In 1870 Charles Dickens died, having published only six installments of his final novel. (Dickens method was to publish novels one chapter per month in authorized magazines and then publish the book upon completion of the magazine series.) His American publisher, Fields & Osgood , was struggling and if Dickens had secretly finished Drood, they must be the first to find the manuscript and publish it. It seems that the publishing business was populated by unprincipled men. In fact, this story is full of scoundrels.

Mr. Pearl wastes no time developing rich characters that I formed strong feelings for and against. Young Daniel Sand is murdered when he goes to the docks to retrieve the Dickens manuscript shipped from his English publisher. James Osgood sets out to find the missing manuscript, save his firm and solve Daniel’s murder. Of course, a beautiful woman is involved, as are a wide array of the most fascinating characters I’ve read. As the story unfolds, the stakes become ever higher. The ending is even more intense and satisfying.

The Last Dickens is Matthew Pearl’s best novel, so far and it is the best use of your entertainment time and money I can think of.

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“I think there is something very resilient about the intimacy of the book. You go to see a movie and the movie is up on the screen in front of you and you are there with hundreds of other people. You read a book and it is just you and the book and what is inside your head. That particular intimacy is something that I think people value, some people anyway. I hope enough people.” — Salman Rushdie interviewed by Douglas Harrington for Hamptons.com

On October 5, 2009 Salman Rushdie was presented with the Contribution to the Arts Award by Americans For The Arts. Mr. Rushdie’s thought on the importance and resiliency of books is encouraging to book lovers and accurate, I hope.

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Edgar Allan Poe portrait from the Library of Congress

The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, Edited and with an Introduction by Matthew Pearl, author of The Poe Shadow, is a fun read. With Mr. Pearl’s introduction, we learn much concerning Poe and detective fiction.

Reading these stories together gives food for thought on the theories surrounding Poe’s mental stability, or lack thereof. Poe’s contemporary critics referred to Dupin and Poe interchangeably, and his narrator wonders if Dupin’s genius might be “diseased intelligence.” Speaking of the narrator; he remains nameless, and yet, is a crucial part of these stories. Poe’s talent is on full display in this collection.

Arthur Conan Doyle called Poe’s sleuth, “The best detective in fiction… Dupin is unrivaled.”

This small volume contains all three Dupin stories, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt, and The Purloined Letter. The appendix excerpts three earlier detective stories, Zadig by Voltaire, Memoirs of Vidocq by Eugène-François Vidocq, and The Rifle by William Leggett.

Note: The image above is from the Library of Congress and is in the public domain, as are all works published prior to 1923.

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Through Updike’s masterful prose, I know the tiredness of constant travel, the shallowness of the communist charade of seeking mutual understanding and respect, the futility of failed diplomacy, as well as, knowing the sickening feeling that ones best work has passed and only mediocrity remains. As if the author had not mystified and entertained me enough, he then proceeds, with brilliant nuance, to introduce a moving story of unrequited love. Deftly, subtly, Bech’s feelings for the poetess become clear and I feel sorry for him.

I love this story.

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Poor Tessie Hutchinson.

It has been many years since I read The Lottery. Knowing the ending actually heightened my anticipation. I read as a student and hopefully learned something about atmosphere and setting.

Ultimately, Jackson was encouraging her readers to question authority and use their reason to overthrow mindless ritual.

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“… weakening with the wound through his lungs that brought a thin foamy red to his mouth each time he breathed. His flanks were wet and hot and flies were on the little openings the solid bullets had made in his tawny hide, and his big yellow eyes, narrowed with hate, looked straight ahead, only blinking when the pain came as he breathed, and his claws dug in the soft baked earth. All of him, pain, sickness, hatred and all of his remaining strength, was tightening into an absolute concentration for a rush. He could hear the men talking and he waited, gathering all of himself into this preparation for a charge as soon as the men would come into the grass. As he heard their voices his tail stiffened to twitch up and down, and, as they came into the edge of the grass, he made a coughing grunt and charged.”

Francis Macomber turned and ran, causing Wilson to feel more respect for the lion than for Macomber. Margaret began to loathe her husband even more and immediately targets Wilson as her next paramour.

The following day during an encounter with a charging buffalo Francis finds his courage. He is a changed man. Hemingway now moves to the bloody surprise ending, revealing clues about Margaret’s state of mind, but leaving ambiguity so as to cause doubt about the nature of the ‘accident’.

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is a fun and thrilling read that reminds me of what a great talent Ernest Hemingway possessed.

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Chronicles Volume One by Bob Dylan

I was 14 years old when I first heard of Bob Dylan. I was buying My first record album. I had bought 45 rpm singles before. That was all I was allowed to buy with my allowance but now that I had turned 14 my parents granted me greater freedom. They were in the record store in the Country Music section but I had brought a friend with me. His name was Terry and he preferred Rock & Roll, so I followed him around listening to his suggestions.

My parents said no to the Beetles and the Rolling Stones. Then I came across Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Volume 2. The double album contained 21 great songs I had never heard of and neither had my parents. They allowed the purchase and I was on my way to becoming a life-long Dylan fan.

I soon began looking for more Dylan music. Some record store employees and patrons were helpful. I heard many fascinating legends that made Dylan seem like a prophet. Now, some claimed, he was a recluse who had no use for anybody.

One story that came up was the legendary motorcycle wreck that almost killed Dylan. ‘He changed after that wreck,’ they said. ‘He got religion and his music changed.’ Over the years I’ve heard many stories, tall tales, myths about Dylan. For this reason I was especially pleased when Dylan released the first volume of his autobiography.

Chronicles – Volume One is the title of Bob Dylan’s autobiography. It is divided into five sections that are not connected like regular chapters in your typical biography, but why would anyone expect Bob Dylan to do anything in an ordinary fashion. The sections overlap going back and forth to his childhood or to his early playing days and then moving forward to his family life. He writes about myriad influences from classic poets and philosophers to beat poets, contemporary folk artists, and the people in his life, to his childhood home and upbringing, and the historical figures of the twentieth century.

“Hitler, Churchill, Mussolini, Stalin, Roosevelt — towering figures that the world would never see the likes of again, men who relied on their own resolve, for better or worse, every one of them prepared to act alone, indifferent to approval–indifferent to wealth or love, all presiding over the destiny of mankind and reducing the world to rubble.” — Section two, The Lost Land

One of the most striking passages is in the third section, New Morning. Here Dylan describes in detail the down side of fame; to the point that if his account were widely read, sensible people would never want to be famous.

“I found myself stuck in Woodstock, vulnerable and with a family to protect. If you looked in the press, though, you saw me being portrayed as anything but that. It was surprising how thick the smoke had become. It seems like the world has always needed a scapegoat–someone to lead the charge against the Roman empire. But America wasn’t the Roman empire and someone else would have to step up and volunteer. I really was never any more than what I was–a folk musician who gazed into the gray mist with tear-blinded eyes and made up songs that floated in a luminous haze. Now it had blown up in my face and was hanging over me. I wasn’t a preacher performing miracles. It would have driven anybody mad.”

Chronicles is full of rich passages of reminiscences and ruminations about Dylan’s experiences and contemporary events of the time and great and/or popular musical artists he knew and played with. Some of his writing is so full and rich a single paragraph could have become an entire chapter or even an entire book — but Bob Dylan had much on his mind and much to say.

I highly recommend Chronicles – Volume One by Bob Dylan.

Chronicles Volume One by Bob Dylan

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Today the news media covered the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.It reminded me of Ernest Hemingway’s famous novel, The Sun Also Rises. This is the novel that introduced a generation of Americans to the running of the bulls. The story is built around an ensemble of English and American expatriates living in Paris.

Soon the group is traveling to Spain. They end up in Pamplona. Along the way there is drinking and crisp witty dialogue and drinking and fishing and drinking and bulls running through the streets and drinking and bull fights and more drinking.

This story is full of humor — from the first paragraph where a certain boxer gets his nose flattened. Jake, the main character, remarks that it improved his appearance.

The story moves quickly and produces various moods for the reader; from melancholy to joy. I highly recommend The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.

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A boy. A tiger. And the vast Pacific Ocean. This is the beginning of the brief tease on the front inside flap of the dust jacket of Life of Pi, a novel by Yann Martel. I read this novel in 2001 or the following year. It is a good story, well told.

The title character begins life with the name Piscine Molitor Patel. A sensitive child, he tires of people mispronouncing his name. The other kids often call him Pissing Patel. So, he shortens his name to Pi.

He was born in India and fills us in beautifully on his life with his family and their business. His family owned and operated a zoo. His father sells the animals and uproots the family to start a new life elsewhere. They travel on a freighter along with some of the animals. Catastrophe strikes at sea. Pi ends up on a life boat with a tiger.

The author gives us much to ponder as he weaves layers of allegory into his novel. Mr. Martel tells a great story. I couldn’t imagine how it was going to end. It holds hours of enjoyment for the avid reader.

Oh, and one more thing; Yann martel won the prestigious Man Booker prize for Life of Pi.

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The Dante Club

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow began the Dante translation club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was joined by James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, George Washington Greene and James T. Fields. These men wanted to make Dante Alighieri’s work available to the general public in America. There was some opposition to this translation and Mr. Pearl weaves this fact into his chilling story.

At the beginning of the story, a body is discovered. The deceased is an acquaintance of the main characters. A man who was not pleased with the translation of Dante’s comedy. The maid who discovered the body claims he showed some minor sign of life, but how can that be, since the body was already being consumed by maggots. Ahh, to believe this assertion or to dismiss it as just the imagination of the emotional woman.

Mr. Pearl masterfully breathes life into each historical figure as they work together to solve this mystery. We get to know the disposition of each man and learn some background on them individually. I came to appreciate each for his strengths and his flaws. I especially enjoyed getting to know Longfellow. An ensemble of this size and gravitas could be unwieldy in less capable hands, but they are mere clay to this author.

Of course, there are many enjoyable and surprising twists along the way. Some events could be interpreted by the authorities to make these noble men persons of interest in this murder and other crimes. What’s more, Mr. Pearl places my favorite character in grave danger. My heart was racing. (I get into stories, suspending disbelief from the start. Why read the story if I’m not going to commit to it.)

I highly recommend The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl.

The Poe shadow

In The Poe Shadow, Mr. Pearl reveals the many questions surrounding the death of Edgar Allen Poe. He uses a fictional character, Quentin Clark, who is a deeply appreciative fan of Poe’s writing. Quentin puts his life on hold to solve this mystery, even loosing his fiance to another man. So, was Poe murdered or was his death natural. Whichever is the case there are many questions that need to be answered. That is, Quentin believes they need to be answered, but he is alone in this belief. There were not a lot of people who read Poe during his lifetime.

Many obstacles are placed in Quentin’s way and it seems there are several people who want to prevent him from solving the mystery surrounding Poe’s death. He can’t decipher the meaning of so many unexplained questions — who could?

Quentin decides to find C. Auguste Dupin, a fictional character of Poe’s invention in The Murders in the Rue Morgue. It was widely rumored that Poe had based this brilliant detective on an actual genius investigator. So, Quentin travels to Paris to bring back the real August Dupin. The events that occur in Paris open a brilliant subplot that could have filled a novel by itself.

I highly recommend The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl.

Also, look for a special edition of Edgar Allen Poe’s famous detective stories edited and introduced by Matthew Pearl.

Check out Matthew Pearl’s site: MatthewPearl.com

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