
Title: Drood
Author: Dan Simmons
Published: 2009
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Rating: 2 of 5
I feel I should begin this post with a caveat. Anyone who knows my reading habits well knows that I am a very serious Charles Dickens fan. As far as I’m concerned, he is the standard to which all other authors are compared. One of my best days while studying in London was the day I visited his house (now a museum) and spent the afternoon gaping at his belongings. So. Take this under advisement when considering my thoughts about Drood.
Several months ago, I read an article about two new books that attempted to address the many lingering questions behind Dickens’ unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Intrigued, I decided to re-read The Mystery of Edwin Drood and then read the new books to see how they did in solving the real mystery of Edwin Drood.
Drood is narrated by Wilkie Collins (of The Woman in White fame), Dickens’ crony and relative by marriage. At its core, Drood is a historical thriller set in the last five years of Dickens’ life. Collins reveals the mysterious character of Drood who haunts Dickens and influences his personal and career decisions. Full of jealousy and opium, slums and literature, it becomes a wild ride through London’s forgotten tunnels and a bizarre, occultish underworld.
I rated the first book, The Last Dickens, a 1.5 of 5 because the story was thin and the writing needed some serious editing help. I’m giving Drood slightly more, only because the writing was actually quite well done. The story and the characters, however, made me want to abandon the book about 300 pages into the tome. (Yes, tome. This book was 777 pages long – about 400 pages too many.)
This book should have been titled ‘Collins,’ because it was almost entirely about him, his struggles with opium addiction, and his own growing obsession with Drood and Dickens. Dickens himself flits in and out of the story and Drood… Well, Drood becomes a primary character in several occult-centered scenes that I found deeply disturbing and overly done. I could go on about everything I disliked about this book, but I’ll keep this short:
It was unnecessarily long. The story repeatedly started and sputtered out for the first 400 pages. Many of the plot elements were contrived and ridiculous to the point of outright laughter. And most importantly – the ending, which was the sole chance the book had at redeeming itself, was so dissatisfying that I slammed my book shut in anger.
I imagine that fans of the thriller genre would really enjoy this book. And people who have less emotional attachment might not feel as cheated as I did by this book. But for me, I still consider the mystery of Edwin Drood to be fixedly unsolved.
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Don’t take my word for it. Check out what others are saying about Drood:
Allison’s Attic – “DROOD” on the Early Bird Blog Tour
Blacklin’s Reading Room Reviews & More – My Dear Wilkie
Book Chatter and Other Stuff – Review: Drood
Booking Mama – Review: DROOD & Giveaway (includes a clip of Simmons reading from the book)
Bookish Ruth – Book Review: Drood by Dan Simmons
Bookpage – Simmons imagines the spark behind Dickens’ unfinished work
Book Reviews by Bobbie – Book Review of ‘Drood: A Novel (ARC)’
A Bookworm’s World – Drood – Dan Simmons
A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore – Review: Drood, by Dan Simmons
Heidenkind’s Hideaway – Drood
The Independent – Drood, by Dan Simmons & The Last Dickens, by Matthew Pearl
Jenn’s Bookshelf – Review, Giveaway & Blog Tour-Drood, by Dan Simmons
LA Times – ‘Drood’ by Dan Simmons and ‘The Last Dickens’ by Matthew Pearl
My Friend Amy – Blog Tour: Drood by Dan Simmons and a Giveaway! (complete with a personal sketch from Simmons himself)
Old Musty Books – Dan Simmons: Drood A Novel
Perry Web – Drood
The Tome Traveller’s Weblog – Review AND Giveaway: Drood by Dan Simmons
The Washington Post – A Long-Winded Rival to Dickens
We Be Reading – Early Review: Drood
Write for a Reader – Review: Drood