The Moonstone in Classics Without All the Class

Jul 19, 2015 Ebster Davis marked it as to-read

Shelves: never-finished

I got to about chapter four and everythings being told through the perspective of this over-the-top, loony eccentric guy I seriously wonder how a guy like this can make it to 70 years of age without dying from sheer stupidity. And he made a kid, which is rediculous. I sure hope she's not like her dad.

I can't take the mystery seriously. The introduction strongly displays the misguided victorian values I have come to despise since I read "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" as a kid and watched "Downton Abbey ...more

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Dec 12, 2013 Nanci Svensson rated it liked it

Wilkie Collins is such a lovable old aristocrat. And a terrible bore, sometimes, in particular when concealing his outrageous sense of humor in experiments with narrative perspectives and when conveying moral epigrams.
This book is however partly narrated by an old and highly regarded servant to the Lady of the book. His account of the events involving the mysterious Hindu moon stone ring (and his use of Robinson Crusoe for divination) is hilarious, and one of the more memorable minor characters ...more

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Oct 30, 2008 SarahC rated it really liked it

Shelves: spring2010

I just finished a re-read of The Moonstone for a classics group and enjoyed it much more than my previous time reading it. Collins' writing has so many positives that even the parts that I may not like so much don't detract from the novel. I don't feel his approach or his way with characterization is quite as good as other writers of the period. But this lengthy, detail-packed early detective novel is worth a try. It is an interesting tale of mysterious theft at an English country estate, involv ...more

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