The Mystery Of Edwin Drood (Everyman's Library CLASSICS) - Hardcover

Dickens, Charles

3.67

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9781857152838: The Mystery Of Edwin Drood (Everyman's Library CLASSICS)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1857152832 ISBN 13: 9781857152838

Publisher: Everyman, 2004

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As in many of Dickens's greatest novels, the gulf between appearance and reality drives the action. Set in the seemingly innocuous cathedral town of Cloisterham, the story rapidly darkens with a sense of impending evil. Central to the plot is John Jasper: in public he is a man of integrity and benevolence, in private he is an opium addict. And while seeming to smile on the engagement of his nephew, Edwin Drood, he is, in fact, consumed by jealousy, driven to terrify the boy's fianc�e and to plot the murder of Edwin himself. Though The Mystery of Edwin Drood is one of its author's darkest books, it also bustles with a vast roster of memorable-and delightfully named-minor characters: Mrs. Billikins, the landlady; the foolish Mr. Sapsea; the domineering philanthropist, Mr. Honeythunder; and the mysterious Datchery.

Several attempts have been made over the years to complete the novel and solve the mystery, but even in its unfinished state it is a gripping and haunting masterpiece.

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Book Description:

Charles Dickens's final, unfinished novel is in many ways his most intriguing. A highly atmospheric tale of murder, The Mystery of Edwin Drood foreshadows both the detective stories of Conan Doyle and the nightmarish novels of Kafka.

Synopsis:

Dicken's last, unfinished novel published in 1870, Edwin Drood is a murder mystery with an atmosphere all of its own. The novelist's unique descriptive powers are brought to bear on a drama which foreshadows the detective stories of Conan Doyle on the one hand and the nightmarish novels of Kafka on the other. Set, like so many nineteenth-century English novels, in an apparently innocuous provincial city, the story rapidy darkens when the atmosphere thickens with a sense of impending evil. As in all Dickens's greatest books, it is the gulf between appearance and reality which drives the action. In public a man of unimpeachable integrity, the benevolent John Jasper leads the Cloisterham cathedral choir. In private he is an addict who frequents the sleaziest opium dens. Apparently smiling on the engagement of his nephew, the Edwin Drood of the title, he is so consumed by jealousy that he terrifies the boy's fiancee Rosa Budd, and plots to murder him.

Despite being one of the author's darkest books, Edwin Drood is filled with the bustle of memorable minor characters who populate all his stories: Billikins, the landlady; the foolish Mr Sapsea; the domineering philanthropist, Mr Honeythunder; and the mysterious Datchery. Several attempts have been made to complete the book and solve the puzzle, but even in its unfinished state it remains a gripping and troubling masterpiece.

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