About this title: Franklin Blake is in love with Rachel Verinder. The gem he gives her, the moonstone, disappears, and the police cannot solve the crime. Eventually, Rachel spurns Franklin, and he goes abroad in an attempt to forget her and recover. When Franklin's father dies and Franklin returns to England, he resolves to win her back by solving the mystery of ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin, London
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780140620139ISBN:0140620133
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. 463p.; 18 cm. Penguin popular classics.. Nice tight book w/no markings inside or out. Has very slight edge wear, Readers creases along spine. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1966
ISBN-13:9780140430141ISBN:0140430148
Description: Poor. No dust jacket as issued. price sticker on back. small tear in front cover. gift message written inside. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 528 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780451528292ISBN:0451528298
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. All pages clear and present. Still fairly tight in the covers. Some writing on the inside of the front cover. Edge and corner wear as though it's been read once or twice. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 512 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780451523945ISBN:0451523946
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Nice soft cover, lightly read, some shelf wear to cover, light creases on spine, stk #2503n8. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 480 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Spine is smooth. Covers show some wear at the edges and corners. Good reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Good. Spine has some creases. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Good Grade B reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Edition: 1st printing.
Binding: PB. Short format.
Publisher: Pyramid Books #19., New York.
Date Published: 1950.
Description: Good vintage paperback reading copy. Modern abridged reprint (c1950). Spine curved and creased; still decent vintage paperback reading copy. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Classic & Loveswept, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780553211566ISBN:0553211560
Description: Very good. Clean crisp copy, faint edge wear, no spine creasing, pages are clean and unmarked. No remainder mark. Trade paperback. read more
"This classic novel is one of the original detective stories. The writing style is not always easy for the modern reader to follow. The story moves very slowly in parts. The type in the edition I had was very small and made reading a challenge. It is not a book I would read again."
"Clever and funny, but not quite as gripping as "The Woman in White," since the main characters are never in serious danger. Towards the middle the narrative slows way down, but once the action picks up, you'll be turning the pages furiously to find out "whodunnit." T. S. Eliot called it "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels," and you can see the genesis of Sherlock Holmes in the detective character. You also have the bumbling policeman, the stolen jewel, the eccentric household, the star-crossed lovers-all the staples of classic detective fiction. And wasn't Sherlock Holmes devoted to opium? There's plenty of "laudanum" use here-in fact, the plot depends heavily on it. Evidently Wilkie Collins depended heavily on it, too, and became delusional and paranoid later in his life. He was always a good friend of Charles Dickens, and his writing skills were comparable. Unfortunately, he didn't write as much, and he isn't as well-known to our generation."
"This was part of my current Dickens kick, though sort of indirectly. Wilkie Collins was a contemporary fellow author and friend of Charles Dickens, you see. This is one of his more famous books, a mystery about the disappearance of a famed Indian Diamond known as the Moonstone. The Diamond is cursed when not in its proper place, so naturally much drama ensues in this book when the Diamond is initially stolen and then bequeathed to the thief's niece in his will as a sort of punishment on the girl's mother. Of course, the Diamond is taken again, and herein lies the actual mystery of the book. The story is told in distinct narratives by various characters which makes it somewhat unique. Each character obviously brings his or her own biases to the story which kept things interesting.
I enjoyed the book for the most part, though I don't think there was much that was overly memorable about most of the characters, though the self-righteous Miss Clack and lonely Ezra Jennings are probably my favorites to read. I will say that the mechanism of the Diamond's disappearance (which I had already know from reading DROOD)was a bit far-fetched no matter how hard they tried to make it sound plausible. It's a decent mystery, but I don't know that I'd ever read it again."
"While not nearly as hair-raising or diabolical as The Woman In White, Wilkie Colins' famous "first detective novel" was the perfect read for the last few rainy days.
The Moonstone concerns the theft of the diamond by that name, a theft that occurred the night of lady Rachel Verinder's birthday party. Of course, all the guests are suspects, as are the servants. In these early chapters the seeds of the classic "great house" detective mystery--which has influenced everything from Agatha Christie to Sherlock Holmes to Clue to Gosford park-- were sown. Add to the mix a love story thwarted, a wise London detective, a tragically morose housemaid, a few Christian hypocrites (Collins was not a fan of being proselytized, apparently) and a quest by Indian priests who will stop at nothing to regain the precious stone for their temple--and you've got quite a fun and potent mix. The book, like The Woman in White, is narrated in turn by several characters which adds to the mystery, and of course the satire as they all opine on each others merits and defects. I actually was surprised by the lack of blatant racism when it came to the Indian quest (although the archaic spelling of "Hindoo" makes it hard to take seriously).
The "detective fever" as one of the characters calls it, did not hit me really until the last few sections, when I began to see that some of my guesses were near the mark and turn the pages more furiously. There were some very silly and maudlin scenes towards the denouement but nothing out of the ordinary for old-school Gothic and nothing silly enough to stop me! Anyway, I didn't need to be in a frenzy to KNOW the entire time to enjoy the book and steadily wind my way through it. It's a leisurely, easy read, clever and amusing, and sometimes that's all you need."
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