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Dec 17, 2009

Brooke rated it:

Matthew Pearl's The Poe Shadow is the first book I've read in a while that I did not like at all. The premise is interesting; a contemporary of Edgar Allen Poe attempts to discover what happened in the final days before the poet's death. Pearl had written the moderately entertaining The Dante Club prior to this, and I had expected to see the improvement that often comes with an author's sophomore effort. Instead, Pearl only manages to serve up a snooze-fest.

To begin with, Quentin Cla More...

4 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Catherine added it

I enjoyed Dante Club (I like historical fiction) and so was looking forward to reading The Poe Shadow--I even bought it in hardcover, which is rare for me. Well, it was terrible. Quite possibly the worst book I've ever read. It was totally unclear to me what was going on--was he crazy or was all this stuff really happening to him? I was hoping it would be brilliantly explained at the end so I kept trudging along even though it was beyond tedious. There was no payoff in the end. It was so b More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2008

Gina rated it:

While this was an interesting subject & the mystery surrounding Poe's death was written well, I HATED the lead character. He was whiney, obsessive and at times down right stupid. He's one of those guys with book smarts, but is dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to real life.

He is obsessive to the point of loosing everything he is/has, his career, fortune, home, finance, friends...the only thing that keeps him from absolutely loosing everything is due to friends coming to his ai More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Tama added it

I have to agree with a lot of the reviews here. I read and absolutely loved the Dante Club, so when I heard there was a new book from the same author, I snatched it up. The premise was tantalizing, what really happened to Edgar Alan Poe in his final days?

I got about halfway through this book, and eventually decided to throw it in. Where Dante Club moved with all the pace and movement of a well plotted film, the Poe Shadow was boring from the start. I do agree. The main characters not More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2007

Rose rated it:

Although I appreciate novels as good literature and occasionally forces of social change ("Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a good example, as it strengthened the abolitionist movement), I don't normally read them, as I find truth to be more fascinating than fiction.

"The Poe Shadow" is set in antebellum America. The protagonist, a young attorney, risks life and limb to unravel the mystery of Edgar Allan Poe's death, and enlists the aid of a French detective, supposedly the More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 05, 2007

Katherine rated it:

The real redeeming this about this book is that at the end (in the historical notes) you find out that the main character's conclusions about Poe might really be true. That made the book a million times more interesting... and yet I still think it only gets two stars. The main character is a bit too irritating, and not in any sort of loveable or identifiable way. You get sick of him, which makes it hard to keep reading the otherwise interesting story about Poe's death. If you're interest in Poe, More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Emma rated it:

I agree with several other reviewers that the last part of the book is just a bore. I am not a mystery novel reader, so maybe it is common to constantly recap the previous events, but I found this irritating. I struggled to finish the book. The book does detail real and new facts about the death of Edgar Allen Poe and even uses quotes from newspaper articles from the time. Those who are huge Poe fans may find this fascinating. At the end of the book, however, there a historical notes sectio More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 27, 2009

Jeff rated it:

The Poe Shadow is a meticulously researched "historical mystery" novel that has many trees but no forest--that is to say, good details steeped in historical facts, acutely observed and well rendered, but in and of themselves not "the story."

The book features a protagonist who desperately needs to feel validated but goes about this task with belligerence and without thought of consequence, and justifies doing so because he thinks he is validating someone else (the More...

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Dec 24, 2008

Annita rated it:

I am a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. I enjoy his "horror" stories, but I also especially like his detective stories. He is considered to be the inventor of the detective story. His character of Inspector Dupin in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and other stories is fascinating and memorable. So when I saw this book in the bookstore, I picked it up to see what it was about. It looked like one that I would love. It tells the story of a lawyer named Quentin Clark who has cor More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Brittany added it

I hesitate to divulge the fact that up until picking up this novel, I had never heard about the circumstances of Edgar Allan Poe's death. It's true though. I had never been made aware of his mysterious death at the age of 40. In case you're like me, here's a quick catch up. He was found delirious and incoherent on the streets of Baltimore. A city he wasn't even supposed to be in. He was wearing clothes that didn't belong to him and carrying a cane that hid a sword. He never recovered enough to e More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Ed rated it:

My rating should actually be taken as 3.5 stars.

This is the 2nd book involving Edgar Allan Poe I've read in the past year. The other being "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" a work of non fiction & this being historical fiction. It takes place in mid 19th century Baltimore at the time of Poe's death which the press has leaped upon as an object lesson of the evils of drink. A young lawyer & admirer of Poe becomes incensed at this slander & sets out to make the record straight, but hi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2011

Tracey rated it:

I loved The Dante Club (reviewed in July). It was intelligent, and pure geeky fun, and I had a lovely time picking my way among the corpses in 19th century Boston. So I jumped at the chance to take The Poe Shadow on paperbackswap.com.

I should preface this by admitting I haven't read much Poe. I have a couple of collections; I've just ... never gotten around to it. But I'm familiar with his most famous poems, I knew who C. Auguste Dupin was, and I knew a little about Poe's life an More...

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Jan 03, 2011

Slávek rated it:

Romány mající v názvu světově známé osobnosti se velmi dobře dostávají do pozornosti potencionálních kupujících a ti z nich často dělají bestsellery. Jistě stále máte na paměti například Šifru mistra Leonarda. Podobně je na tom kniha, která chtěla popsat poslední dny Edgara Allana Poea zabalené do „mysteriózního příběhu“. Bohužel jsem udělal tu chybu, že jsem na tohle skočil a knihu zakoupil.

Hlavním hrdinou, či spíše vypravěčem, je Poeův obdivovatel Quentin Clack žijící v Baltimoru ( More...

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Sep 18, 2010

Lauryn rated it:

Edgar Allan Poe has been credited with creating the first detective stories that have evolved into the mystery genre as we recognize it today. Poe’s French intellectual C. Auguste Duponte foreshadows the great detective minds perfected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the form of Sherlock Holmes and by Agatha Christie in Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

Following the success of The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl in The Poe Shadow looks to pay homage to Poe’s genius and clear up some of the cont More...

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Dec 31, 2009

Karen rated it:

"Halfway through and so far I am thoroughly enjoying the author's literary style. He writes like he's from London, circa 1850. Every word is a gem, yet it's not contrived or self-conscious. What a breath of fresh air."

That was my review part way through, and unfortunately I did not find him to be my new favorite author after all. Although I appreciated and enjoyed his writing style, I felt the story itself was weak. Basically it is that the main character, a fan of Edgar A. More...

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Aug 24, 2011

Matt rated it:

Permit me to begin my review with a confession. (Ha! A clever literary conceit.) I read The Poe Shadow, by Matthew Pearl, after having read his later book, The Last Dickens. I believe this minor action on my part may explain why I favor the latter work in preference to the former, an opinion that seems contrary to those of my fellow readers. It is the key to unlocking this mystery.

But first a summation of the plot: Young Baltimore barrister Quentin Clark, unhappy in his practice and st More...

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Mar 29, 2009

Jack rated it:

The narrator is, frankly, annoying, and the plot isn't as captivating as you would think, but Pearl does a good job stylistically recreating the feel of 19th century mysteries, warts and all. The conclusion plays out in a kind of soliloquy that is uncannily redolent of Poe's Dupin. With that in mind, it's probably not a book for people who don't have a fair knowledge of Poe, because it relies so heavily on the reader appreciating the references.

I would suggest that all readers star More...

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Jul 05, 2010

Caitlin rated it:

This book was a huge disappointment. The plot--a young 19th century attorney investigates the mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe--seemed promising, but was not nearly as interesting as I'd hoped. I attribute this to two failings: failure to create likeable characters, and failure to adhere to the adage "brevity is the soul of wit."

On the first count: the protagonist, Quentin Clark, is childish and insipid. He's an irritating hero, but what's worse is that he isn't a hero More...

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Sep 08, 2009

Christia rated it:

“Wouldn’t you wish to protect something you knew to be great that everyone else sought to desecrate? Wouldn’t you wish to be a part of changing something, even if it meant changing yourself?"

Quentin Clark is a disillusioned attorney living in Baltimore. Although successful in his profession and on the verge of marrying his lifelong sweetheart, after accidentally stumbling upon the very strange and hurried funeral for his literary idol, Edgar Allan Poe, he is willing to sacrifi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2010

Lori rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Mar 18, 2009

Jake rated it:

It seems that I am outnumbered here in the reviews. I really enjoyed this book a lot.

Many readers are commenting that The Poe Shadow is not as good as The Dante Club. Sure, a serial killer on the loose in Boston is compelling stuff. Graphic murder and mayhem trumps an intellectual mystery in Baltimore. While reading The Poe Shadow, I tried to avoid comparing the two works, as each deserves recognition on its own terms.

Popular sentiment is that Quentin Clark, the protag More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2011

Virginia rated it:

I picked this to read after hearing about how the Poe house is running out of money and will be shut down. (Unless someone steps up with some cash. Anyone?)

I liked the author’s first book, The Dante Club, but I remember it having a really slow start. This must be part of the author’s style, since this has a similarly slow start. (Even though one of the first scenes is the narrator witnessing Poe’s funeral!)

One of the reasons I liked The Dante Club is that I did no More...

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Jan 31, 2009

Jillian rated it:

I'm interested in Poe and literary history but Pearl's novel was a mediocre way to explore them. I lost patience with the tiresome and dim-witted protagonist, a "young man of idle wealth" who embarks on an obsessive quest for the truth behind Poe's death. I appreciate his passion for literature but he's painfully pathetic (in all senses of the word). At least the characters he encounters during this search have more intelligence and flair, though there isn't much new about them. The be More...

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Feb 05, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine added it

Matthew Pearl's best-selling The Dante Club (2003) successfully meshed history, literature, and mystery. Though he tries to duplicate this formula and honor a great American writer, The Poe Shadow fails to garner similar interest. First, Pearl's attempt to echo 19th-century prose is fusty and verbose. Second, Clark, though he has his eccentricities, is rather "poor company" (Wall Street Journal). Third, while the subplots offer intrigue, they rarely advance the plot and never attain t

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 13, 2009

Jenny rated it:

I am being a little generous with four stars, but three seemed stingy. I very much liked the premise of this book, and Pearl has a nice knack for literary mystery and period details. Perhaps I was hoping for more about Poe himself, or perhaps I hold all literary mysteries up to "Possession" (which is hardly fair). I would recommend this and look forward to "The Last Dickens".

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2009

Chris rated it:

I think the two-star rating, "It was OK" pretty much sums up my take on this book.

While I enjoyed The Dante Club by Pearl, the Poe Shadow to me seemed to take forever to get going, and its first-person narration was rambling and dense. I suspect Pearl might have been trying to evoke the nature of Poe somewhat with this technique (an unreliable narrator, whose perspective skews the events to the reader), but the ending doesn't really follow that through. And while such a More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Gavin rated it:

This was awesome. I initially read this because I was taking a class on Poe and I had to choose a book to do a study on. I have to say I made the right choice with this one. Clever emulation is the name of Pearl's game. The book is rife with allusions and references to Poe's work (which could itself be read as a tribute to Poe, so fond was he of peppering his stories with foreign references whether sarcastic or not), all working together to create a murder mystery that competently frames the wil More...

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Feb 25, 2011

Irina rated it:

I should have known better than to read a book that was featuring, so prominently, a glowing endorsement from Dan Brown, but being a life-long fan of Poe, the premise was just too enticing for me to pass it up. I really should have. This book, praised by Mr. Brown as a spectacular "literary thriller," in fact exemplifies the worst of both genres. It has the slow pace of literary fiction combined with the shallow character development and obvious predictability of most contemporary t More...

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Jan 03, 2011

Maria rated it:

Simply the worst book I have ever read - bar none. This is just overblown turgid nonsense from start to finish. It contains the clunkiest writing you will ever come across and Mr Pearls attempt to conjure a sense of the 19th century by aping the prose of that time just falls completely flat. I happened to be reading Dickens at the same time - and what a contrast! Dickens (genuinely) Victorian prose practically springs from the page in its freshness, his characters leap to life and the plot fairl More...

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Feb 22, 2011

Fanda rated it:

Akhirnyaaa... aku selesai melahap buku 'sexy' setebal hampir 800 ini...
Genre detektif memang kesukaanku. Kalau ditambah dengan unsur sejarah, lebih menantang lagi. Apalagi sejarah itu tentang seorang yg punya nama nesar di dunia kesusasteraan dunia: Edgar Allan Poe.

Hampir semua unsur di buku ini adalah fakta sejarah. Penulisnya, Matthew Pearl hanya merangkai berbagai fakta, data, opini dari berbagai sumber untuk membentuk sebuah penalaran yang masuk akal. Yang bukan fakta adalah More...

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