Drood

In a word: brilliant. Dan Simmons' "Drood" is a sprawling, epic masterpiece of historical fiction that succeeds on multiple levels: a vivid biography, a page-turning thriller, and a chilling expose of the squalid life of London's poor in Victorian London, all wrapped around a uniquely clever narrative, so rich in irony and cynical humor that the style continually competes with the plot - much to the reader's delight.This is the story of the last five years of Charles Dickens life - a dark and disturbing period in which the wildly successful author is plagued with the vision of "Drood", a ghoulish and mysterious character he encounters in the aftermath of the horrific Staplehurst train wreck in which Dickens and his mistress barely escape with their lives. Haunted by the near-fatal wreck and nightmares of Drood, Dickens' writing slows to a crawl, apparently obsessed with the mystery of Drood, while he shifts attention to public readings that take on increasingly dark subject matter. Simmons captures a Dickens who, despite the macabre subject matter, is a gregarious and likeable host, the creative genius who not only most enjoys being around a large circle of friends, but quite often captures these persona's as characters in his wildly popular novels. In telling this excruciatingly well-researched story, Simmons spins a bleak and disgusting portrait of London's hovels and sewers and opium dens and worse, a brutally shocking slice of history so vivid that even Dickens' own "Bleak House" or "David Copperfield" are a relative strolls through Hyde Park by comparison.But beyond the history and the mystery and the brutality, the magic in Simmons' jewel is his portrayal of William Wilkie Collins, the narrator and chronicler of this wordy tale. Collins was a contemporary author of some renown, and a close friend of Dickens. He was also an opium addict, the result of chronic "rheumatoid gout", alternating between states of extreme pain and drug-induced oblivion. Collins is the true star of "Drood", rendered by Simmons as a self-centered, conceited little man - a cad as catty as Dickens is magnanimous, the arrogant "victim" of a reading public too stupid to see the superiority of his own work compared to his much more accomplished friend, Charles Dickens. Simmons wraps his yarn around Collins with delicious irony and tongue-in-cheek humor reminiscent of Arthur Phillip's campy "The Egyptologist". Readers of Simmons know that the author is no stranger to the supernatural, and certainly things metaphysical play a large central role here, gnawing at the fringes of the reader's sensibility until coming together in a closing as unexpected and powerful as the train wreck which starts this saga.If, like me, you're a fan of Simmons, you'll marvel at the intersection of "Drood" and "The Terror", Simmons' highly acclaimed novel from 2007. The two connect through Dickens' real life attraction to the ill-fated Franklin Expedition upon which "The Terror" is based, linked via a play that Collins and Dickens co-authored. As with "The Terror", the author seamlessly weaves historical fact with plausible supposition, backed by deeply drawn characters, riveting action, and vivid historical and cultural backdrops.Without a doubt, some will find "Drood" overly long and tedious, but don't let the weight discourage you: this is a poignant, frightening, and illuminating triumph of historical fiction - one of those novels that are not simply great entertainment for the moment, but one of that rare breed that will stay with you long after its put back on the shelf. Bravo, Mr. Simmons!

In 1857, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated on their first and only play together, The Frozen Deep. Taking the mysterious disappearance of Sir John Franklin's Arctic Expedition of 1845 as their subject, Dickens and Collins produced a fictionalized melodrama of the tragedy, leaving the more grisly aspects of the event, such as cannibalism, to be examined by later writers.A century and a half later, American author Dan Simmons revisited the doomed Franklin Expedition in his novel The Terror. Having covered the same material as Collins and Dickens, perhaps it only makes sense that Simmons's new novel, Drood, explores the fraught friendship and uneasy collaboration between the two most famous novelists of the Victorian Era. This fictionalized account of the last years of Dickens's life is an enjoyable, if overly long, thriller, complete with cameos from famous literary figures, practitioners of Egyptian occultism, and denizens of an underground city in the sewers of London.Our narrator for this chronicle of 1860's London is Wilkie Collins himself, writing an account for the "Dear Reader of my posthumous future." Relaying the story of Dickens's near-death experience in a train accident in 1865 and subsequent obsession with mesmerism, Collins tells of the author's seemingly chance encounter with a very strange man known only as "Drood." The mystery of Drood's intentions and his role in what Collins perceives to be Dickens's growing insanity make up the plot of the novel.Collins, a notorious opium addict and flouter of societal conventions, is the epitome of an unreliable narrator. He sees green-skinned women with tusks in his laudanum-induced stupor, presenting these ghostly figures as unimpeachable fact to us. The question of how much we can believe Collins's "true story" guides the rest of the fantastical tale. Full of potshots against Dickens' character, Collins's narration is also colored by his undisguised jealousy of Dickens's literary and commercial successes.Simmons's creation of this fictionalized Collins is one of the great successes of the novel. He is petty, unattractive, and gluttonous, but also completely aware of his personal flaws. This makes for an exceedingly complex character, a rarity in suspense novels. Collins's historical asides can be a bit tedious, especially when they are repeated more than once in the 771 pages of the novel, but they are at least interesting the first time around. Through the mouth of Collins, Simmons creates a vivid picture of the underworld of 1860's London, as well as the bucolic countryside of Dickens's manor.The strength of the novel lies, though, in the creation of minor characters that would not be out of place in Dickens's own novels. Here we have a hulking sergeant with a secretly gentle demeanor, an extremely forgetful barrister hidden behind mountains of legal briefs, and a toothless crone who owns a filthy opium den. Simmons's ear for dialogue is itself worthy of Collins's jealousy, as demonstrated by an alcoholic gravedigger:"I fancy they must've crook-hitched one another good when they met promiscuous-like, the way it must've been in the dark when candles were the thing--and they're laid out in what was an underground chapel here long time ago, closed up back when all the heads was rolling and everyone was lifting toasts to Bonnie Prince Charlie and all that."Who knows what it means, but it sure is fun.The three or four hundred pages of Drood containing passages like this that are pure mystery are surely the most enjoyable. The rest of the novel consists of somewhat tedious repetitions of unimportant biographical information about the two main characters. For example, a complete rehashing of the plots of Collins's The Moonstone and Dickens's Our Mutual Friend is unnecessary and distracting. If Simmons had carved the fat from his plot like Collins working over a succulent roast beef, he would have a nice, tight thriller. Here's hoping that Simmons cuts down on his appetite for red herrings and fluff the next time around.

Très bon livre

Another great book from Dan Simmons.

Beam yourself to the nearest intergalactic transport service, hitch a ride to the nearest black hole that is ripping the space time continuum apart and then transport yourself to a parallel universe and then you will begin to get an idea of how different this book is from the usual Dan Simmons work. At a really, really, really long stretch, this could, by standards that are looser than a diarrhetic baby's sphincter, you could call it science fiction. But then, that would be doing it a disservice that will make the infinite universe seem absurdly minuscule.This book, especially for lovers, adrent evangelistis, and fanatics of literature is something orgasmic beyond the wildest of kens. Simmons pays the same level of attention to detail as he does in his space operas. Every detail, every nook, every cranny, every visceral emotion is painted to the last wrinkle and shown in weaves of shadow and light that is spelchural, and blinding all at the same time.If either Wilkie Collins or Charles Dickens were alive, they would have crafted their lives to suit this book and would have gladly abandoned reality to live in such a fantastic tale. If this book was given to either of them soon as they could read and understand, they would have taken this as Gospel. As a story of a future foretold by God hisself.Drood is the literary equivalent of 771 pages of the most spine jarringly explosive literary orgasm that can be subjected to sustained release. Even more so if you savour the curve of every alphabet, and ponder languorously over every carefully constructed sentence when you are in a world that is constantly at violent sunset on a saturday evening with the pleasant breezes of spring wafting around a warm cup of tea that is by your side on a tea table that is overlooking the world's end over an expanse of grass where gods could play hide and seek and get lost forever.Do I have to tell you to read it?PS: To truly enjoy this book, it would be best if you are familiar with Dickens' and Collins' work especially, the unifinished novel of Dickens (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), The Moonstone, and a few others. Essentially, you need to like Victorian literature.

Mr Simmons applied his literary genius to this book. The style of his writing made me feel as though I was in the era for which the story was set, the first person perspective in which the book was written was authentic and immersive, and his research into the topic was commendable. It was a clear window into a part of history.However, it was all context and no climax. Having finished the book, I’m left asked asking “so what?” The book was named “Drood,” but perhaps should have been named “Privilege, Misogyny, and Casual Racism in Nineteenth Century London.”Sorry, Mr Simmons, but you’ve left me scratching my head with this one. (As opposed to “Terror,” which I utterly loved!)

livre en bon état,livraison rapide,seul problème quand j'ai commandé je n'ai pas fait attention mais il est en anglais, mon anglais est un peu rouillé.Sinon tout est OK