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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.

★★★★☆ ( )

Although not a great fan of Dickens - my tally of his titles in my library stretches to two and a half (of Bleak House) - I was intrigued by the premise of his last, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The trailer for the recent BBC adaptation (not based on Madden's version) spurred me into action, and I downloaded the first 'completed' text on Kindle. And apart from my usual misgivings with Dickens - his use of caricatures, pathetic women, heavy-handed social commentary - I must say that I enjoyed Edwin Drood! Madden picks up the many threads of Dickens' narrative with ease and a studied fidelity to the original, and there are some amusing characters (my favourites were Deputy, the stone-flinging urchin, and Bazzard, Grewgious' frustrated assistant). Of course, nobody writes quite like Dickens himself, and Madden admits to moderating the distinctive dialect of some characters for fear of sounding like a 'Monty Python' sketch, but overall, Madden's anniversary edition of Dickens' last novel works well.

'I find it a little obvious', observed Tartar thoughtfully; 'but that is probably only because we have such an expert to guide us through these mysteries,' he quickly and generously added.

The mystery of Edwin Drood is really more of a howdunnit, that a whodunnit or even a whydunnit, and the tension of the story starts to build only after the disappearance of the eponymous character - will justice prevail, and who will close the mystery? There are several 'detective' figures in Madden's continuation - the Reverend Septimus Crisparkle, city lawyer Mr Grewgious, and the mysterious Dick Datchery - and some Dickens readers have suggested that various characters are actually masquerading as others, but I think Madden has the right balance of coincidence and co-operation. Exotic beauty Helena Landless is also an intelligent and active agent, working to clear her brother's name, in a satisfying contrast to the blushing bimbette Rosa Budd, nick-named 'Pussy' (by Dickens).

Apparently there have been various other attempts to solve Dickens' last mystery - by Wilkie Collins and even Dan Simmons (!) - but I need read no further: David Madden's respectful continuation has tied up all of the loose ends for me. I don't even think I will bother with the BBC adaptation now! ( )