Mr. Dick or the Tenth Book

by Jean-Pierre Ohl

A tour de force of distorted reality with the story within a story and game-playing narrative of an Andrew Crumey novel Mr Dick or The Tenth Book blends Charles Dickens and characters from his novels into a quest to discover the ending of Dickens' last novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood which was left uncompleted at the author's death. Ohl's narrator, Francois Daumal nurtures a passion for Dickens. From the moment his young eyes first light on the opening line of David Copperfield - ' Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages will show ' he is addicted. He systematically devours everything Dickens ever wrote, and develops a particular obsession with Edwin Drood. He becomes an expert on the subject, steeped in Dickensian studies, commentaries, critiques of all kinds, from the most specialist to the most exotically alternative. His discovery as a student that his obsession is shared by another, the smoothly urbane and ruthlessly ambitious Michel Mangematin, marks the beginning of a deadly rivalry that will be pursued over the following years with not only academic and worldly success at stake but also love, self-esteem, and even personal identity.

Genres: Books About Books

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2004

Reviews

[R.L.]

English review below the Greek one...

Μου άρεσαν οι αναφορές στον Ντίκενς και το έργο του, η πολυεπίπεδη "δράση" και η κατά κάποιο τρόπο "metafiction" ποιότητα του βιβλίου. Ωστόσο κάποιες υπερβολές στην πλοκή και στους χαρακτήρες, όσο κι αν υπάρχουν και στον Ντίκενς εδώ που τα λέμε- με ξένισαν. Επίσης προς το τέλος το βιβλίο χάνει την δύναμή του, γίνεται άνευρο και κάπως ακαταλαβίστικο.

Γενικά ένα εντάξει βιβλίο, αλλά όχι κάτι που θα το πρότεινα κιόλας.

I liked the references to Dickens and the Dickensian characters and the multi-layered, kind of metafiction quality of the book. Βut I felt that traits of the plot and the main characters were too over the top -this happens with Dickens' works too to be honest, but still...- while towards the end the plot looses steam and gets far too weak and confusing.

Overall an OK-ish read,but not very recommendable.

[Enzo Crespo]

Agréable de suivre la vie de notre protagoniste qui mêle sa vie auprès de grandes figures de la littérature, notamment Evariste que j’appréciais déjà ayant lu un livre à son nom. Gonflé tout de même que le protagoniste reproche a Dickens d’exploiter ses personnages au dépend de l’intrigue quand l’auteur de ce livre délaisse (à mon avis) beaucoup TROP cette intrigue du dixième livre qui est typiquement le titre de l’œuvre. Les références à Dickens sont nombreuses et j’ai dû en rater quelques unes tant il y en avait (très appréciable) mais le livre n’apporte pour moi rien de remarquable. Très bien écrit par ailleurs !

[Delphine]

3,5*

[Ms Dog]

I am extremely confused.

[David Edmonds]

I enjoyed the literary teasing based around Dickens and the Mystery of Edwin Drood but felt that the last few chapters didn't quite live up to the book's earlier promise.

[Chris Green]

its a very good book

[Miss Léo]

J'ai passé un excellent moment avec ce roman nourri de références dickensiennes, mais la fin m'a semblé très confuse... d'où les trois étoiles ! Du même auteur, j'ai préféré "Les maîtres de Glenmarkie".