If you like hell and layers of hell and maggots and blowflies and death and the gruesome details of autopsies for victims of horrific crimes then you will like The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. The first page made my retch but I kept plugging along because my book club chose this. It was hard. Very. Hard. I couldn't do the whole thing. When I saw the second chapter coming and realized it was more gruesomeness ahead, I skipped to the last chapter and read that next. For me reading this book was like swallowing the prep prior to a colonoscopy. I hold my breath and use a straw so I don't have to taste the whole flavor. This wasn't my favorite book. I have to say, this mystery wasn't as annoying overtly formulaic as most mysteries. The entire story wasn't built on fake leads, red herrings, and convoluted hints. This story was more about the history of famous authors such as Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes and their participation in a secret Harvard club that translated the work of Dante from Italian to English. No doubt a person who enjoys literary history and can take some gruesomeness would probably enjoy this story.
No comments:
Post a Comment