El útimo Dickens (2009)

The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl is a book I really wanted to like. Victorian Literature is my favourite genre, Dickens my favourite author and the mystery that surrounds the unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood one of the great questions of Dickens' scholars. Sadly, when I found myself reading The Last Dickens I felt more and more like exclaiming "please sir, I want more."Matthew Pearl has done his homework in this work of historical fiction. The characters of Dickens, Forster, Dolby and others are faithfully drawn, and the events, places and incidents are engaging and insightfully conjured, yet somehow the parts stumble and trip over one another. For example, while opium plays a key role in both the unfinished novel and the events of Pearl's novel, the events with Dickens' son and the opium trade in the far east seem more gratuitous than essential. The sections of the novel that cover the hunt for the possibility that the remainder of the novel, or hints about it, exist are engaging, but rather wooden. Pearl's insights into the publishing trade of the nineteenth century and the struggle to gain proper copy write for a novelist's works in America are dealt with effectively, and yet each separate issue seems to remain that, separate, rather than woven into a continuous arch of the story.For me this book was actually the tale of two styles. One was the writing of a mystery story which did work to a degree. The other was the writing of an historical novel which was, for the most part, engaging. For me, ultimately, however, the two separate parts did not meld or blend together.

Very witty and I love a favorite literary mystery. I loved Drood and I loved this:) Much much fun!