. Hoping those were cleared up in later editions because the historical fiction element and intrigue itself make this a unique and memorable book. I also liked the book's structural layout in terms of a theatrical production's program--"Overture," "Act One," "Act Two," ... "Curtain," "Program Notes"--and the art embedded at the start of sections, which definitely added to the atmosphere.

First line:
"On Friday, August third, 1923, the morning after President Harding's death, reporters followed the widow, the Vice President, and Charles Carter, the magician."

I have a soft spot for historical fiction featuring stage magicians/illusionists, so I knew I would enjoy this. It’s not a perfect book (some parts dragged on for too long, especially the ones with the Secret Service agents), but the performances were so thrilling that I could've read about them forever, the Roaring Twenties setting was a delight, and the Carter/Phoebe romance was very, very sweet. Highly recommended.

It took a long while to read 480 pages of the 560 as most of the time I wasn’t bothered to pick it up and carry on and then i just stopped because I’d just had enough. It just wasn’t going anywhere, it had loads of unnecessary characters, he didn’t really expand on the characters well even Carter and the plot was so thin, if existent at all. The editor must have had something better to do because he or she just didn’t edit it at all. It could and should be half its length and then it needs serious work. Its a long directionless outing for a newbie author and I really do not see what others saw in it. Every time i got into a chapter, the next chapter darted off somewhere else that i had no interest in. So if you are interested in a potted biography of an illusionist and a string of events and characters unrelated to the wafer thin plot, then this is for you. I don’t know what happened in the end, and frankly my dear, I don’t care!

In all honesty I didn't finish the book, I slogged through this for weeks and weeks and I just gave up about 4/5 of the way. It felt very much like trying to sand down a block of wood with nothing but a nail file (yes, it's that tedious). It was just way too long and dry, there was no excitement or joy in the reading; definitely not a page-turner for me. Gold spends too much time building up the history and loading the book with detail and trivia, so much so that by the time he even starts to get round to the denouement I didn't care anymore for the story nor the solution to the mystery. I so desperately wanted to like this book and I tried so hard to give it a chance, but in the (near) end it was so disappointing and flabby. I think I'll wait for the movie to come out thank you very much.

reveiw soon hopefullt- i got a few to catch up on- been having one of the most horrible weeks

Well researched and written; however, overly long. The narrative got muddled and the situations more unbelievable resulting in a melodramatic and rather banal ending.

Wow! This is one of my favorite books ever! History, mystery, and a little romance all set in long ago San Francisco so what's not to like? I'm amazed that this is Mr. Gold's first novel and agree with one review that once you're into it, it's hard not to want the answers, but wishing the book would never end. Ah, but alas, I've read the last page - the one with all the publishing information; that's how good it was.

2/10/13 - Still good, even the second time! Found nuances I missed the first time around. Can't wait to hear how my book club thinks.

Great sprawling blockbuster about battling magicians that goes on too long. I liked it but began irritating me after awhile because it had that "I wanna be a movie!" vibe that also marred "Da Vinci Code" and "Kavalier and Clay". It's like the writer custom made the book for Robert Zemeckis or Barry Sonnenfeld to direct into a big budget movie. Thank God they didn't take the bait.

Please see my detailed review at Amazon Graceann's "Carter Beats the Devil" Review"

This book was so much fun to read. It started a little slow, and I must admit I'm not that big on magic or magicians, so I didn't expect to love it, but love it I did. Suspenseful, clever, funny and lots of other positive adjectives. Good stuff.

Glen David Gold's Carter Beats the Devil is something that's becoming increasingly rare: a novel about magic with no fantasy elements in it. But what makes the book truly remarkable is Gold's ability to make real-world stage magic just as interesting and amazing as the feats performed by that uppity British kid in the big glasses: even when the reader is told how the tricks are done.

The book gives us the tale of Charles Joseph Carter, a real-life magician thrown into a highly fictionalized story involving the (also real but fictionalized) untimely death of President Warren G. Harding. It just so happens that Carter performed a rather morbid trick onstage with the president just hours before he died, and now the FBI considers him a prime suspect in his death. Carter also has to deal with his own fading career, the painful memory of his late wife's tragic death, and a rival magician with a homodical grudge. Throughout it all, he devises an incredible magic show designed to get his career back on track and knock the people of 1920's San Fransisco off their feet.

But what makes the book truly remarkable is Gold's ability to transfer the techniques that make magic so enjoyable unto his own writing style. The entire story relies on Gold's skill at misdirection: the soul of the magician's act, where the audience's attention is drawn in the wrong direction so an illusion can be performed. Time and again Gold gets the reader to think about the wrong person or situation so he can surprise us with an unexpected outcome to a sequence. Somehow this trick never gets old, as Gold, like any good magician, comes up with countless ways of dressing up his tricks so they seem brand new. The book boasts a great mystery and an excellent climax, along with a surprise ending that Gold seemingly pulls from nowhere, like a rabbit from a hat.

Carter is a fine historical adventure novel, but there are a few problems. Carter himself is an excellent and full realized character, but hardly anyone else in the cast approaches his complexity; the FBI agent who persues him comes close, but several other characters are rather flat and one-dimensional, including Carter's love intrests and various backers of his performance. The worst offender is Mysterioso (his real name is never given) the rival magician and the "devil" of the book's title. A Snidley Whiplash style campy bad guy, he abuses animals, demeans his co-workers, murders people (with playing cards!) for no apparent reason, looks down on everyone, attempts rape, and so forth. Mysterioso is a fun bad guy, but that's all he is; he's easily the second most important character in the book but there's nothing whatsoever to his character besides being a jerk. Several of the book's supporting characters suffer similar fates, filling necessary roles which they never come close to breaking out of.

Despite this, Carter himself is more than strong enough a character to carry the book all on his own, and his feats of magic, along with the era in which he lived, come alive vividly. So if you're looking for a story that blends adventure, mystery and some truly diabolical tricks, Carter and Gold have quite a show in store for you.