Excelente. Realmente así fueron los últimos días de Edgar.

Este libro tenía todo para gustarme y no poco precisamente. El misterio de la muerte de Poe, un lector obsesionado, los posibles sujetos que inspiraron la creación de Auguste Dupin trabajando para descubrir la verdad. En fin, que la premisa prometía muchísimo.

La realidad, sin embargo, es que tardé once años en ser capaz de leerlo completo. Antes de eso lo intente varias veces, sin pasar nunca de la página cincuenta. No sé explicar muy bien por qué se hace tan ardua su lectura, porque no está mal escrito. Es como con esas comidas que parecen bien preparadas pero a las que le la falta sazón.

Fueron 445 páginas que se sintieron como el doble. Una lástima.

Reseñado en mi blog Nanny Books

Todo lo que lleva el nombre de Poe (uno de mis autores favoritos) inmediatamente me llama la atención. En este caso, La sombra de Poe de Matthew Pearl, libro que me regalaron totalmente de sorpresa (pasé varias veces frente a él diciendo "mirá que lindo", para que el mensaje cayera en el inconsciente y saliera en el momento oportuno), me ha gustado mucho y no fue para nada lo que esperaba (positivamente).
La muerte de Poe obsesionará a Quentin, nuestro protagonista, quien intentará revelar lo que sucedió en realidad. Investigando, pronto comprende que no puede hacerlo solo, pero cuando va en busca de la persona en la cual el autor se inspiró para crear el personaje magistral de Dupin (el primer detective de novela policial), los límites entre la realidad y la fantasía se rompen. Poe y los cuentos de Poe caen sobre la narrativa de Pearl, haciendo que la lectura de su novela sea toda una delicia.
Los giros argumentales son imposibles de contar, seguramente hay más de quince. Paralelamente a la investigación sobre Poe, nos encontramos con retazos de la vida de Quentin. Y si a eso le sumamos la fantasía que va cayendo de a poco, la historia se vuelve compleja. Tal como me gusta.
La narración es bastante prolija, aunque hay párrafos que se extienden demasiado y que podrían ir perfectamente separados. El último capítulo es abasallante, pero muy grato.
Con mucha acción y misterio, esta novela es un trhiller genial, en donde las respuestas se descubren despacio y los interrogantes crecen a raudales. Lo mejor que tiene es la presencia de Poe.

Hay misterio, acción, varias tramas aparte de resolver los últimos días de Edgar Allan Poe. Hay, para mi sorpresa, bastante acción. Algo que me ha gustado mucho es que está muy bien narrado y me recuerda a los libros de la época, algo que a mí me encanta. También hay mucha explicación y, en algunos momentos, se me hizo algo plomizo. Pero no sé si es porque no he podido leer a la velocidad que quería o porque se me hacía denso.

¡La reseña completa en el blog!
https://tintaliteratura.blogspot.com....

Fictional account of Poe's death, an event still surrounded by questions about his well-being and where-being. Pearl purports to solve the mystery through research by a fictional Baltimore lawyer and the assistance of competing fictional real-life models for Poe's super-rational detective Auguste Dupin.

Does a decent job of weaving historical research into suppositional solution of the Poe mystery, but the book tends to wind on and on as if in attempted imitation of Poe's romantic literary style.

Good, but about 75 pages and two too many psychobabble interludes past great.

O carte cu un subiect foarte interesant pe care am inceput s-o citesc avand foarte multe asteptari. Romanul promite a face lumina asupra misterioasei morti a celebrului scriitor Edgar Allan Poe. Acesta a murit la varsta de 40 de ani intr-un spital din Baltimore in 1849 fiind anterior gasit intr-o situatie deplorabila, purtand hainele altcuiva si delirand. Cele 5 zile pe care le-a petrecut in Baltimore sunt invaluite in mister si chiar si inmormantarea la care au participat doar 4 persoane este nedemna de marele horror-lord.
Dupa parerea mea, solutia oferita de Matthew Pearl, care se bazeaza din abundenta pe aceste fapte reale dar si pe imaginatia sa bogata, este partial satisfacatoare si consider ca, la un moment dat, acesta nu a mai stiut ce sa faca cu subiectul. Actiunea este intortocheata si dezorienteaza cititorul pentru ca pur si simplu se intampla prea multe lucruri unul dupa altul.
Nu stiu daca este vorba doar de exemplarul meu, dar cartea este criminala la propriu, in sensul ca paginile sale provoaca mici taieturi foarte dureroase de fiecare data cand le intorci, astfel ca am terminat romanul ca un zombie: in sange si bandaje.

Seems a lot of people really did not like this book very much. I will say that it is not a book for everyone--somewhat slow paced, no non-stop action, a little hard to follow at times, sometimes excessively wordy. However, I ended up enjoying this book despite these flaws.

While most people leaving reviews had a problem with the main character, Quentin Clark, finding him unlikable, I had the opposite reaction to him. Here was a young man from a good family, with a good career, enough money to allow him to be independent, a fiancee that he loves very much, and he chooses to walk away from all of that (temporarily at least) to resolve a mystery surrounding the death of Edgar A. Poe, a writer he loves and has the utmost respect for, and who, following his death, has been treated poorly and dragged through the mud, so to speak. Quentin wants to correct this situation because he believes it is the right thing to do. Now whether that was the sole reason for his actions - maybe he also had a little fear of growing up and older and living a life of sameness, etc. - hardly matters, it was what he chose to do and who wouldn't like the chance to take that kind of action at some point in their lives. So he sets off on what may be a fool's errand and meets all kinds of characters, involved in all kinds of intrigue, both personal and political, and lives to tell the tale.

Along the way he meets an engaging cast of characters including Baron Dupin (who for me felt like a nod to Huck Finn), his female aide Bonjour (who I would love to have known more about and who would be a great primary character in a book of her own, IMHO), the detective Auguste Duponte (very Sherlockian) and relatives, on the American side, of Napoleon Bonaparte, among others. All of these characters have their own motivations and degrees of involvement in this quest that Quentin Clark is on and not all of it has to do with the actual quest that Clark thinks he is on.

Which brings me to my very favorite thing about this book--not one of the stated characters, including Quentin Clark, is a reliable narrator. You never know who to believe at any given time, and I found that my allegiances to certain characters, much like Quentin's, was changing all the time. For me, this led to some laugh out loud moments, some disappointments and some surprises, and an enjoyable read overall.

It also seems obvious that Matthew Pearl did great research on Poe for this book, providing lots of interesting facts and theories about Poe and his writing, which will lead me to reading more Poe.

Not as interesting as The Dante Club, but still a fair read. Pearl's "hero" definitely grows into the role; at first he is pictured as an erratic almost buffoon-like character, but he evolves into a commanding presence whose principles are tested through personal loss and professional trials (literally!). I enjoy historical fiction, but this lacked a compelling mystery to be solved, though Pearl does offer interesting insight into Poe's last few days.

Onvan : The Poe Shadow - Nevisande : Matthew Pearl - ISBN : 1400061032 - ISBN13 : 9781400061037 - Dar 367 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2006

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Mystery, history,fine literature all in one. This is a great book! It's very insightful into the life and untimely death of Edgar A. Poe, one of America's great literary geniuses. It is a mystery fashioned after the complicated art of mystery developed by Poe. It does, in fact, read like a Poe mystery, only with Poe, Poe's death, as the mystery, which, regrettably, is never solved and probably never will be. Highly recommended. Very insightful. Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford, award-winning author of "The Whistling Bishop" and "F-Stop: A Life in Pictures".

Soooo disappointed with this book after I whole-heartedly gave Dante Club a 5 star review (rare for me). This book was an utter snooze-fest. I literally had to force myself to read it. I think what bothered me is that the jacket, the cover, etc. set this up to be as equally paced & thrilling as Dante Club, but it's clearly not. It's incredibly slow, completely different. Writing different? FINE, but don't bill the book in the same manner, or your fans will expect some consistency in the writing. Halfway in, literally, nothing had happened... at all. The protagonist, I agree with many other reviewers was ANNOYING, whiney, and I loved how another reviewer noted he had NO street smarts, but was obviously a "book-smart" sort of fellow. That hit the nail on the head. Darn.. I really had high hopes for this. Just sorely, sorely disappointed.

A good premise. A disappointing read.
The main character is not one to be liked. He's snivelly, whiny, irritating and just not likeable.....and he doesn't think things through before ploughing ahead with his ideas, regardless of how they effect others. Even for Victorian standards, he's quite the Dandy.
However, the Author does accomplish the feeling of the Victorian era, the Society and character of it. He also manages to give a good feeling of police and detective work in the days before forensics.