6/25/2023 0 Comments Armadale novel![]() ![]() He portrays all his characters, even the evil and absurd ones, with a generous spirit that brings out their common humanity and keeps us from thoughtlessly dismissing them.Īlthough I did enjoy the book, and didn’t find it difficult or intimidating in spite of its length, it seemed to me like a first draft that would have benefited from another round or two of revision. Collins brings up questions of love, identity, and sacrifice that last beyond the momentary thrills of the page. I’m not sure what Eliot would name as the merits of melodrama, but if he means that it’s only an exciting story without much depth or substance, I’d say there’s more to Armadale than that. There’s not much to delight a logical mind, but many memorably-drawn characters, moments of humor and satire, and some penetrating psychological insights. The extremely convoluted plot involves concealed identities, stolen inheritances, murder, suicide, violent love, strange coincidences, and ingenious scams. Melodrama it certainly does have, in abundance. Recommendations from several quarters led me to Armadale, his longest book and the one of which TS Eliot said “It has no merit beyond melodrama, and it has every merit that melodrama can have.” Having enjoyed Wilkie Collins’s two most famous novels, The Woman in White and The Moonstone, I wanted to read more of this Victorian author’s wildly popular sensation fiction. ![]()
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