The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Completed) ★★★★☆

 

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Title: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Completed)
Authors: Charles Dickens & David Madden
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 483
Words: 181.5K

Synopsis:

This book is divided into two parts, the first being Dicken's original and unfinished manuscript. The second part is where Madden takes over and finishes up the story.

In his version, the old man, Datchery, is an undercover detective hired by Mr Grewgious, the guardian of Rosa. He figures lots of things out and with the help of Reverend Crisparkle, pins the murder on Jasper, Edwins's uncle. Helene Landless is at this time secretly engaged to Crisparkle and her brother, Neville, overhears the evidence through that connection. He confronts Jasper, who is in an opium haze and Jasper ends up falling off the steeple in town and impaling himself on an iron fence.

My Thoughts:

I finished up the incomplete Drood back in March and the first thing I noticed upon starting this was just how much I enjoy Dickens' writing. It felt like putting on a pair of broken in slippers that were warm and fit me perfectly.

As I noted in my Currently Reading post a couple of weeks ago, Madden seemed to be trying to stay within the same literary framework. For the most part, I think he succeeded. I never felt jarred out of the story because of something Madden had written nor was the style radically different. Now, to be clear, he is NO Dickens. He had the mechanical aspect of writing like Dickens down, but that's what it was. His writing was not inspired like Dickens' could be. It really felt like Dickens writing on a bad day, perhaps with a head cold and cough that kept interrupting his thoughts. But I was satisfied with the job Madden did.

The completion of the story on the other hand, was even more pat than Dickens. It wasn't bad by any means or super sappy or anything negative, but it was, mmhhmm, bland. If Dickens had ended things that way, I'd probably be ok with it though. So maybe I'm just looking for things to pick on about Madden.

Whatever the case, whenever I do another Dickens re-read, I'll make sure to ends thing with this volume, not the incomplete one.

★★★★☆

• The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Unfinished by Dickens)