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The Woman in White
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The Plot
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theduckthief
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Jan 07, 2010 11:50AM
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I've finished this book, and have not read "The Moonstone," so I don't know how they compare. But I thoroughly enjoyed "The Woman in White" and was sorry for it to end.
I finished the book this morning and I enjoyed it so much more than I anticipated. I haven't read "The Moonstone," so I don't know how it compares, but it is now on my TBR list. There were a few places towards the end of "The Woman in White" where I felt that the author might have wrapped things up a bit more quickly. Then I decided that the length of the story/attention to detail was a reflection of Mr. Hartright's determination to discover every detail of what had happened so as to return his Laura to society. I love that the "hero" of the story's name is Hartright. =)
I've also never read "The Moonstone", but I really enjoyed "The Woman in White", and I've rarely encountered someone who's read it and hasn't enjoyed it.
Finished The Woman in White. I gave it, for me, a rare 5-star rating. It was fantastic, and I hope my review is appropriate.http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I've read The Woman in White some weeks ago, and I absolutely adored the first third - do you remember the scene when Marian is introduced? First, Walter admires her statuesque figure, her poise and when she comes nearer, he states: "The lady is ugly" - what a wonderful anti-climax. Highly original, made me laugh out loud....Also the fat Italian with his birds and mice was a great character, very memorable. What I didn't like so much when continuing the read, were the lengthy intrigues - the last 200 pages were quite a chore for me to be honest, but that might be because i'm not a big reader of detective stories. i usually don't mind "Who did it", i care more about the character development and the relationships between people. that's why i'm also reluctant about The Moonstone, as this is deemed to be the first detective novel....
I agree with Julia - that 'lady is ugly' moment had me laughing out loud too! The other moment when Fosco wrote in Marian's diary - I think I uttered a loud shocked No! there too. I was completely sucked in with this story. I really liked this and I wish I could remember Moonstone better, although I remember liking Moonstone too. They seem very similar to me - with the multiple POVs and the figuring out/detecting. I think Woman in White seems creepier. I remember knowing 'what happened' in Moonstone, but with Woman in White I was not sure where it was going for a while.
Hmmm, probably i WILL check out The Moonstone sooner or later, but not so soon after reading Woman in White...........Collins to me is a master of plot, i really admire how like a puppet-master he holds all the different strings together, i wonder if he had planned out the whole story in every detail right from the beginning or not. in my edition of WIW i read that he apparently had written it section per section for a magazine run by his friend Dickens, and some critics believe he wrote a lot of it on the spur of the moment, which makes it even more amazing for me. 
hi all-new to this thread/section. I read it last year and was really excited about it-love gothic but i personally found it a dull novel to read. walter the piano teacher was a dull bore with zero personality and his female love interest is also the most insipid pathetic female ever ceated in literature who he loved for her genlte nature and pretty face.grrrr. However loved the character marianne-she may be ugly and manly looking but she dominated every page she was in and i wanted her to have a fuller life than that of carer and mother figure to her sister. The story itself was original but i never found myself motivated enough to try any of his other novels-perhaps a mistake?
