The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins

Book:      The Moonstone

Author:    Wilkie Collins

Country:   UK

Language: English

Genre:       Epistolary Novel, Mystery Novel

Publisher: Tinsley Brothers

Publication Date: 1868

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins was originally serialized in Charles Dickens magazine “All the Year Round”. T.S. Eliot called it “The first, the longest and the best of modern English detective novel in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe.” (Source – Wikipedia)

I was first intimidated by the length of the novel. But it soon turned out to be an engaging read and the lengthiness did not intimidate me any longer. The story revolves around the Moonstone. In the prologue, Collins tells about the Moonstone. The moonstone, a yellow diamond decorated the idol of Moon God in a temple at Somnath, in the 11^th century AD. By the raids of Mohammadeans and later by the British, the moonstone finally gets into the hands of John Herncastle, a British soldier in India. In the aftermath of the storming of Seringapatam, John Herncastle kills three Indian soldiers guarding the moonstone and steals it. When Herncastle leaves to England, he takes the moonstone with him. It is said that the Moonstone was guarded by three Brahmins for many centuries and that a curse would befall on anyone who steals it. John Herncastle is shunned by his family members (may be the curse of the Moonstone) and lives a lonely life. On his deathbed, he leaves a will, which tells that the moonstone should be given as a birthday present to his nephew, Rachel Verinder on her 18^th birthday. Franklin Blake, a cousin of Rachel Verinder is the one to deliver the moonstone. Franklin who had heard about the story of moonstone suspects whether his uncle Herncastle had prepared such a will in order to take revenge on his sister and her family. His suspicion increases when he finds Indians following him to England. Nevertheless he delivers the Moonstone to Rachel Verinder on her birthday. Rachel wears the moonstone on her birthday party. Next day the moonstone is found missing. The local police and England’s best detective Sergeant Cuff are called in to investigate.

The story is actually narrated by many different characters who were present at the time, the moonstone went missing. This is interesting as it gives some depth to the characters. My favorite narrator is Gabriel Betteredge, the loyal Steward of Verinder family, whose Bible is Robinson Crusoe.  Each narrative aids in unravelling the mystery. There are many twists and turns before the thief and the moonstone is finally unveiled.

Having enjoyed the moonstone, I look forward to read ‘The woman in white’, which is considered to be the Collins best novel.

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

Book – A Lost Lady

Author - Willa Cather

Country - United States

Language - English

Genre - Fiction

Publisher - Alfred A. Knopf

Publication Date - September 1923

This is my second book by Willa Cather. I read ‘My Antonia’  few years ago and I loved it. A lost lady is set in late 19^th century, in a small fictional town called Sweet water along the Burlington rail road on the Western Plains. The finest house in Sweet Water is the white winged house of Mr. and Mrs. Forrester. The Forrester’s spend only their summer in Sweet Water, yet they called it their home. Mr. Forrester is a rail road contractor and a generous man. He had loved this place as a young man and vowed to build a home. Twenty years later he had made his dream come true. Mrs. Forrester is twenty years younger than Mr. Forrester. She is beautiful, charming and an enchanting hostess. The main focus of the story is Mrs. Forrester. Niel Herbert is a boy of twelve years at the opening of the story. He is enchanted by Mrs. Forrester’s grace, charm, laugh and the way she manages her home. Most of the story is told from Niel’s perspective. As Forrester’s become financially weak, they tend to spend more time at Sweet Water. Niel is now nineteen years of age and spends more time at Forrester’s House. His admiration for Mrs. Forrester had grown more over the years. He is dismayed when he finds Mrs. Forrester’s affair with Frank Ellinger. He had lost one of the most beautiful things in his life. Mr. Forrester becomes totally broke financially and all that is left for them is their home at Sweet Water. Soon Mr. Forrester suffers a stroke, but survives. Mrs. Forrester is worn out, yet she maintains her elegance. After a second stroke, Mr. Forrester becomes totally invalid and Mrs. Forrester loses her elegance. After Mr. Forrester’s death, she prefers life on any terms. Niel finds her affair with Ivy Peters, a shyster lawyer, who at the beginning of the novel is portrayed as a bully and a cruel teenager. His illusion is finally unveiled and he leaves her and Sweet Water forever. 

This novella is a delight to read with vivid descriptions that bring Sweet Water and the white winged house at the foot of the hills and its inhabitants very much alive. Cather’s writing is elegant, yet simple and lucid.

Things Fall Apart

This is my first book review for the Classics Club Challenge. As I have said earlier, I started the challenge with "The Moonstone". It’s interesting and I am going slowly. Meanwhile I finished Things Fall Apart, hardly 150 pages.

Book – Things Fall Apart

Author – Chinua Achebe

Country – Nigeria

Genre – Historical Fiction

Publisher – William Heinmann Ltd

Publication Date – 1958

(Source: Wikipedia)

The title of the novel is taken from the poem “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats which foretells the end of the world. Chinua Achebe wrote this novel to shatter the wrong portrayal of Africans in earlier novels (Heart of Darkness and Mr. Johnson) by Europeans. Both Conrad and Joyce Cary portray Africans as savages.

Things fall apart is a gripping tale written in simple language. I had at first difficulty with the names but then I got over it. It’s a tale about a man named Okonkwo who lived in Umuofia. Umuofia is a cluster of nine villages in the outskirts of present Nigeria. Okonkwo had earned name and fame at a younger age. His father Unoka was called Agbala (means effeminate) by his playmate when he was young and he was still haunted by this bitter memory. Unoka was a lazy man and was always in debts. He died a shameful death. Okonkwo strives hard not to be like his father. He hated his father and despised everything his father liked- one of the thing was gentleness and another was idleness. According to Okonkwo, manliness means being strong and aggressive. He often used to beat his wives and children. Being kind and compassionate are according to him being effeminate. He hated his eldest son Nwoye, who according to him is not showing signs of manliness. As a peace settlement with a neighbouring village, a young lad named Ikemefuna was left under his care. He becomes fond of him, but he doesn’t express it for he thinks, expressing affection is a sign of weakness. Later when the village oracle tells that Ikemefuna should be sacrificed, he even kills Ikemefuna to show his clan that he is not weak. However he feels guilty and becomes depressed for many days. Later, Okonkwa and his family are exiled for seven years because he shoots a lad at a funeral, accidentally though. While in exile he hears from his friend that white Missionaries have entered a nearby village. When Okonkwo returns to Umuofia after exile, he finds the white Missionaries had damaged his long valued traditions and customs. The rest of the tale tells the fate of Okonkwo amidst all the changes around him.

Through the tale of Okonkwo, Achebe portrays the daily life of Nigerian people in the late 19th century and the culture and tradition of Igbo society. The society is well organized and led by a group of village elders. Though there are some tradition and customs which are not digestible, he points out the Igbo society would have evolved on its own like any other society in the world. Though the British colonialism had brought some reforms nevertheless it had let to the devastation of the Ibo culture and tradition and the Igbo society had fallen apart.

Achebe’s writing is powerful and brilliant in bringing the daily life of Ibo people, Igbo culture and tradition before our eyes.

Okonkwo is not a lovable character but a character with who I can sympathize with.

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.”