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Title: Drood
Subtitle: A Novel
Author: Dan Simmons
Narrator: Simon Prebble
Format: Abridged
Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
Language: English
Release date: 02-09-09
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 268 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
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 more terrifying?
Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens' life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens' friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), Drood explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, Drood is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.
Members Reviews:
ordered an abridgment by mistake!
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I was disappointed when I realized that this version is abridged. I do not see any excuse for abridgements in general. If an book is worth reading it is worth reading it as the author intended.
I wish audible would stop issuing abridgments.
Was Drood worth the listening time?
yes - it would have been more worthwhile if so much of the book had been left out.
Mesmerizing! Hypnotizing! Fabulous!
I can hardly say how much I loved this book! It kept me fascinated (and up way too late at night) from beginning to end, and it has also opened up new literary doors for me that are just as interesting and exciting. This book will haunt you, as its main character, real-life writer and sometimes collaborator of Dickins, Wilkie Collins is haunted in the story. Since listening to this book a few weeks ago, I have now also heard the original "Mystery of Edwin Drood" and several of Collins' stories. I have also, unfortunately, wasted the time and money spent on "The Last Dickins" by Matthew Pearl (separate review on that book). The narration in "Drood" is excellent, the storyline enthralling, and the story SO well told. You sometimes do not know if you are listening to a story brought on by opium-induced hallucination or perhaps mesmerism (hypnosis), or neither. The tie-in with the characters of the real unfinished "Edwin Drood" story is seamless and inspired -- by the time you read/listen to the Dickins' original you feel that you already know so much behind-the-scenes information that you feel like a knowing "insider". I am now anxious to read some of the fanciful endings for "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" written over the years, and more Dickins, and Collins, of course. At 10-1/2 hours, this book is too short. What a shame is was abridged! In fact, when it had ended, rather than starting on my next book, I went back to the beginning and listened for another hour or so.
What a great book this is!
Really enjoyed this
I enjoyed the Dickensian style, the intertwined themes, the characters and the underlying mythic story. Simmons may be an acquired taste but I've enjoyed all the material I've read by him. I should say that the narrator was perfect for this read.
Good story and great narrator.
I enjoyed this over The Terror by Simmons, but what really stood out was Simon Prebble's narration. Wow, he captured the emotions and various stages of each of the character's lives.
