The Club Dumas

Usually when I view a movie (in this case The Nine Gates), if I see it is based on a book, I read the book. As usual, don't expect the book to be the same as the movie, although it comes close in some areas. The book was far better and was more "gripping". However, you had to be familiar with Dumas' The Three Musketeers (not the movie, although watching that would help)to make the book come to life. You can't go wrong here. What is even better is the author gives you a bit of an biographical history of Dumas himself which is a plus. You like this one. Don't miss it.

Lucas Corso deals in rare and antique books or to put in more aptly he is what amounts to a book mercenary. He operates in the shadows matching up books to collectors and collectors to books. He is the person a collector calls when they have a hole in their collection and need to find that certain book to fill that hole. He will find their book, one way or another, and the collector can expect to pay handsomely for the new addition to their collection. His high status among collectors is exactly what gets him into trouble in this wonderful story of intrigue, romance, mystery and skullduggery in the world of book collecting. It all starts when his friend, book dealer Flavio La Ponte comes into possession of a handwritten manuscript of one chapter of Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers." La Ponte turns to his friend Corso to authenticate his recent acquisition at about the same time that one of Corso's client's calls on him to authenticate a book that he has recently purchased. For some unknown reason this client doesn't think that his book is the real thing and sends Corso off to prove or disprove the books authenticity. This book, "The Book of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows" was supposedly taken straight from a book written by the Devil himself and the author was burned at the stake for printing such a book. There are only three copies known to exist and Corso must examine the other two to make a determination about his client's copy. He immediately sets off on his dual missions and unexplainable events dog him from the start. Before it is all over he has almost been killed on several occasions and everywhere he goes he seems to leave a trail of dead bodies. Without going into anymore detail and spoiling the book I can tell you that at times this reads like a Dumas novel and even features some characters from the "Musketeers." Along with the swashbuckling Dumas like adventure though there is also a much darker thread running through the story and even if you have watched the movie based on this book part of the ending will come as a complete surprise. There are in fact several major differences between the movie and the book and as is usually the case the book is much better than the movie. Amazingly the author even manages to work a little Sherlock Holmes into this story. As a great fan of Dumas I would naturally love this book and being a lover of books in general added to my enjoyment of this superb story. I am quite sure however that anyone would enjoy this book almost as much as I did even if you don't drool as the author describes the great book collections that become part of this tale. As I read of poor old Victor Fargas who's heart broke each time he had to sell a book in order to survive my heart almost broke, which is evidence of both my love for books and this author's writing ability. It has been a while since I have read any Dumas but I think that I will soon return to that old master for another dose of his story

This is one of the finest books I think ever written.It can make you question yourself and any others around you. It creates that pit in your stomach from beginning to end that makes it impossible to put down.

I watched "the Ninth Gate" with some friends last summer. They were only interested in the surface of the plot but I was more interested in the esoteric part of the movie. When I first went to school my English teacher told me that a book, "The Club Dumas" was based on. I imeadiatly went out to buy the book and when I read it I was glad that I did. There are a few different plots that are going on at the same time, and you are constantly confised so you want to read on to figure out what is going on. He does a great job explaining everything at the end of the book and you feel smart because you figured th book out. T do have to say that the confusion iss the books downfall too. The point of view changes two ar three times a chapter along with the scene making it hard to follow at times. After you have read the chapter a few chapters later you figure out what is going on and how it relates. A great mystery that follows the tradition and breaks the rules.

Be careful which path you follow, for it may lead to a destination you do not wish to go, seems to be the lesson of this absorbing, erudite, literary detective story. I am being very precise when I use the term, "literary detective story," for that is exactly what this is. It is the story of Corso, a rare book expert with questionable ethics, who is sent on duel missions: first, to determine if a handwritten copy of a chapter of "The Three Musketers," is indeed written in the hand of its author; and second, to examine and obtain--by any means necessary--the two remaining known copies of the 17th century book, "The Book of Nine Doors." This is an unusual book in that it is said to be the one which contains a secret which would allow one to summon the devil. His employer for this job owns one of the copies, and apparently has good reasons to believe his copy is a forgery. So Corso, the lonely, middle-aged, intelligent, somewhat alcoholic cynic, takes the book, and goes on his journey, from Madrid, to Lisbon, then to Paris. He meets forgers to discuss his problem, and we learn about how one might go about forging a book, or part of a book, or even a page of a book. In the meantime he studies his own book, and takes notes, and we are easily and delightedly able to follow along, as the author has reprinted the key engravings on which his attention is centered. He meets the owners of the other two copies, and they all carefully try to glean what useful information they can from each other, without revealing any more than they absolutely must. These conversations are one of the highlights of the book, as these intelligent and educated people use all of their cunning and resoucrces to out-maneuver one another. Eventually Corso learns that there are differences in these three copies. Significant differences. And that he may be the only person in the world who understands what they might mean. Along the way he is befriended then accompanied by a mysterious and beautiful young woman, who becomes his protector, and who displays an unusual interest in Satan. He is shadowed by someone who twice tries to injure him. He makes a startling discovery that his friend is in Paris with him. And why does everybody he has been running into lately resemble a character from "The Three Musketeers?"This is a very engrossing book. The characters are interesting and believable, the plot is revealed carefully and slowly builds in suspense, it allows one to participate in the mystery, and it is very cerebral. Part of the fun, in fact, is that it abounds in literary allusions (but is never pretentious). If you like intelligent thrillers, you'll love this.