I finished this book several days ago but couldn't motivate myself to add it to my goodreads shelves or write a review. It's as if the weight of the tons of words in the text has paralysed me. What's more, I knew what I was getting into. I read The Woman in White just before this one and it left me with a similar lethargy. The only thing I was able to do after finishing it was pick up The Moonstone as if my mind had been taken over by a rabid Wilkie Collins fan. Today, I'm beginning to emerge from the stupor, and I feel able to make a guess at why Collins's writing bewitched me enough to make me read two of his books yet numbed me so much at the same time.

The stories in the two books are told in the same long-winded way: each book traces the exact history of a series of mysterious events by making the characters who were most closely connected with each stage of the events, narrate their experience, word for word.

Word for word really means word for word in Wilkie Collins land. The many narrators outdo each other in the care they take to tell every single thing they observed while at the same time not revealing anything that they learned after the period which their part of the narrative covers. It's all very artificial and more than a bit painful. The narrators also specialize in adding extra details according to their particular brand of whimsy, and some of them are very whimsical indeed. The details in many cases have nothing to do with the central mystery of either book. What's more, the mysteries when finally revealed hardly merit all the time and effort spent on recording them so painstakingly...

Two days later.
I didn't finish writing this review the other day because I fell back into a stupor. I think it was the very fact of describing why I'd fallen into a stupor in the first place that caused it to descend on me again. I've read a book by a different author in the meantime—though not before I'd read a page of a third Wilkie Collins book I'd downloaded while my mind was still in the control of the Wilkie Collins fan. Fortunately I saved myself in time and deleted it from my kindle before it got hold of me.

Well, the refreshing book I've finished since has cleared the fog in my brain somewhat (though I'm still prone to moments of utter blankness) and now I'm able to explain why I was bewitched enough to read two Collins books. It's because of a few of the narrators: Frederick Fairlie in The Woman in White is so obnoxious yet so funny that he manages to relieve the ridiculous seriousness of that book, which is no small achievement; Sergeant Cuff in The Moonstone is amusing too, as is Miss Clack—when she isn't quoting from her huge fund of religious tracts. And then there's Gabriel Betteridge who really does know how to tell a story—I just wished he had a better story to tell. I wondered if his storytelling ability came from the fact that he'd read Robinson Crusoe so often he knew it by heart? It was impossible not to warm to a character who loved reading as much as Gabriel Betteredge did.

I was torn between giving two stars and three stars to Wilkie Collins's "The Moonstone," a book T. S. Eliot called "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels." "Longest" is perhaps the operative word here, reminding one of Samuel Johnson's comment (speaking, in his case, of Milton's "Paradise Lost") that none ever wished it longer. "The Moonstone"'s length, in the end, is its chief and perhaps only major failing. Large chunks of the novel seem to drag on and on with few advancements being made to the plot in the process. The latter parts of the section narrated by Gabriel Betteredge, chief servant to the Verinder household, and almost all of Drusilla Clack's section really could have used some judicious editing.

I suspect, though, that long after I forget what a slog much of "The Moonstone" was to get through, I'll remember its many charms. Betteredge is a particularly fun narrator, given his obsession with Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" -- a book he treats as a cross between the Holy Bible and Nostradamus's "Prophecies" -- and his jaundiced eye toward male-female relations. Collins also must have had a ball making Drusilla Clack one of the most judgmental, grating Christian evangelists in English literature. Particularly priceless are the passages in which she wanders around the Verinder household and strategically places religious tracts in spots where family members, she hopes, would just happen upon them, instantly putting her relatives on the path to salvation.

Betteredge and Clack are so compelling that almost every other character in "The Moonstone," with the possible exception of opium addict Ezra Jennings, pales in comparison. Rachel Verinder -- despite being at the book's center as the recipient of the Indian diamond known as the Moonstone, the theft of which the plot revolves around -- isn't as fully drawn as the other characters, perhaps because she never takes over narration of the story. This, in a way, actually demonstrates one of Collins's chief skills as a writer: as each narrator takes his or her turn telling the story, that section of the book really becomes more about him or her than about the plot.

And that, ultimately, is what makes "The Moonstone" an interesting book. Despite being such an early and influential mystery novel -- it predated Arthur Conan Doyle's introduction of Sherlock Holmes by almost two decades -- it's really more about the characters themselves, their view of the world, and the decisions they make than it is about solving the mystery of the diamond's disappearance. It's a shame that more of today's mystery novelists haven't learned that lesson from "The Moonstone."

In retrospect, I realize I'm perhaps making "The Moonstone" sound like more of a four-star book, but trust me: the long, drawn-out sections of the book really are incredibly long and drawn out. I cannot overstate just how much this book tests the reader's patience, and for scores of pages at a time.

The Moonstone is probably the most popular work of Wilkie Collins in his day. Perhaps it still is or perhaps The Woman in White rivals its rank at present times. But no matter, its popularity in Collin's day is no secret. Named as the first detective fiction of English literature, The Moonstone paved the way and laid the ground rules on modern detective novels. In that sense, The Moonstone is pioneer of the genre.

With his customary use of different narrators, Collins works on his story on a good plotline. The story is very cleverly built. We meet a professional detective and a few amateur detectives working hard at discovering the mysterious disappearance of a valuable Indian diamond named the "moonstone" from an English household. Suspense and intrigue are two vital features of detective fiction. Collins seems quite aware of this, for he slowly unfolds the story behind the moonstone, how it comes to be in English soil from the forehead of an Indian deity. The atmosphere is dramatically built informing the reader of an upcoming possible theft. Collins makes the reader impatient until the contemplated event takes place. The theft of the moonstone is one climax of the story; one can even say it is the first part of the story. The next part is to discover the thief (if it was stolen) and to recover the moonstone. Again Collins goes to the bottom and starts building the tension and suspense on the reader till the second climax, where the mystery is finally cleared up.

I have always enjoyed Collins's use of multiple narrators. Their different styles of narration influenced by their own perspectives provide different tones and colour to the story. There were six narrators and I found each of the narration to be different. The story begins with a pretty humorous narrative of Gabriel Betteredge. This then is followed by the eccentric Miss Clack. Mr. Bruff then proceeds with a matter-of-fact narrative before passing the baton to Mr. Franklin Blake. Blake's narrative is passionate. Of all the narratives, I found his narrative to be the most intense. His narrative is then followed by the sympathetic narrative of Ezra Jennings and the professional narrative of Sergeant Cuff. It is difficult to account for the reliability of these narrators, but these different narratives made the reading more interesting and engaging.

There are many characters involved in the story. However, unlike in other works that I've read of Collins, I found myself a bit detached from the characters. We find a spirited young woman with an independent mind in the guise of Rachel Verinder. But unfortunately, the flow of the story is such that it was difficult to like her till the very end. I didn't dislike any of the characters; rather, I was a little aloof from them. If I came close to liking any, it was Sergeant Cuff, Blake, and Jennings. However, my indifference towards the characters did not impede my enjoyment of the story as a whole. This was one novel where the story was more interesting for its plot than the characters.

The one complaint I have is that the story was very slowly developed. For detective fiction, the pace was not fast enough; at least it was not enough for my impatient self. However, being the first in the genre and that Collins wrote this for serial publication under severe suffering from attacks of 'rheumatic gout', one has to make allowances.

I liked the book, no doubt there. But I expected more from it given the immense popularity. To me personally, the book didn't live up to the standard of The Woman in White and No Name - the two other books of his that I've read and loved.

“La mejor receta para la novela policíaca: el detective no debe saber nunca más que el lector.” Agatha Christie

¿De qué manera puede escribirse una obra maestra de seiscientas treinta páginas en la que nunca decae el interés por saber como termina? ¿De qué se compone la genialidad de un escritor para elaborar una historia con tantos giros, ribetes y escenas impensadas sin confundir al lector? ¿Puede un escritor ser tan hábil para mantener el suspense en una novela policial que atravesó todas las épocas desde que fue publicada allá por 1868 y que sigue cautivando aún hoy en 2017? Definitivamente sí y Wilkie Collins lo logra con la perfección de los más grandes.
Esta novela es para muchos, uno de las tres mejores novelas policiales de todos los tiempos y todos esos componentes que yo enumero en mis preguntas iniciales lo confirman.
Collins trabaja la historia en cada una de sus partes atada al evento principal que es el robo de un enorme diamante, llamado "la piedra lunar" durante el cumpleaños número dieciocho de Miss Rachel Verdiner, pero ese diamante posee toda una historia detrás que es la que el autor anticipa en los capítulos iniciales, puesto que de otra manera no entenderíamos cómo se suceden los hechos.
La preciosa gema ha sido traída desde un templo de la India en forma indebida y esto le acarreará a los que la posean un sinnúmero de inconvenientes en los personajes que formaron parte de ese cumpleaños y que son los que se relatan a lo largo del libro.
Para que todo esto tenga cohesión y solidez, Collins dispone la trama a partir de los testimonios, en gran parte del mayordomo de la familia, Gabriel Betteredge, cuya reconstrucción de lo sucedido, ocupa casi un cuarto de la extensión del libro pero que a la postre es clave para que el lector pueda guiarse en los hechos narrados.
Un dato muy pintoresco acerca de este particular personaje es que utiliza como guía para su vida el libro Robinson Crusoe de Daniel Defoe. Para él es su Biblia y siempre sostiene que muchas de las cosas que sucede en ese libro o las frases de Crusoe dice son casi proféticas para él.
Gabriel Betteredge es un personaje muy especial y esta característica logra que el lector sienta una profunda empatía para con este pintoresco anciano.
Ahora bien. Betteredge no es el único de los implicados en esto. No es tan fácil arribar al descubrimiento de quién se robó la gema ni de cuántas personas hay implicadas en ello y cuáles son las verdaderamente sospechosas. Es a partir de los relatos de los otros testigos que comenzamos a desanudar los secretos que la desaparición del diamante esconden.
Jorge Luis Borges, en su brillante prólogo de la edición del libro que yo tengo nos revela que Wilkie Collins tiene el honor de haber aportado en la figura del Sargento Cuff alprimer detective británico de la literatura y es verdad: Sherlock Holmes fue creado por Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recién en 1887 mientras que "La piedra lunar" fue publicada en 1868, o sea 19 años.
Para todo aquel lector desprevenido, comento que estos son detectives británicos en la literatura. Digo esto porque el creador del género policial fue mi querido Edgar Allan Poe a partir de "Los crímenes de la calle Morgue", cuyo detective Auguste C. Dupin fue el pionero, dado que ese cuento fue publicado en 1841.
Pero volviendo a esta maravillosa novela, nos encontramos con una serie de personajes tan disímiles como enigmáticos, sospechosos o carismáticos. Conoceremos a Rosana Spearman, la enamoradiza criada de la mansión en la que se desarrolla la historia, como dijera previamente, al Sargento Cuff, contratado para dilucidar el misterio del robo, a Franklin Blake, uno de los personajes principales, enamorado de Rachel y que tendrá un papel fundamental en todo esto junto al sargento Cuff, Gabriel Betteredge y el abogado Bruff.
También son de vital importancia personajes como Penélope Betteredge, hija del mayordomo, a Míster Godfrey Ablewhite, filántropo y en rivalidad con Francis Blake por el corazón de Rachel, a Miss Clack, la prima pobre de la familia Verinder dominada por un ferviente fanatismo religioso metodista, al abogado de la familia, Matthew Bruff, quien también tiene preponderancia en el asunto del esclarecimiento del robo y Ezra Jennings, un personaje que aportará datos clave hacia el final del libro.
Es destacable la manera en que Collins delinea a sus personajes. Con esto me refiero a que trabaja la psicología, las actitudes y las acciones de los mismo de manera convincente.
El autor puede tanto posicionarse en la piel de una caballero filántropo como en la piel de un inescrutable abogado, en la brillantez de un médico avezado o pasar del metodismo del sargento Richard Cuff hasta los desvaríos de una criada ardorosamente enamorada del apuesto Franklin Blake, como es el caso de Rosana Spearman.
En todos los personajes Collins deja su sello y cada una de las partes que interviene en el caso del robo de la piedra lunar aportan sus testimonios que son vitales para la resolución del caso.
El lector va de un personaje a otro intentado descubrir quién robó efectivamente la gema y las marchas y contramarchas de la trama lo mantienen atento a cada mínimo detalle.
Todas las piezas terminan encajando en un sorprendente final como sólo Wilkie Collins podía hacerlo.
Como establezco al principio, no cualquier escritor puede escribir una novela policial como esta y mantener la curiosidad, el misterio y la atracción del lector a lo largo de una novela tan extensa.
Tanto lectores como escritores expertos en la materia sostienen que esta es una de las tres mejores novelas policiales de la literatura. Casualmente este año también leí “Diez negritos” de Agatha Cristie, novela que posiblemente esté en ese selecto grupo.
Más allá de que no soy un lector habitual de novelas policiales me animo a asegurar que difícilmente pueda leer otra que sobrepase en misterio, riqueza técnica literaria y trama argumental como lo que me ha generado “La piedra luna” y la otra que indico en esta reseña.
Probablemente me recomendarán los que saben que lea más novelas de Agatha Cristie, quien es considerada la mejor escritora de novelas policiales de todos los tiempos (y creo que en eso no hay discusión).
Ha sido un placer llegar al final para descubrir el robo de la asombrosa piedra lunar.
¿Se animan, ustedes lectores, a intentar descubrirlo como yo lo hice?

The narrative structure is similar to that of The Woman in White with Mr Franklin Blake taking a role similar to that of Mr Walter Hartright, and collecting witness accounts from people concerned with the “scandal”.

These witness accounts are from first person point of view and thoroughly interesting to read. I was ensnared by this mystery.

The eponymous diamond, the Moonstone was like a character in its own right. It had its hold on people.

A twist came in the second half of the novel which I was not expecting and was completely enthralled by it.

The characters were unique and colourful. Some of their characteristics and narratives were quite humorous. (I have a new found respect for Robinson Crusoe)

Reading this book was like putting together pieces of a puzzle and it resulted in a similar satisfaction in the end. There were no loose ends. Every action in this suspense was accounted for, and explained. And oh, such fun was the journey we took with these characters!

Strongly recommended!

The problem with mysteries – for me, anyway, is that I don't care who did it. Which is a drawback. I just think well, it's one of those characters the author has given a name to, it won't be the fourth man back on the upper deck of the omnibus mentioned briefly on page 211. It will be someone with a name. And further, it will be someone who you don't think it will be, because that's the whole point. You don't think it's going to be that person so it's a surprise. So, if it turns out to be the not-obvious person (how could the little spinster with the gammy foot batter the ten foot Guardsman to death and scale the west wall on the fateful night? Well, she was on Victorian crack is how) I say – wow, how obvious. She was really not obviously the murderer, so she was obviously the murderer.

However, I really liked Wilkie's novels The Woman in White and No Name, so I read this.

In a modern detective tale, you have your detective, and there is a detective in this one, but he only occupies a short part of the story, he quickly retires to grow roses, literally, that's not a euphemism for some kind of rent boy scandal, so the rest of the story is made up by narratives from five or six main characters.

Now comes the dance of the seven veils.

Because if two narrators had been given their voice, the whole novel would have been over in 50 pages. You get the longwinded thoughts of all the people who DON'T know what actually happened. By page 350, after being mumbled at, prevaricated over, and digressed to for what seemed days, NAY, weeks, by Wilkie Collins' five narrators, all of whom suffer from amusing psychological tics and endearing human flaws, or was it the other way round, and all of whom could have summarised their tales onto two pages of foolscap, I was ready to shrink myself to the size of a capital R (pronounced "aargh") and insert myself into this novel Fantastic Voyage-style and grab a passing amateur sleuth and confess loudly I STOLE YOUR DAMNED MOONSTONE, ARREST ME, AND THERE'S AN END OF IT!

(Memo - write future review of Victorian novel as if invested into it Fantastic Voyage-style. Should be hilarious.)

Actually, there is a point to all this 430 pages of Moonstone. The whole plot, and this, strangely enough, is not a spoiler, hangs on the attempt of one guy to give up smoking. So The Moonstone is a very elaborate warning that going cold turkey is a bad idea,

you must use the patches.

The Moonstone is often cited as the earliest medical warning story – later examples are Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, which concerns self-medication and its dangers, and Henry James' Daisy Miller, which explains to tourists that they must get all their vaccinations. The genre is still thriving - the recent movie Bad Lieutenant – Port of New Orleans is all about inappropriate methods of combating severe back pain.

In the end I thought this was the Monkees instead of The Beatles, Pleasant Valley Sunday instead of Tomorrow Never Knows.

Free for Audible-UK-Plus members. Do not miss this!

I am utterly amazed that I sat glued to this all the way through. Why? Because it is so very different from the books I usually enjoy. This is a fun and engaging mystery. It is said to be the first English detective novel! Usually, I am captivated by books more down to earth and realistic in style. That I enjoyed this so very much is what makes it amazing for me.

I want to explain the draw of this book.

A mystery is to be solved. Who has taken the “moonstone”, a diamond from India worth £20 000? Who did what and why is unraveled, as well as the specifics of how. Not once did I become confused. My lack of confusion is not typical of me. The explanation is twofold. Every detail and aspect of the story is meticulously and captivatingly laid out, in this, Wilkie Collins’ 1868 novel. You pay attention because the writing grabs you and holds you tight!

The story is told by those who witnessed it. Each of these narrators explain what he or she personally saw and experienced. These characters come alive. Each has a personality you are not soon to forget. Each lives and breathes. Each has a personality different from the others. None are duplicates. Some are amusing. Both Miss Druscilla Clack and the butler Gabriel Betteredge will leave you chuckling. No, they are not funny in the same way. This exemplifies the author’s marvelous ability to imagine, create and perfect unique characters. Miss Druscilla Clack is an ardent evangelist handing out “tracts of wisdom” right and left. The butler’s bible is, on the other hand, Defoe’s Robinson and Crusoe. With every new calamity, he has an applicable quote. It is Collins’ words and his way of telling the story that make the tale special.

Widely varied characters and humorous lines are topped off with words of wisdom about, for example, national traits. The idiosyncrasies of the French, Germans, Italians and English are noted. Those who enjoy a minute of serious thought are thus satisfied too!

Figuring out exactly how all the different steps are tied together becomes and enjoyable lark, despite that all is pure fiction from start to finish. THIS is what I find utterly amazing!

To top this all off, the audiobook narration by Peter Jeffrey is excellent. His intonations enhance the characters’ respective personality traits. He does not overdramatize, but he has a particular voice for each one of the characters. You easily recognize who is speaking, without being told. Jeffrey’s rendition is topnotch. Five stars for the narration.

And this is all free if you are an Audible-UK-Plus member! Grab it. Don’t just grab it, listen to it soon!

*********************

*The Woman in White 3 stars
*The Moonstone 5 stars
*Poor Miss Finch TBR
*No Name TBR
*Armadale TBR

I appreciate suggestions guiding me to Collins' other topnotch choices.

The Moonstone, generally recognized as the first detective novel (despite the appearance of The Notting Hill Mystery a few years before), is not only a work of historical importance but also a work that transcends the genre it created, in the artfulness of its plotting, in its compassionate depiction of servants, and in its enlightened resolution of the theme of the British Empire, its crimes and their consequences.

Not that I wish to minimize its historical importance. The Moonstone is the first—certainly the first fully-formed—detective novel, and it contains within that great “first” a number of little “firsts”: the first English country house mystery featuring a large guest list of suspects, the first crew of bumbling local policemen mucking about in the evidence, the first detective genius distinguished by an unlikely hobby, the first small, suggestive physical clue (a smear on the bottom of a newly-painted door), the first effective “red herrings” (I counted at least two), the first attempt at a precise reenactment of the crime at its original scene, and the first pursuit of a disguised criminal through the streets of a major city.

But it is the plot, which uses all these “firsts” to great advantage, that both astonishes and pleases the reader. The Moonstone is at least three times the length of the average detective novel, and yet it sustains interest and maintains credibility throughout its many twists. turns, and asides. Its plot reminds me of the melody line of Bellini's “Casta Diva,” which strikes the ear as a thing of incomparable elegance, but never calls to mind—except upon later reflection—either its own extraordinary length or the expert craftsmanship such seamless length requires.

Also impressive is Collins' sympathetic depiction of the English servant class. Steward and Butler Gabriel Betteredge is a marvelous comic character, memorable for his daily readings of Robinson Crusoe, which he reveres as a source of divination and practical guidance. But Betteredge is also the essentially reliable narrator of half the novel, and, as we learn of the events on the Verinder estate through his eyes and ears, we grow to love and trust him as a good man and an intelligent observer. Also noteworthy is Collins' presentation of Roseanna, the servant girl with a deformed shoulder and a criminal past. Collins treats her with dignity, neither as a comic grotesque nor as an object of simple pity, but as fully human person with a unique, blighted destiny.

But perhaps my favorite thing about the book is Collins' use of “The Moonstone” itself, that great diamond snatched from a Hindu shrine by the villainous Colonel Herncastle during the Siege of Seringapatam—the 1799 climax to the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War which served to institutionalize English theft under the banner of the British East India Company. It is the second theft of this gem from the Verinder estate that precipitates the events of the novel, but memory of the original crime—and its curse—is never far from the reader, for the Brahmins who wish to return “The Moonstone” to the shrine of Chandra are never far away. At first these shadowy figures appear to be exotic villians, but Collins eventually shows us that the real criminals—both past and present—are the “respectable” English, and he grants his Hindu priests a moving coda. Sure, the ending of the novel is romantic, and exotic. But it is dignified and respectful of other cultures too.

The real reason, however, that you should read The Moonstone is that it endures, after all these years, as a diverting and absorbing entertainment. The first detective novel is still as readable as if it were published today.

862.tThe Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first full length detective novel in the English language.
The Moonstone tells of the events surrounding the disappearance of a mysterious (and cursed) yellow diamond. T. S. Eliot called it 'the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels'. It contains a number of ideas which became common tropes of the genre, including a crime being investigated by talented amateurs who happen to be present when it is committed, and two police officers who exemplify respectively the 'Scotland Yard bungler' and the skilled, professional detective.
Characters: Franklin Blake, Rachel Verinder, Godfrey Ablewhite, Gabriel Betteredge, Rosanna Spearman, Drusilla Clack, Mathew Bruff, Lady Verinder, Sergeant Cuff, Dr. Candy, Ezra Jennings, Octavius Guy, Penelope Betteredge.
عنوان­ها: س‍ن‍گ‌ م‍اه؛ الماس شوم؛ ماه­سنگ؛ ماه الماس؛ نویسنده: ویلکی کالینز؛ انتشاراتیها: (سنبله، مجرد، عطایی، نشر مرکز)؛ ادبیات قرن نوزدهم؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: دوم ماه دسامبر سال 2006 میلادی
عنوان یک: الماس‌ شوم (سنگ ماه)، نویسنده: ویلکی کالینز؛ مترجم: مهین قهرمان، نشر: ت‍ه‍ران، عطائی، 1384، در 364 ص.، ‏فروست: موسسه انتشارات عطائی، 649، رم‍ان، 48، شابک: 9789643136482
عنوان دو: ماهسنگ، مترجم: حمیدرضا ضرابی، نشر: مشهد، سنبله، 1383، در 107 ص،؛
عنوان سه: سنگ ماه (متن کوتاه شده)، مترجم: مهین دانشور، رمان پلیسی: ادبیات جهان برای جوانان، نشر: تهران، نشر مرکز، کتاب مریم‏، 1376، در 208 ص، مصور. يادداشت: چاپ قبلی: مجرد، 1363؛
این رمان به صورت پیوسته در مجله‌ ای به سرپرستی چارلز دیکنز منتشر می‌شد و نخستین بار در سال 1868 میلادی به صورت کتاب در انگلستان به چاپ رسید. رمان ماه‌ الماس در کنار رمان زن سفیدپوش از بهترین رمان‌های ویلکی کالینز به حساب می‌آیند. تی. اس. الیوت شاعر و نمایشنامه‌ نویس آمریکایی، در مقدمه‌ ای بر رمان ماه‌ الماس، آنرا «نخستین، بلندترین و بهترین رمان پلیسی مدرن انگلیسی» خوانده است. این کتاب در ایران در سالهای مختلف توسط ناشرین‌ متفاوت، تحت عنوان­های: «س‍ن‍گ‌ م‍اه» و «الماس شوم» و «ماه­سنگ» و «ماه الماس» منتشر شده است. رمان ماه‌ الماس را انتشارات نیلوفر در سال 1394 هجری خورشیدی با ترجمه منوچهر بدیعی به فارسی منتشر کرده است. ا. شربیانی

I guess a review of this requires me to say that Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone is one of the first mystery novels ever written. Now that I've got that out of the way, let's get on with the review.

This English drama/mystery started out great. It also started out much the same way many English drama/mysteries of the period would start out: in the manor house. It also used the popular-in-its-time epistolary form of storytelling, with about a half dozen characters taking up their pens to relate their portion of this story.

What is the story? Well, it starts off like an adventure with a mysterious diamond discovered in a faraway land. The diamond is passed down as inheritance and then it is stolen. Lovers are torn asunder and the mystery of the missing diamond must be solved if love is to prevail.

In fact, love plays a large roll in this, so large actually that I'm inclined to call it a romance as much as a mystery. If memory serves, it is even referred to as such as a subtitle, as in The Moonstone, a romance.

Regardless, if you've come solely for the mystery you'll be disappointed in much of this. As I say, it started out great. The first quarter or so of the story is related by the butler and much of his portion of the tale involves the facts of the case. He's also a colorful character, who it seems Collins enjoyed writing about. After him, we move on to less charming characters such a fanatic Christian, a lawyer, a physician, detective and one of the principle suspects involved in the disappearance of the diamond.

The faults, for me, in this novel are its overlong explanations, its unnecessary sidebar storylines, occasional repetition, and the time spent dwelling on the mundane. Many scenes could have been easily reduced, some could have been dispensed with all together, and the book would've been all the better for it. All in all, it's not horrible. I'd put it in league with Dickens' middling work. Not worth rushing forth to read, but I wouldn't dismiss it altogether.

Με την έναρξη του βιβλίου, εμείς οι αναγνώστες γινόμαστε γνώστες του ότι στο συγκεκριμένο χρονικό σημείο, το έγκλημα έχει γίνει και ήδη έχει εξιχνιαστεί. Η ανάγνωση που θα ακολουθήσει είναι οι διηγήσεις των προσώπων που έγιναν μάρτυρες της πολύπλοκης αυτής ιστορίας, τις οποίες έγραψαν έπειτα από την διαλεύκανση του μυστηρίου την οποία ακολουθούμε βήμα βήμα μέσα απο τις διηγήσεις τους.
Ένα έχω να πω, απολαυστική ιστορία, από απολαυστικούς χαρακτήρες. Το παιχνίδι ανάμεσα στον συγγραφέα και τον αναγνώστη, είχε κερδηθεί ήδη από την πρώτη διήγηση, αυτή του καμαριέρη Μπέτερεζ, αυτού του υπέροχου παππού, με την εμμονή στο μυθιστόρημα «Ροβινσώνας Κρούσος». Και σε αυτή, και στην επόμενη διήγηση, αυτή της εξαδέλφης μις Κλακ –καταπληκτική θρησκόληπτη, εμμονική φιγούρα γεροντοκόρης της εποχής εκείνης- ο Κόλλινς δίνει ρεσιτάλ αφηγηματικού μπρίου!
Υπέροχο βιβλίο!

The only London house Charles Dickens lived in which is still standing, is at 48 Doughty St. It has been converted into a museum, and at the moment is showing an exhibition called “Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens & Wilkie Collins”. Yet this is a museum devoted to the life and works of Charles Dickens! Even the name of the exhibition is a clever pun on one of Dickens’s novels.

Wilkie Collins wrote more than twenty novels and around 100 short stories, as well as a dozen plays, numerous essays and pieces of journalism. His books have attracted readers for a more than a century and a half and his unconventional lifestyle has intrigued the literary world for nearly as long. So apart from having a similarly large output, and living in the 19th century, what do these two authors have to do with one another?

The answer is that Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins wrote many works together. Their catalyst was Dickens’s close friend, mentor (and ultimately biographer) John Forster. Both men surrounded themselves with a vibrant circle of authors, artists, playwrights and performers, and although Dickens had many friends, his friendship and collaboration with Wilkie Collins was to become one of the most significant partnerships of both their lives.

It was on 12th March 1851, at John Forster’s house, where this life-changing event occurred. Charles Dickens was introduced to a young man who was a law student at Lincoln’s Inn, but also, like himself, was an amateur actor performing in a mutual friend’s play. So began a personal and professional relationship that would last over 15 years.

Charles Dickens quickly became Wilkie Collins’s friend and mentor, and went on to publish Collins’s story “A Terribly Strange Bed” in April 1852 in his magazine: “Household Words”. The story was very popular, and is still often published in modern anthologies of “Terror and the Supernatural”. From then on they became such good friends that Wilkie Collins wrote in a letter: “We saw each other every day, and were as fond of each other as men could be. Nobody (my own dear mother excepted, of course) felt so positively sure of the future before me in literature, as Dickens did.” Wilkie Collins joined the permanent staff of Dickens’s first magazine in November 1856, at a weekly salary of 5 guineas.

Despite the fact that Dickens was 12 years older than Wilkie Collins, the two authors worked together many times, their special annual Christmas numbers becoming a firm favourite with the public. In fact Collins was sometimes unkindly referred to “the Dickensian Ampersand”, because of the sheer number of works they collaborated on—inevitably referred to as works by “Charles Dickens & Wilkie Collins” rather than the other way round. Nevertheless, Wilkie Collins was one of the best known, best loved, and for a time, best paid Victorian fiction writers. He outlived his friend by 19 years, albeit in bad health, but still writing.

Wilkie Collins’s first serialised novel for Dickens’s magazine was “The Woman in White” in 1859, and officially he stopped being an “in-house” author for Dickens in April 1861, in the middle of his serial novel “No Name”, which Dickens admired and thought very clever. It continued to be published in his new showcase magazine “All the Year Round” into 1862. The two authors had differences of opinion, but complemented each other well. Afterwards Dickens managed to lure Wilkie Collins back now and then, including for The Moonstone, his final serialised novel in 1868. This was just two years before Dickens’s death. It was Wilkie Collins’s last great success, coming at the end of a very productive period in which four successive novels became bestsellers.

As I write, it is exactly 200 years ago that Wilkie Collins was born. His works are “classics”, with observations still relevant to contemporary life. However The Moonstone is also remembered for another significant reason.

The Moonstone: A Romance by Wilkie Collins was described by T.S. Eliot as “the first and greatest of English detective novels”. It was certainly one of the earliest detective novels in English, as we understand the term today, and established many of our modern ground rules. It influenced Wilkie Collins’s successors from Anthony Trollope and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle onwards, setting the standard by which all other detective novels are judged. This is quite an astonishing accomplishment for someone who was originally considered to be “the Dickensian Ampersand”!

The Moonstone could also lay claim to being the earliest clear example of the police procedural genre, although it is told through letters by the characters. Epistolary novels such as this are rare now, but were very popular with Victorians, and were a favourite technique of Wilkie Collins. In fact during its original serialisation in “All the Year Round”, there were crowds of anxious readers outside the publishers’ offices in Wellington Street waiting for the next installment, just as they did with Dickens own serials, from “The Old Curiosity Shop” onwards. Both The Moonstone and the earlier “The Woman in White” have never been out of print.

Both authors wrote great stories with ingenious plots, and none more so than The Moonstone’s was to prove. However Wilkie Collins’s prose was spare and direct, lacking the poetry and allusions of Dickens’s. He did not have the panoply of characters following their own complex, intertwining or parallel stories that Dickens did. Instead, what the reading public enjoyed about Wilkie Collins was his sensational stories, with subtlety of characterisation, and realistic psychological portrayals.

And that is what we still enjoy about The Moonstone. Collins wrote page-turners, but a re-reading of the novel is as delightful as a first reading, (which is another sign of a true classic). We get to know these characters, believe in them totally through all their trials and tribulations, and are sad when the novel is finished and we have to leave them behind. It is unusual for a detective novel to absorb our attention in quite this way. We may be caught up in its plot, but sometimes the characters in detective novels do not have much depth. Such shallow characters abounded in the 19th century too.

Although The Moonstone is generally considered to be the first detective novel it should perhaps be described as the first “respectable” one. There were earlier detective stories, in particular the 19th-century British publishing phenomenon known as “penny dreadfuls”, first published in the 1830s but going right through to the 1870s. They were printed on cheap paper, in weekly parts of 8 to 16 pages, and selling for a penny an installment. Popular recurring characters were featured, such as Sweeney Todd, Dick Turpin, Varney the Vampire, and Spring-heeled Jack. But the public were predisposed to expect something superior from Wilkie Collins, who was by now an established author. Moreover The Moonstone was not a “penny dreadful” story, but was published in the greatly respected Charles Dickens’s magazine.

Ironically enough though, the plot is not a million miles removed from that of a classic penny dreadful. The precious moonstone of the title is not a softly glowing semi-precious felspar gemstone as we might expect, but a colloquially named magnificent yellow diamond, which is reputed to have mystical powers. It is associated with the Hindu god of the Moon, Chandra, and protected by three hereditary guardians, who believe this is on the orders of Vishnu. The Moonstone is said to vary in brilliance along with the waxing and waning of the Moon … and it has disappeared. These three religious figures, strange and alien to the eyes of the English gentry, may or may not have been involved in its theft.

I did worry about the representation of people from the Indian subcontinent in a Victorian novel. So often the descriptions are offensive to modern perceptions, such as attempts at amusing caricatures—even in my beloved Dickens! Here though, I need not have worried. Wilkie Collins has given an impression of wealthy English people feeling menaced by the unknown and exotic, without specifics. It is all suggestion, and the one character we get to know in depth who does hail from India is a delight; in fact a tragic character, and the most honourable and upright person imaginable. Ezra Jennings’s is a sad tale of ill-health, undeserved prejudice and sheer bad luck.

Modern detective novels often have one officer and their sidekick. Here we have two competing detective figures: the irresistible Sergeant Cuff of Scotland Yard, with his penchant for growing roses (and insistence that his way is better than the chief steward’s). He keeps his own counsel about his suspicions, and is wise enough to keep notes about this, since nobody believes him at the time. Then there is Franklin Blake, a sort of amateur sleuth, but who appeals to our 21st century point of view as he has—unusually for the time—lived in and been shaped by several different cultures.

Technically of course Superintendent Seegrave is the senior officer, but the Police Commissioner’s word is law. This is bound to cause resentment, in a house where emotions are already running high. But we enjoy the sulky slowness of the superintendent, and the insight and asperity of St. Cuff for example in assessing the importance of the smudged, painted door.

Sergeant Cuff owes a lot to Dickens’s own Inspector Bucket fifteen years earlier, in the serial novel “Bleak House” (published in 1853). Wilkie Collins may have written the first English detective novel, but we should look to Inspector Bucket for the first important detective in English literature. This middle-aged, friendly and honest man is by temperament philosophical, and tolerant of human follies. It is his logic and sheer tenacity which is his outstanding quality as a policeman, as he patiently observes people and draws conclusions. The two policemen have this in common, and it is interesting to wonder just how much Dickens and Collins shared their thoughts about their invented characters.

Just like in a Dickens novel, we find the characters in The Moonstone engaging. The main narrator Gabriel Betteredge, the head steward, gets our attention (and our smiles of delight) right from the start as he talks about how much he loves the book “Robinson Crusoe”:

“I have tried that book for years—generally in combination with a pipe of tobacco—and I have found it my friend in need in all the necessities of this mortal life. When my spirits are bad—Robinson Crusoe. When I want advice—Robinson Crusoe. In past times when my wife plagued me; in present times when I have had a drop too much—Robinson Crusoe.”

Throughout the book Betteredge entertains us with his quirkiness. He has such a wry, droll sense of humour and we are always on his side. Nevertheless, it has to be said that the novel does begin in a roundabout way. First we have 2 prefaces. Then we have a prologue, which establishes the history of the jewel, taken from a factual historical event. Then we have the title “The Story”— but at the end of chapter 1, Gabriel Betteredge decides he has got off the point, and starts again with chapter 2. Would you believe it, but at the end of chapter 2 he does the same thing, and starts again in chapter 3—and again in chapter 4! It was a popular style for Victorian fiction to be prolix and discursive, but Betteredge continues to meander about and apologise—and it is hilarious! Dickens used to find the roundabout way his friend had of starting a novel infuriating, and often complained to Collins about it. But in fact it is a clever way of imparting quite a lot of information to us, whilst fooling us into believing we are merely being entertained.

Dickens could never have written like this, and he also disliked Collins’s habit of writing epistolary tales. It was a bone of contention even at the beginning, when Charles Dickens was Wilkie Collins’s editor. After “The Woman in White”, when they had been discussing a short story which Wilkie Collins was going to contribute to the Christmas edition of “All the Year Round”, Charles Dickens wrote to Georgina Hogarth (his sister-in-law and confidante):

“Wilkie brought his part of the Xmas No. to dinner yesterday. I hope it will be good. But is it not an extraordinary thing that it began: ‘I have undertaken to take pen in hand, to set down in writing etc. etc.’ … like the W in W (Woman in White) narratives? Of course, I at once pointed out the necessity of cancelling that …”

This was very early in their relationship, so clearly Wilkie Collins took not a bit of notice, and carried on in his own sweet way. The two authors are surprisingly different in their styles. Wilkie Collins sticks to just a few characters, and few—if any—cameos. We get to know them very well; the misunderstood second housemaid Rosanna Spearman; Lucy Yolland, her confidential friend; and Penelope, Gabriel Betteredge’s daughter, whom he relies on to tell him information he might not otherwise be privy to. There is Mr Murthwaite, another noted adventurer like Franklin Blake; and Dr Thomas Candy, the family physician. All have their own part to play in this well-plotted story, where even what we suspect to be red herrings are ultimately revealed to be pertinent facts.

There is Matthew Bruff, the family solicitor; and Godfrey Ablewhite, a philanthropist and lay preacher, much admired by Miss Clack—who herself provides us with a complete contrast to Betteredge ...

The sanctimonious Miss Drusilla Clack has a seemingly endless supply of Christian religious tracts. She is someone whom everyone tries to avoid except us. We sit openmouthed, loving to read the appalling descriptions of her steamrolling her way through meetings and drawing rooms alike.

Several of these are narrators in The Moonstone, and this technique is again a clever way to tell a mystery story. Not only do we have exactly the information the author wants us to have at each point, but also we get to know the personalities and biases of each character. For instance we know that Betteredge reads “Robinson Crusoe” for comfort, and guidance on how to act. Similarly his prejudices against women are humorous rather than offensive. His views are paternalistic but kindly. Wilkie Collins himself was a pioneer campaigner for women’s rights, and knew how to paint this picture subtly. Betteredge is simply naïve, and has no malice. He is happy with his place in the household and the world. He is an upright man who is delighted to be the conveyor of information for us.

We have seen Wilkie Collins painting a morally hypocritical female, but he writes a strong woman of a very different sort in Rachel Verinder. Rachel is a modern, thinking woman in the way of becoming very much in love with another character, whom she suspects of thievery.

It is Rachel who is now the owner of the priceless Indian diamond. For an unfathomable reason, she has inherited the jewel for her eighteenth birthday from her uncle, an army officer who served in India, but whom she had never met. As the story proceeds we see that Rachel knows her own mind, and is not afraid to challenge her mother, Lady Julia, and act according to what she herself thinks is right.

The success of The Moonstone was partly due to the growing public interest in stories of detection, as police work became increasing sophisticated. It was one of the first novels to put the emphasis on the growing use of forensic science and how the police used rational deduction to solve crimes. Earlier novels had tended to be written from the point of view of the criminal, or to concentrate on the social conditions which would make a crime more likely. Yet even so, Wilkie Collins’s popularity began to decline after this landmark novel.

The reason for the sudden change, and halt as a literary best-selling author, is rather sad. In his second Preface from 1871 Wilkie Collins tells his readers how two personal calamities hit him at once, when he was only a third of the way through The Moonstone. His mother died, and he was stricken with the gout which was to plague him for the rest of his life. He had to dictate the rest of the book. In consequence, he began to write novels which contained more overt social commentary, and these did not attract the same popularity. Although he was to live for 21 more years, The Moonstone still outshines Collins’s later works.

The Moonstone was a great success with the public, but after his initial excitement about it Dickens’s enthusiam began to wane. This seems odd, because the episodes of this story had increased the circulation of “All the Year Round” more than any other novel so far—including his own popular ones “A Tale of Two Cities” (1859) and even “Great Expectations” (1861).

However, something similar had happened before. The first weekly installment of Wilkie Collins’s “The Woman in White” had appeared in the same edition of “All the Year Round” along with the final installment of “A Tale of Two Cities” (26th November 1859). But by the end of “The Woman in White” in July 1860, sales of the journal were up! The critics may have had a mixed reception, but in the eyes of the public, Collins’s sensation novels were a huge success. Collins even adapted The Moonstone for the stage in 1877.

That success continues today, with many dramatisations of both “The Woman in White” and The Moonstone. People are still caught up in the intrigue and mysteries of these stories. The latest is an excellent BBC miniseries from 2016 and stars David Calder, Sophie Ward, Jeremy Swift, Guy Henry and Jag Sanghera etc. It has 5 episodes of 45 minutes each.

What many people look for in a mystery story is a simple “whodunnit”. Will you guess the culprit in this case? You might, if you are familar with Victorian tropes, just as you might in a modern crime novel, if you pick up the clues. It is quite a complex plot, although with far fewer characters than Dickens novel and a more direct story line. The ending is perhaps not what you expect, but I personally feel is exactly right.

“If half the stories I have heard are true, when it comes to unravelling a mystery, there isn’t the equal in England of Sergeant Cuff!”

I shall no doubt enjoy seeing the current exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum, and actually being in the room where these two great authors’ collaborations took place.