After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn's for an oyster supper. So begins the enthralling (Booklist, starred review) and ingenious (Boston Globe) story of Edward Glyver, booklover, scholar, and murderer. As a young boy, Glyver always believed he was destined for greatness. A chance discovery convinces him that he was right: greatness does await him, along with immense wealth and influence. Overwhelmed by his discovery, he...
Meticulous research on the place and time of this story gives a detailed view of life in Victorian England. I found it often interfered with the flow of the actual story. Too many irrelevant footnotes dragging my attention away from the plot.
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The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox is one of the more unique books I have read in 2006. On the one hand I was mindful of Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue in pacing and atmosphere and yet the language and dialog is certainly contemporary. Maybe its the "in the eye of the beholder" thing. At any rate I found the entire novel to be captivating, gripping and worthwhile of my time to read. I was hard pressed to...
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Just read an article in the NYT that said sales are below expectations. That amazes and saddens me. This book is incredible. I do not read many books because I get bored with most of them. (Although I highly recommend The Madonnas of Leningrad.) I love this book and am going to be sorry it ends. Tell your friends to buy a copy--now! (I adore you, Michael Cox! Well done!)
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The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox is a book I didn't want to like. At nearly 700 pages, I was hoping that the first few chapters would not catch my interest so I could return it to the library. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the book grabbed me and didn't let me loose until the last page. Edward Glyver, the narrator, begins his tale by confessing to the murder of a complete...
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This is a wonderful, highly stylized work of historical fiction. Those with a penchant for Victorian literature will appreciate this book, as it is written in the style of the period with a great deal of thought given to detail. The book begins as a presentation to the reader by a University of Cambridge Professor of a manuscript discovered in the Cambridge library among some papers. As such, the professor has added many...
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