Drood
by Dan Simmons · first published 2009
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Fictional account of Dickens's last years, seen through the opium-hazed eyes of Wilkie Collins. Readers enjoy its dark, macabre Victorian atmosphere and rich period detail. Suits fans of Dickens or Collins.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever. Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something mor
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I read those a few years back and they obviously come highly recommended, but in the same vein of historical fiction the best this year was: "Drood", by Dan Simmons.
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why” ↗Dan Simmons’ novel “Drood”, a very fictional account of the relationship between Willkie Collins and Charles Dickens. A fascinating true item I learned from the novel was that Willkie Collins was addicted to laudanum and for many…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗If you love the idea of Dickens’ Ravens, check out Drood by Dan Simmons. It’s a fictionalized account of the last five years of Dickens life told through the opioid addled haze of fellow author Wilkie Collins, a Dickensian-David Lynch mashup dripping with Victorian…
on “The Pet Ravens of Charles Dickens” ↗Drood was a fascinating read, and was my first exposure to Wilkie Collins. Reading Drood is the reason I have a copy of The Moonstone on my shelf waiting to be read at this very moment.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗…would enjoy a fictional exploration of their relationship in a somewhat darker, rather macabre setting with Wilkie Collins as an unreliable (opium addicted) narrator might consider reading Dan Simmons' Drood (2009). I had the pleasure of reading it earlier this year. While the premise is odd, Simmons succeeded in creating a work where it is easy to forget that he is not (by far) a contemporary of Dickens…
on “Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins” ↗In fact, I discovered Wilkie Collins through (and thoroughly enjoyed) Drood; but now I find my Dickens is lacking and I need to explore beyond A Christmas Carol. But reading Dan Simmons is a delight, whether it’s Hyperion, or his Stephen King-esque works, or my favourite, The…
on “Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins” ↗I was going to recommend Drood and am not surprised someone beat me to it. I love a number of Simmons books but was going to skip Drood because I didn't really enjoy the Dickens I read in school but a relative convinced me to give…
on “Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins” ↗…recommend a lesser known title of Simmons for readers who have read at least some works of Charles Dickens (self-explanatory) and Wilkie Collins (such as The Woman in White or The Moonstone). Simmons wrote Drood (2009), which takes these two classical authors and places them in a mystery novel. What struck me as particularly masterful is that Simmons managed to write his prose in such a way that as a reader you…
on “Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion, Song of Kali, dead at 77” ↗I recently finished 'Drood' by Dan Simmons, a highly fictionalized account of this final period of Charles Dickens life. The novel was a bit heavy, and at times slow but overall very fascinating and unsettling. It's half historical…
on “The Mystery of ‘Edwin Drood’ That Charles Dickens Left Behind” ↗