The Meaning of Night a Confession
1 journaler for this copy...
reading October 2006
keeping this one
Once I started reading this book, as I got deeper and deeper into it, I started thinking that I've read this one before. Then I realized that the author sounded like a cross between Wilkie Collins and Charles Palliser (his novel Quincunx), but if you can imagine, even more sinister and despairing. Considering that the novel is modern, it's amazing...he's captured Wilkie Collins' tone and (if I may be so bold to say this) the darkness that one feels when reading Sheridan LeFanu's gothic novels. I was so amazed, and so drawn into this novel that I had trouble putting it down. If you like Victorian gothic style, you're going to LOVE this one.
As I mentioned, the novel is set in the Victorian period, in London. The story opens with a particularly cold-blooded murder, confessed to by the murderer. The author of this novel turns to the "story within a story" device, in which one Edward Glapthorne is giving over a confession, which basically encompasses his entire life story, lasting for about 600 more pages. At every turn there is some dark or nefarious deed, so much so that at times I was afraid to keep reading, feeling like I was witnessing two trains about to collide head on and knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do but to continue watching. That's the feel of this book...very very dark in tone. I kept thinking "this is not going to turn out well," and just when there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, it got darker again.
If I give away details, it will spoil it; suffice it to say that if you are a fan of gothic novels, you're going to delight in this one. I can't recommend it enough; it will take you some time to get through it, but it is well worth every second.
Once I started reading this book, as I got deeper and deeper into it, I started thinking that I've read this one before. Then I realized that the author sounded like a cross between Wilkie Collins and Charles Palliser (his novel Quincunx), but if you can imagine, even more sinister and despairing. Considering that the novel is modern, it's amazing...he's captured Wilkie Collins' tone and (if I may be so bold to say this) the darkness that one feels when reading Sheridan LeFanu's gothic novels. I was so amazed, and so drawn into this novel that I had trouble putting it down. If you like Victorian gothic style, you're going to LOVE this one.
As I mentioned, the novel is set in the Victorian period, in London. The story opens with a particularly cold-blooded murder, confessed to by the murderer. The author of this novel turns to the "story within a story" device, in which one Edward Glapthorne is giving over a confession, which basically encompasses his entire life story, lasting for about 600 more pages. At every turn there is some dark or nefarious deed, so much so that at times I was afraid to keep reading, feeling like I was witnessing two trains about to collide head on and knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do but to continue watching. That's the feel of this book...very very dark in tone. I kept thinking "this is not going to turn out well," and just when there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, it got darker again.
If I give away details, it will spoil it; suffice it to say that if you are a fan of gothic novels, you're going to delight in this one. I can't recommend it enough; it will take you some time to get through it, but it is well worth every second.
