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The Dante Club

By Matthew Pearl

(98)

| Paperback | 9780812971040

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Book Description

Talk about high concept: in Pearl's debut novel, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell team up with 19th-century publisher J.T. Fields to catch a serial killer in post-Civil War Boston. It's the fall of 1865, and Harvard University, the cradle of Bostonian intellContinue

Talk about high concept: in Pearl's debut novel, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell team up with 19th-century publisher J.T. Fields to catch a serial killer in post-Civil War Boston. It's the fall of 1865, and Harvard University, the cradle of Bostonian intellectual life, is overrun by sanctimonious scholars who turn up their noses at European literature, confining their study to Greek and Latin. Longfellow and his iconoclastic crew decide to produce the first major American translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Their ambitious plans are put on hold when they realize that a murderer terrorizing Boston is recreating some of the most vivid scenes of chthonic torment in Dante's Inferno. Since knowledge of the epic is limited to rarefied circles in 19th-century America, the "Dante Club" decides the best way to clear their own names is to match wits with the killer. The resulting chase takes them through the corridors of Harvard, the grimy docks of Boston Harbor and the subterranean labyrinths of the metropolis. It also gives Pearl an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that he's done his history homework. The detective story is well plotted, and Pearl's recreation of the contentious world of mid-19th-century academia is engrossing, even though some of its more ambitious elements like an examination of intellectual hypocrisy and insularity in the Ivy League are somewhat clunky. There are, as well, some awkward attempts to replicate 19th-century prose ("But for Holmes the triumph of the club was its union of interests of that group of friends whom he felt most fortunate to have"). Still, this is an ambitious and often entertaining thriller that may remind readers of Caleb Carr.

Critics

  • THE DANTE CLUB by Matthew Pearl

    Review by Vesna McMaster (JUN 30, 2011) You could classify The Dante Club loosely as historical fiction. Or perhaps, try historical-fantasy-fiction-literary-murder-mystery. It’s definitely a work to be enjoyed by “literary types,” but also by thrill- ... (read full critics)

    mostlyfiction published on Fri, 1 Jul 2011

  • The Dante Club

    Shotsmag Reviews - The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl The Dante Club is Matthew Pearl's first novel, but not his first foray into the world of publishing. He is currently editing and releasing Dante's COMEDY, and his passion for the work shines through ... (read full critics)

    shotsmag published on Mon, 27 Sep 2010

4 Reviews

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  • 1 person find this helpful

    We follow several literary big wigs around Boston during 1865 and their adventures with translating Dante into English. That doesn't sound too exciting in itself; however, someone has started murdering people in the fashion of Dante. The Dante Club now has the task of finding out who "Lucifer" reall ... (continue)

    We follow several literary big wigs around Boston during 1865 and their adventures with translating Dante into English. That doesn't sound too exciting in itself; however, someone has started murdering people in the fashion of Dante. The Dante Club now has the task of finding out who "Lucifer" really is and stopping him before he kills again. To be honest, I had a difficult time getting into this book. I am not sure if it was the person reading it (I had the audio version) or if I just wasn't connecting with the text. After awhile though, the story blossomed and it did indeed get good. The plot was interesting, but I felt that there was too much extra information and it dragged a bit. I think the people who would enjoy this book the most would either be people interested in literary history or Dante. As I have little experience with either, it was a bit of a stretch for me.

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    cjspock said on Nov 30, 2007 about the Audio CD edition | Add your feedback

  • Didn't really enjoy the style of writing...though its plot seems really interesting.....might read it some other day when I have nothing to read LOL

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    Amily said on Oct 2, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • Dinstinct in the writing styles which are beautiful on their own rights and being 150 years apart in the backdrop settings, the rule of four and the Dante club bear a lot of common themes: mysterious literary legacies from Renaissance Florence created by men both condemned by their contemporaries, ... (continue)

    Dinstinct in the writing styles which are beautiful on their own rights and being 150 years apart in the backdrop settings, the rule of four and the Dante club bear a lot of common themes: mysterious literary legacies from Renaissance Florence created by men both condemned by their contemporaries, which were left to be deciphered by 4 close scholarly friends, prestigious Ivy League institutions, and even the secret underground tunnels which hold the key to shed the light on the dark mysteries. Intriguing parallel, isn't it?

    One of the protagonists, Holmes, usually self-centered and self-congratulating, is vividly portrayed that through his striving journey, Dante 's struggles between evil and redemption were rendered in the 19th century New England, which in turn, leaves me ponder upon my own choosing sides when conscience and selfishness clash.

    The description of the trauma cast on soldiers retired from horrendous, gory battlefields has never been more opportune for us to lament on given the troubled yet contextually coincident war time we are now witnessing.

    A good read indeed.

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    meowmeow said on Feb 5, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • A lot of the characters really existed so it helps to know a little about them.

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    PossMan said on Sep 10, 2006 | Add your feedback

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9780812971040 Paperback $15.00 $12.82 bn.com
$15.00 $11.20 The Book Depository
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