Classic Books Store
The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics)
RRP: $7.95
Our Price: $7.95
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Author: Wilkie Collins
Publisher: Modern Library
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $7.95
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Author: Wilkie Collins
Publisher: Modern Library
Average Customer Rating:
Experimental feature: Order The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics) from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780375757853
ISBN: 0375757856
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 528
Publication Date: 2001-09-11
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2001-09-11
Studio: Modern Library
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780375757853
ISBN: 0375757856
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 528
Publication Date: 2001-09-11
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2001-09-11
Studio: Modern Library
Editorial Review of The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics)
"The Moonstone is a page-turner," writes Carolyn Heilbrun. "It catches one up and unfolds its amazing story through the recountings of its several narrators, all of them enticing and singular." Wilkie Collins’s spellbinding tale of romance, theft, and murder inspired a hugely popular genre–the detective mystery. Hinging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian shrine, this riveting novel features the innovative Sergeant Cuff, the hilarious house steward Gabriel Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid, and a mysterious band of Indian jugglers.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive 1871 edition.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive 1871 edition.
Customer Reviews of The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: highly enjoyable mystery
Review: I am not a big fan of mystery novels. However, I'd have to agree that
"The Moonstone" may not only the first and longest, but also the best
detective novel ever written. The story is told from the viewpoint of a number
of characters, and the writing style varies accordingly. The storytellers vividly
paint the different characters, while they are themselves brought to life
through the idiosyncracies of their writing. There is not a single, central
mystery, but a web of unexplained occurrences and actions that each writer
presents from his or her own view, adding bits of information in the process.
Therefore the fun is as much in the construction of the web of mysteries
surrounding the disappearance of the Moonstone, as in the eventual resolution.
The plot is somewhat intricate, but not too difficult to follow. In brief, a very
satisfying book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Moonstone: An Objective Analysis
Review: Wilkie Collins was an English writer who penned one of the first and greatest detective stories with his novel, The Moonstone in 1868. He not only portrayed suspense, excitement, and doubt all at the same time, but he also created a great mystery with his story of a stolen diamond.
While writing The Moonstone, Collins was grieving the loss of his mother and was also sick with rheumatic gout. His grief and illness crippled him and caused him great pain. In The Moonstone, Collins includes a character burdened with a similar illness, and thus portrays the type of pain he himself was going through. However, Collins persevered through his illness and pain to continue publishing parts of his story each week in the newspapers so he would not disappoint his English and American readers.
The mystery in The Moonstone draws the reader into exotic settings and characters which spice up the story that begins in India in 1799. An English Colonel steals a breath-taking yellow diamond from the forehead of the moon-god statue and returns to England. However, there is a curse on the person who takes the sacred gem from its intended purpose, and the curse extends to the person's family. Upon the Colonel's death, the diamond is passed on to his niece in England in 1848 on her eighteenth birthday. The diamond is stolen the very night it is presented to her at her birthday party with many guests and servants in attendance. From here on, through narratives written from the points of view of different characters, the story falls deeper into mystery, and the characters are not who they seem to be on the surface. The reader keeps wondering who took the diamond and why. The mystery is many-sided and is truly not entirely revealed until the very end, certainly not disappointing the reader, who has been taken on a long but fascinating ride.
The Moonstone definitely stands out because it is written in nineteenth century English. For an American reader, it is almost like stepping into a different time and culture. However, the old-fashioned English often times causes the reader to reread some of the words and phrasing in the sentences, lengthening the reading process. But overall, the mystery and its unraveling are fascinating, methodical and well-organized. The only drawback is that it takes the reader 552 pages before his curiosity is finally satisfied.
A.C.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Charming and Delightful
Review: Memorable characters written in a charming 19th century voice. A book to be savored like a cup of flavorful British tea. The author commands his words and sentences better than most writers of today. Best for classics lovers.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Officially the first English Detective story
Review: This is an important work to read because it is known as the first real Engligh detective story. As the first detective story it sets many of the standards for the modern-day detective story genre. Another reason why this book is interesting is because of the various eye-witness testimonies that make up the book. And I must mention here the first half of the book is written by Gabriel Betteridge, the butler for the family involved in this tale. This part of the book is excruciatingly funny. Betteridge's servant's viewpoint is pure genius. The book was published in 1868, and Wilkie Collins was actually quite advanced in his thinking for a writer of this era. The book is about the disappearance of a priceless diamond that had been brought to England from India as a spoil of war. The diamond has a curse on it, and it proves to be the undoing of various people throughout the book. The book is long, but the various viewpoints presented help to shorten the story.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Marvellous
Review: I first read The Moonstone about four years ago, and recently picked it up for a second time after reading The Thirteenth Tale, a modern book that was inspired by another WIlkie Collins novel, The Woman in White. Said to be the first "cozy" British mystery, The Moonstone features lost jewels from exotic places, a suicide, and the ever-present bumbling country detective.
A cast of characters converge on Lady Verinder's country estate to celebrate the 18th birthday of her daughter Rachel. Franklin Blake, her cousin, comes from London to deliver the Moonstone, a jewel bequeathed to her by a relative who fought in India and claimed the stone during a raid fifty years before. During the night after the party, the stone goes missing, and suddenly everybody behaves suspiciously, especially Rachel, who Sergeant Cuff suspects of stealing the Moonstone, and a servant girl named Rosanna Spearman. Added on top of the mystery is the presence of three strange Indians. What's their role in the case? And who really took the Moonstone?
The ending surprised me twice, not least because of the way in which the mystery was revealed. Told from the perspective of Franklin Blake, loyal servant Betterige, a spinster relative, a lawyer, and others, this book is the ultimate in detective fiction. Although hard to plod through at times, I loved this book.
Review Summary: highly enjoyable mystery
Review: I am not a big fan of mystery novels. However, I'd have to agree that
"The Moonstone" may not only the first and longest, but also the best
detective novel ever written. The story is told from the viewpoint of a number
of characters, and the writing style varies accordingly. The storytellers vividly
paint the different characters, while they are themselves brought to life
through the idiosyncracies of their writing. There is not a single, central
mystery, but a web of unexplained occurrences and actions that each writer
presents from his or her own view, adding bits of information in the process.
Therefore the fun is as much in the construction of the web of mysteries
surrounding the disappearance of the Moonstone, as in the eventual resolution.
The plot is somewhat intricate, but not too difficult to follow. In brief, a very
satisfying book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Moonstone: An Objective Analysis
Review: Wilkie Collins was an English writer who penned one of the first and greatest detective stories with his novel, The Moonstone in 1868. He not only portrayed suspense, excitement, and doubt all at the same time, but he also created a great mystery with his story of a stolen diamond.
While writing The Moonstone, Collins was grieving the loss of his mother and was also sick with rheumatic gout. His grief and illness crippled him and caused him great pain. In The Moonstone, Collins includes a character burdened with a similar illness, and thus portrays the type of pain he himself was going through. However, Collins persevered through his illness and pain to continue publishing parts of his story each week in the newspapers so he would not disappoint his English and American readers.
The mystery in The Moonstone draws the reader into exotic settings and characters which spice up the story that begins in India in 1799. An English Colonel steals a breath-taking yellow diamond from the forehead of the moon-god statue and returns to England. However, there is a curse on the person who takes the sacred gem from its intended purpose, and the curse extends to the person's family. Upon the Colonel's death, the diamond is passed on to his niece in England in 1848 on her eighteenth birthday. The diamond is stolen the very night it is presented to her at her birthday party with many guests and servants in attendance. From here on, through narratives written from the points of view of different characters, the story falls deeper into mystery, and the characters are not who they seem to be on the surface. The reader keeps wondering who took the diamond and why. The mystery is many-sided and is truly not entirely revealed until the very end, certainly not disappointing the reader, who has been taken on a long but fascinating ride.
The Moonstone definitely stands out because it is written in nineteenth century English. For an American reader, it is almost like stepping into a different time and culture. However, the old-fashioned English often times causes the reader to reread some of the words and phrasing in the sentences, lengthening the reading process. But overall, the mystery and its unraveling are fascinating, methodical and well-organized. The only drawback is that it takes the reader 552 pages before his curiosity is finally satisfied.
A.C.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Charming and Delightful
Review: Memorable characters written in a charming 19th century voice. A book to be savored like a cup of flavorful British tea. The author commands his words and sentences better than most writers of today. Best for classics lovers.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Officially the first English Detective story
Review: This is an important work to read because it is known as the first real Engligh detective story. As the first detective story it sets many of the standards for the modern-day detective story genre. Another reason why this book is interesting is because of the various eye-witness testimonies that make up the book. And I must mention here the first half of the book is written by Gabriel Betteridge, the butler for the family involved in this tale. This part of the book is excruciatingly funny. Betteridge's servant's viewpoint is pure genius. The book was published in 1868, and Wilkie Collins was actually quite advanced in his thinking for a writer of this era. The book is about the disappearance of a priceless diamond that had been brought to England from India as a spoil of war. The diamond has a curse on it, and it proves to be the undoing of various people throughout the book. The book is long, but the various viewpoints presented help to shorten the story.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Marvellous
Review: I first read The Moonstone about four years ago, and recently picked it up for a second time after reading The Thirteenth Tale, a modern book that was inspired by another WIlkie Collins novel, The Woman in White. Said to be the first "cozy" British mystery, The Moonstone features lost jewels from exotic places, a suicide, and the ever-present bumbling country detective.
A cast of characters converge on Lady Verinder's country estate to celebrate the 18th birthday of her daughter Rachel. Franklin Blake, her cousin, comes from London to deliver the Moonstone, a jewel bequeathed to her by a relative who fought in India and claimed the stone during a raid fifty years before. During the night after the party, the stone goes missing, and suddenly everybody behaves suspiciously, especially Rachel, who Sergeant Cuff suspects of stealing the Moonstone, and a servant girl named Rosanna Spearman. Added on top of the mystery is the presence of three strange Indians. What's their role in the case? And who really took the Moonstone?
The ending surprised me twice, not least because of the way in which the mystery was revealed. Told from the perspective of Franklin Blake, loyal servant Betterige, a spinster relative, a lawyer, and others, this book is the ultimate in detective fiction. Although hard to plod through at times, I loved this book.