“The Moonstone” has been one of my favorite books since childhood. A unique, timeless work, which is not boring to return to even if you know the ending (a rarity for a detective story!) What is the secret of the success of this novel? It can be formulated in one word - “atmosphere”. Or maybe a little longer - “good old England plus a little oriental exoticism.” In other words, for Collins it is not only the twisted plot that is important, but also the people who inhabit the pages of his novel. It is no coincidence that the writer was friends with Charles Dickens. The panorama of English life in The Moonstone is not inferior in scope and depth to many of Dickens' masterpieces. Indeed, in Collins’ novel there are more than a dozen characters (from London high society to poor fishermen from the outback), and not a single passable or “cardboard” one. Well, in my opinion, it’s simply impossible not to fall in love with the butler Betteredge.
“The Moonstone” is one of the best detective stories in world literature, but Collins successfully bypasses some canons of the genre. Really, what usually happens in a classic detective story? The detective, arriving at the crime scene, collects evidence. Then a “brainstorming” follows, and when the case is still full of fog for others, the detective exposes the criminal. Almost nothing is the same in The Moonstone. Yes, at first the case is led by the stupid Inspector Seagrave (he plays Lestrade), then detective Cuff (by all accounts Sherlock Holmes) arrives at the estate, but it’s not easy to unravel this tangle of secrets! " Moreover! Detective Cuff is not the main character at all; in the middle of the novel he disappears for a long time. And here Collins decided on a very innovative technique, and won. The Moonstone has not one narrator, but ten! They are direct participants in events that sometimes can’t stand each other, and at a certain stage of the plot, each of them acts as a detective. From the point of view of style (the model English butler is replaced by an old maid obsessed with religion, then a solicitor - a “business man”...) it turned out brilliantly, and the reader will not be bored.
Rating: 10
This novel opened up several directions in literature and immediately marked the upper limit beyond which one could not jump, even if one wanted to.
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
A detective story in which the investigator discovers that he is investigating his own crime and is looking for himself as a criminal is the most puzzling of all possible detective designs. It seems that only William Hjortsberg in “Fallen Angel” was able to repeat this trick, but not without involving supernatural forces, and Wilkie Collins correctly stayed on the basis of realism.
I am not surprised that the greatest novelist of that era, Charles Dickens, was jealous of his friend Wilkie Collins and himself tried to write an equally exciting and plot-driven psychological detective story - The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In my opinion, Collins in “The Moonstone” surpassed Dickens himself, creating bright, strong, memorable characters - both Butteridge, and Rachel, and the unfortunate Rosanna Spearmann will forever remain in the gallery of literary heroes in places of honor, none of the readers of the novel will forget them. But it’s not easy to create a memorable image of a positive hero! Typically, writers make villains look like they are alive, but the positive characters are pale. But Butteridge with his “Robinson Crusoe”! He is beautiful.
Rating: 10
Great book!!! The intricate story captivates from the very first pages. Wonderful characters - the brightest of them is the butler with his boundless devotion to the family, unique conclusions and passion for the pipe and Robinson Crusoe. For this reason alone, it is worth getting acquainted with this work. But the story itself is told by the author beautifully, interestingly and wonderfully. The translation of Marietta Shaginyan's book is excellent. Such books bring great pleasure from reading.
Rating: 9
An absolutely wonderful novel! I received simply indescribable pleasure! Everything is present here: an exciting story, adventure, investigation, nobility and cowardice, love and hatred, joy and sadness... In the end, this is a real detective story, with intrigue and solving them! The characters are amazingly written: you could easily imagine them. Moreover, I developed a special relationship with each of them! I empathized with one, the second caused me unbearable pity and tears, the third I simply hated, the fourth I made fun of... The life and customs of England were perfectly conveyed - in detail, colorfully and without tediousness. In addition, the author lifted the veil over such a mysterious country as India, in particular, she illuminated some of its customs. Although they are characterized by cruelty, it is always interesting to learn something new, unknown and be amazed at how different people of different nationalities and religions are from each other!
The story captivated me so much that it was difficult to tear myself away from it. In places it may seem that the novel is a little drawn out, that it is full of “long, lengthy descriptions.” But this is not so - the plot is invariably dynamic, and, in my opinion, there is not a single extra word in the novel. And I, like the venerable Betteredge, was haunted by the “detective fever.”
My joy from reading this book is also connected with the following: over the past year and a half, this is the first work that I have read to the end, without being distracted by something else... I’m ashamed to admit, but piles of unread have also been added to the piles of unread. I hope my reading crisis is over!
It’s interesting that I wanted to read the adventures of the Moonstone as a child, but every time another book stole my attention. And only now I got around to getting acquainted with this story, which I am incredibly happy about! And no matter how impatient I was to find out its denouement, it was still a pity to part with the heroes of the novel. But you can always return to them, but in the meantime, I wish them happiness and... see you!
Rating: no
Before your eyes is what is considered to be the founder of the detective story. It was Wilkie Collins who started this genre with The Moonstone.
Despite the supposed dilapidation of the work, “The Moonstone” still fascinates the reader and forces him not to look up from the pages, and many authors write novels from his tracing paper.
A valuable diamond, a gift for her birthday, disappears from the bedroom of a young girl, Rachel. The diamond was in the next room. The house is populated by characters who are all under suspicion. Including the victim.
Collins's opium experiments are embodied in literature for the first time.
Rating: 9
An excellent detective novel that puts you into a dream from the very beginning. You just have to get inspired by the idea of the Moonstone and that’s it... I realized that the novel was serious only when I got to reading about the Shifting Sands, and what happened then in them, you just have to read. Sandy beach, fisherman's shack..... and the effects of opium as described???
It’s terrible to imagine a flying ghost of a spirit in empty space and what else is there?? Only other ghosts of friends and enemies... Moonstone fascinates and makes you do crazy things, yes, but the main thing is not to break bottles of laudanum under your feet when sleepwalking appears and when you discover that an expensive thing is missing......
Rating: 8
I found the author’s technique of telling events from the perspective of different characters interesting. It has been used in literature with varying degrees of success, but Collins did it particularly well. Nice in “The Moonstone” is the feeling of the Empire, the huge global British Empire, “where the sun never sets.” However, this is not only Collins, this is any English book that touches on colonial themes.
3.042. Wilkie Collins, "The Moonstone"
Wilkie Collins
(1824-1889)
The English writer Wilkie Collins (1824-1889), author of 27 novels, 15 plays and more than fifty stories, is not in some of our literary encyclopedias, apparently due to their overpopulation by his less talented detective followers.
But it was Collins who was the founder of the so-called. “sensation novel”, which was later divided into adventure and detective genres. Collins' friend Charles Dickens, with whom he co-wrote several works, helped the writer publish The Woman in White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868), which became the first detective novels in English and the most widely read in the world. world. (By the way, Dickens himself, following the example of his younger colleague, at the end of his creative career took up writing a detective story.)
The inscription on the monument to the writer reads: “Here lies Wilkie Collins. Author of The Moonstone and The Woman in White.
"Moon rock"
(1868)
Both of Collins' masterpieces had a basis in reality.
The writer found the plot of the first novel in “Famous Trials” from the French legal practice of M. Mejan, and the second - in “The True History of Precious Stones” by D. King.
Collins was most struck by the amazing story of the “Big Rose” diamond, which shone like a third eye in the forehead of the god Shiva in one of the Indian temples. The sacred diamond was stolen by a stranger, and the priests followed in his footsteps.
The stone changed its owners, who died one after another in the most mysterious way. The writer, intrigued by this story, attracted the famous Scotland Yard inspector D. Whicher to the investigation, who became the prototype for one of the main characters in The Moonstone, Sergeant Richard Cuffe.
Whicher told Collins the intricate and sensational story of a murder he was investigating. Collins masterfully combines this detective story with the story of the diamond from King's book.
The book was difficult for the writer: almost blind due to an eye disease, confined to bed by rheumatism, he took opium to ease his suffering and have the strength to dictate the novel.
The first chapters appeared in Charles Dickens's magazine All the Year Round in January 1868. In the same year, publisher W. Tinsley released a separate 900-page edition of the novel in three volumes. The London Times was full of praise. The circulation was swept off the shelves. A second edition immediately followed, enthusiastically received by readers and writers.
“This is a very interesting thing,” wrote Charles Dickens, “unbridled and yet obedient to the will of the author, it has an excellent character, a deep mystery and no veiled women.” Critics unanimously noted that “the novel is distinguished by psychological accuracy, a combination of logical, typically “detective” thinking with romantic motives.”
The last thing is to retell a detective story that doesn’t let you go until the last page, the narration in which is alternately told from the perspective of different characters, but readers and the author will forgive us.
First of all, let us slightly reproach Collins for calling the huge yellow diamond that once adorned the brow of the Moon god in one of the temples of the sacred Indian city of Somnauta “moon stone.” In fact, this is the name of another gem: adularia, also known as selenite, also known as mother-of-pearl and pearl spar, which, according to experts, has many healing and mystical properties.
After the diamond was first stolen, at the behest of the god Vishnu, three Brahmins had to find it and return it to its place. Vishnu predicted misfortune to anyone who dared to take possession of the stone, and to all his descendants to whom the stone would pass after him. For centuries, the successors of the three Brahmins kept their eyes on the stone.
The last owner of the diamond was Colonel Herncastle. The Colonel bequeathed the Moonstone to his niece Rachel Verinder as a coming of age gift. The stone was kept in a bank, and three Indians, posing as traveling magicians, were waiting for an opportunity to remove it from its owner.
Two of her cousins, Franklin and Godfrey, were in love with Rachel. On her birthday, Franklin brought a diamond from the bank and attached it to his cousin’s dress as a brooch. Before dinner, Godfrey declared his love to Rachel, but was refused.
After lunch, which passed in a nervous atmosphere, the magicians began performing their tricks at the porch. The hosts and guests poured out onto the terrace, and the Indians became convinced that Rachel had the diamond. Mr. Murthwath, a famous traveler to India, shared with Franklin his fears that the Hindus were Brahmins in disguise and that the gift would expose Rachel to mortal danger.
In the evening the guests left, and the next morning it turned out that the diamond was missing. Franklin immediately began searching, but they were in vain. The loss of the diamond had a strange effect on Rachel, who suddenly changed her hospitable attitude towards her cousin to an viciously contemptuous one.
Inspector Seagrave appeared at the Verinder house, searched the house to no avail and interrogated the servants, and then three Indians. The famous detective Cuff arrived from London.
Having professionally investigated this case, Cuff suspected the maid Rosanna of the theft, who acted, as he thought, at the request of Rachel herself. However, Rosanna soon disappeared into the Quicksand, not far from the Verinder house. With her disappearance, the investigation itself ended. The mother took the distraught Rachel to her relatives in London, and Franklin decided to travel.
Rachel defended Godfrey in every possible way, whom many considered the diamond thief. The cousin again proposed marriage to the girl, but then her mother unexpectedly died. Father Godfrey, becoming Rachel's guardian, gave her shelter in his house. However, when Rachel, having learned something compromising about her cousin, broke off her engagement to him, the guardian gave her a scandal, after which the girl left his house.
Having received news of his father's death, Franklin returned to London. Having made an unsuccessful attempt to see Rachel, he visited the Verinder house to once again try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Moonstone.
Comparing the testimony and facts, Franklin realized to his amazement that he himself had stolen the diamond. Rachel, whom he finally met, also admitted to him that she had seen with her own eyes how he took the diamond in the small living room. Nevertheless, the young man decided to complete the investigation.
Having analyzed the circumstances preceding the loss of the stone, he became convinced that he had become the victim of someone’s evil “joke”: drunk on opium, he had actually committed the theft. Having decided to reconstruct the events of the ill-fated day, Franklin took a dose of opium, after which, in a deranged state, he took the “diamond” (a glass craft) and took it to his room. Thus, Franklin's innocence was proven, as Rachel witnessed, but the diamond was never found.
It soon became known that the stone was in the possession of a certain bearded man who was staying at the Wheel of Fortune tavern. Franklin and Cuff hurried to the tavern, but found the bearded man already dead. It turned out to be Godfrey. It turns out that Godfrey squandered other people's money and, having received the diamond he had taken for safekeeping from the unconscious Franklin, he pledged the stone. Later he ransomed it, but was discovered by the Brahmins and killed.
Franklin and Rachel got married. A letter came from Mr. Merthwat from India in which he described a religious ceremony in honor of the Moon God, who sat on a throne with a shining yellow diamond in his forehead.
Many prominent figures of English literature (E. Swinburne, T.S. Eliot, J. Ruet, etc.) highly appreciated both Collins novels, and spoke, in particular, about a peculiar “Collinsian period” in English literature. They considered the “highlight” to be the writer’s innovative solution to the problem of “mystery” as the center of the plot.
And although not all critics saw Collins’s artistic innovation, many of them put him on a par with Charles Dickens, W. Thackeray, D. Eliot and others. “Collins has a somewhat paradoxical achievement: he raised the sensational novel to the level of serious literature and themes "reached a wider circle of readers than any of his contemporaries except Dickens."
In our country, Collins was always more popular than even in the writer’s homeland. It was our literary criticism that identified three layers in Collins’s novels - detective (or narrative), social and philosophical-psychological (E. Keshakova). “The Moonstone” was translated into Russian by M. Shaginyan.
Like few great works of literature, this novel, by its very structure, is designed for film adaptation. Many films have been made based on it; one of the best is the 1996 English film directed by R. Birman.
Reviews
“The book was difficult for the writer: almost blind due to an eye disease, confined to bed by rheumatism, he took opium to ease his suffering and have the strength to dictate the novel.” (c)
Viorel, hello.
Educational article!
Of course, I read the novel, it is exciting.
But I didn’t know these facts from the writer’s life.
Marcel Proust also wrote while racing against illness.
Maybe it’s worth collecting these facts about different writers into one article called “Overcoming” or “The Feat of a Writer”? Well, something like that.)
Thank you.
Since time immemorial, the moonstone - a huge yellow diamond - has adorned the brow of the Moon god in one of the temples of the sacred Indian city of Somnauta. In the 11th century, saving the statue from Mohammedan conquerors, three Brahmins transported it to Benares. It was there that the god Vishnu appeared to the Brahmins in a dream, commanded them to guard the Moonstone day and night until the end of time and predicted misfortune to the daring one who dared to take possession of the stone, and to all his descendants to whom the stone would pass after him. Century after century passed, the successors of the three Brahmins did not take their eyes off the stone. At the beginning of the 18th century. The Mongol emperor plundered and destroyed the temples of Brahma's worshipers. The moonstone was stolen by one of the military leaders. Unable to return the treasure, three guardian priests, in disguise, watched over it. The warrior who committed sacrilege died. The moonstone passed, bringing with it a curse, from one illegal owner to another, the successors of the three priests continued to monitor the stone. The diamond ended up in the possession of the Seringapatam Sultan, who embedded it in the hilt of his dagger. During the storming of Seringapatam by English troops in 1799, John Herncastle, without stopping to kill, seizes the diamond.
Colonel Herncastle returned to England with such a reputation that the doors of his relatives were closed to him. The wicked colonel did not value the opinion of society, did not try to justify himself and led a solitary, vicious, mysterious life. John Herncastle bequeathed the moonstone to his niece Rachel Verinder as a gift for her eighteenth birthday. In the summer of 1848, the diamond is brought from London to the Verinder estate by Franklin Black, Rachel's cousin, but even before his arrival, three Indians and a boy appear near the Verinder house, posing as traveling magicians. In fact, they are interested in the Moonstone. On the advice of the old butler Gabriel Betteredge, Franklin takes the diamond to the nearest bank in Frizinghall. The time before Rachel's birthday passes without any special events. The young people spend a lot of time together, in particular, painting the door of Rachel's small living room with patterns. There is no doubt about Franklin's feelings for Rachel, but her attitude towards him remains unknown. Perhaps she prefers her other cousin, Godfrey Ablewhite. On Rachel's birthday, Franklin brings a diamond from the bank. Rachel and the guests who have already arrived are beside themselves with delight, only the girl’s mother, Milady Verinder, shows some concern. Before dinner, Godfrey declares his love to Rachel, but is refused. At dinner, Godfrey is gloomy, Franklin is cheerful, excited and speaks out of place, without malicious intent turning others against him. One of the guests, Frizinghall doctor Kandi, noticing Franklin's nervousness and hearing that he has been suffering from insomnia lately, advises him to get treatment, but receives an angry rebuke. It seems as if the diamond that Franklin managed to attach to Rachel’s dress like a brooch cast a spell on those present. As soon as lunch was over, the sounds of an Indian drum were heard and magicians appeared at the porch. The guests wanted to see the magic tricks and poured out onto the terrace, and with them Rachel, so that the Indians could make sure that the diamond was with her. Mr. Murthwath, a famous traveler in India, who was also present among the guests, determined without any doubt that these people were only disguised as magicians, but in fact they were Brahmins of a high caste. In a conversation between Franklin and Mr. Mertuet, it turns out that the gift is a sophisticated attempt by Colonel Herncastle to harm Rachel, that the owner of the diamond is in danger. The end of the festive evening goes no better than dinner, Godfrey and Franklin try to hurt each other, and in the end Doctor Kandy and Godfrey Ablewhite mysteriously agree on something. Then the doctor leaves for home in the sudden torrential rain.
The next morning it turns out that the diamond is missing. Franklin, having slept well against expectation, actively begins the search, but all attempts to find the diamond lead to nothing, and the young man leaves for the police. The loss of the jewel has had a strange effect on Rachel: not only is she upset and nervous, but her attitude towards Franklin has become undisguised anger and contempt, she does not want to talk to him or see him. Inspector Seagrave appears at the Verinder house. He searches the house and rather rudely interrogates the servants, then, having achieved no results, leaves to take part in the interrogation of three Indians detained on suspicion of stealing a diamond. The famous detective Cuff arrives from London. He seems interested in everything except the search for the stolen stone. In particular, he is partial to roses. But then the detective notices a speck of smeared paint on the door of Rachel’s small living room, and this determines the direction of the search: on whose clothes the paint is found, he, therefore, took the diamond. During the investigation, it turns out that the maid Rosanna Spearman, who entered the service of my lady from the correctional home, has been acting strange lately. The day before, Rosanna was met on the road to Frizingall, and Rosanna's friends testify that she had a fire burning all night, but she did not answer the knock on the door. In addition, Roseanne, unrequitedly in love with Franklin Black, dared to speak to him in an unusually familiar manner and seemed ready to tell him something. Cuff, having interrogated the servants one by one, begins to follow Rosanna Spearman. Finding himself together with the butler Betteredge in the house of Rosanna's friends and skillfully conducting a conversation, Cuff realizes that the girl hid something in the Quicksand - an amazing and terrible place not far from the Verinder estate. In the Shifting Sands, as in a quagmire, any thing disappears and a person may well die. It is this place that becomes the resting place of the poor suspected maid, who also had the opportunity to verify the complete indifference to her and to her fate of Franklin Black.
Milady Verinder, concerned about her daughter’s condition, takes her to her relatives in Frizinghall; Franklin, having lost Rachel’s favor, leaves first for London, then to travel around the world, and Detective Cuff suspects that the diamond was stolen by Rosanna at the request of Rachel herself, and believes that soon The Moonstone case will come to light again. The next day after the departure of Franklin and the owners of the house, Betteredge meets Lame Lucy, a friend of Rosanna, who brought a letter from the deceased for Franklin Black, but the girl does not agree to give the letter except to the addressee in her own hands.
Milady Verinder and her daughter live in London. Doctors have prescribed Rachel to have fun, and she is trying to follow their recommendations. Godfrey Ablewhite, in the opinion of the world, is one of the possible thieves of the Moonstone. Rachel strongly protests against this accusation. Godfrey's meekness and devotion persuade the girl to accept his proposal, but then her mother dies of a long-standing heart disease. Father Godfrey becomes Rachel's guardian; she lives with the Ablewhite family in Brighton. After a visit from the solicitor Breff, who has been involved in family affairs for many years, and a conversation with him, Rachel terminates her engagement, which Godfrey accepts without complaint, but his father makes a scandal for the girl, because of which she leaves the guardian’s house and temporarily settles in the solicitor’s family.
Having received news of his father's death, Franklin Black returns to London. He tries to see Rachel, but she stubbornly refuses to meet with him and accept his letters. Franklin leaves for Yorkshire, where the Verinder house is located, to once again try to uncover the mystery of the disappearance of the Moonstone. Here Franklin is given a letter from Rosanna Spearman. The short note contains instructions, following which Franklin pulls out a nightgown stained with paint, hidden in a cache there, from the Quicksand. To his deepest amazement, he discovers his mark on his shirt! And Rosanna’s suicide letter, which was in the cache along with the shirt, explains the feelings that forced the girl to buy fabric, sew a shirt and replace it with the one that was smeared with paint. Having difficulty accepting the incredible news - that it was he who took the diamond - Franklin decides to bring the investigation to the end. He manages to persuade Rachel to talk about the events of that night. It turns out that she saw with her own eyes how he took the diamond and left the small living room. Young people part in sadness - an unsolved secret stands between them. Franklin decides to try to repeat the circumstances that preceded the loss of the stone, in the hope of tracing where it could have gone. It is impossible to gather everyone present at Rachel's birthday party, but Franklin asks everyone he can find about the events of the memorable day. Arriving on a visit to Dr. Kandy, Franklin is amazed at the change that has taken place in him. It turns out that a cold, caught by the doctor on the way home from visiting guests about a year ago, turned into a fever, as a result of which Mr. Kandy’s memory continually fails him, which he diligently and in vain tries to hide. The doctor's assistant, Ezra Jennings, a sick and unhappy man, having taken part in Franklin's fate, shows him diary entries made when Jennings was caring for the doctor at the very beginning of his illness. Comparing these data with eyewitness accounts, Franklin understands that a small dose of opium was mixed into his drink (Dr. Cundy did not forgive him for ridicule and wanted to laugh at him in turn), and this, superimposed on his anxiety about the fate of the stone and nervousness associated with the fact that he had recently quit smoking plunged him into a state similar to sleepwalking. Under Jennings' guidance, Franklin prepares himself to repeat the experience. He quits smoking again, and his insomnia begins again. Rachel secretly returns to the house, she again believes in Franklin's innocence and hopes that the experiment will be successful. On the appointed day, under the influence of a dose of opium, Franklin, as before, takes the “diamond” (now it is replaced by glass of approximately the same type) and takes it to his room. There the glass falls out of his hands. Franklin's innocence has been proven, but the diamond has not yet been found. His traces are soon discovered: an unknown bearded man buys a certain jewel from the moneylender Luker, whose name had previously been associated with the history of the Moonstone. A man stops at the Wheel of Fortune tavern, but Franklin Black and detective Cuff arrive there and find him already dead. Having removed the wig and false beard from the dead man, Cuff and Franklin recognize him as Godfrey Ablewhite. It turns out that Godfrey was the guardian of a young man and embezzled his money. Being in a desperate situation, Godfrey could not resist when Franklin, unconscious, gave him the stone and asked him to hide it better. Feeling complete impunity, Godfrey pledged the stone, then, thanks to the small inheritance he received, bought it back, but was immediately discovered by the Indians and killed.
The misunderstandings between Franklin and Rachel are forgotten, they get married and live happily. Old Gabriel Betteredge watches them with pleasure. A letter arrives from Mr. Merthwat in which he describes a religious ceremony in honor of the Moon God, which took place near the Indian city of Somnauta. The traveler ends the letter with a description of the statue: the moon god sits on a throne, his four arms are extended to the four cardinal directions, and a yellow diamond shines in his forehead. After centuries, the moonstone again found itself within the walls of the sacred city where its history began, but it is unknown what other adventures might befall it.
Retold
The very first, longest and best detective novel in English literature. Together with the novel The Woman in White, it is considered Collins's best work.
The novel was first published in Charles Dickens's magazine All the Year Round. The novel is built according to laws that will long become mandatory for classic works of the detective genre. But in addition, Collins gave a realistic picture of Victorian society and painted psychologically accurate portraits of its typical representatives.
Plot
A young girl, Rachel Verinder, according to the will of her uncle, who fought in India, receives on her coming of age a large diamond of extraordinary beauty. Rachel does not know that this diamond is a religious object stolen from one of the Indian sanctuaries, and three Hindu priests are on its trail. The history of the stone contains elements of the stories of such legendary stones as the Hope Diamond and, possibly, the Orlov.
On the night following Rachel's birthday, the stone disappears from the room next to her bedroom. There is every reason to believe that the diamond was stolen by one of the guests or house servants, and perhaps by Rachel herself.
History of creation
The title of the novel contains the name of a yellow diamond (not an adularia), which supposedly adorned the statue of the Moon god and was supposedly subject to its influence. At first the stone was kept in Somnaut, then, under the guard of three Brahmins who never left it, it was transported along with the statue of the god to Benares. Centuries later, the diamond was stolen, and, passing from hand to hand of illegal owners, brought them misfortune.
The novel contains a number of features that have become attributes of a classic detective story. His artistic models, plot twists, and images would later be adopted by G. K. Chesterton, Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and other masters of the detective genre:
- The crime takes place in a secluded place;
- The crime was committed by someone from a limited circle of people introduced to the reader at the very beginning of the story, by a person who was above suspicion until a certain moment;
- The investigation is on the wrong track;
- The case is being conducted by a professional investigator;
- He is confronted by a narrow-minded local policeman;
- Motive for the "locked room" murder;
- Scientific reconstruction of a crime in circumstances as close as possible to the events;
- Unexpected ending
The events are narrated directly by the characters involved.
Characters
- Rachel Verinder is a young girl who is Lady Verinder's only daughter;
- Franklin Black - Rachel's cousin, suitor for her hand; takes an active part in the search for diamonds;
- Godfrey Ablewhite - Rachel's cousin, later engaged to her; lawyer and philanthropist;
- Gabriel Betteredge as Lady Julia Verinder's butler;
- Rosanna Spearman - second servant in Lady Verinder's house, a former thief;
- Inspector Seagrave is a local policeman;
- Detective Cuff is a visiting policeman from London;
- Miss Drusilla Clack - Rachel's father's niece;
- Matthew Breff, solicitor for the Verinder family;
- Penelope Betteredge, servant, daughter of Gabriel Betteredge
Notes
Literature
D. Pesurtsev. Unfamiliar Acquaintance // W. Collins. Woman in white. - M.: OGIZ, 1993. - ISBN 5-88274-053-3
Links
- Light of the Moonstone. Excerpt from Audrey Peterson's Victorian Masters of Mystery (1984). Literary newspaper
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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The first chapter from A. Vladimirovich’s new book, dedicated to the history of the creation of Wilkie Collins’ popular novel “The Moonstone”.
Fragments from the book
Chapter first. About the first adventures and misadventures on English soil of the legendary diamond, nicknamed Kohinoor
As soon as the precious stone arrived from India, Queen Victoria ordered that this symbol of victory over the rebellious Hindus be put on public display - just as the Romans did two thousand years ago.
His journey to England was accompanied by countless adventures, which I will definitely tell you about. Having received news of the arrival of Kohinoor, or the "Mountain of Light", the queen seemed to shake off the tension of the last months of waiting and was in high spirits for several days. As she noted in her diary: "This day is one of the greatest and most glorious of our lives... it is a day when my heart is filled with gratitude...". But as the first of May approached - the opening date of the exhibition at which the diamond was planned to be exhibited - the tension returned. The courtiers even said that the first day of May was the most anticipated event during Victoria's reign. The monarch herself, like most of her entourage, involuntarily felt excitement at the mere thought of this: “Kohinoor and other treasures were to be presented to the whole world.”
The Great Exhibition, or more accurately the Great Exhibition of the Industrial Works of All Nations, was supposed to be the greatest ever. This is exactly how Robert Peel, the head of the Conservative Party and the eminence grise of English politics who oversaw the project, formulated his task. Victoria, together with her husband Prince Albert, not only trusted him infinitely: they really loved this tireless man, a builder of fantastic plans and an outstanding reformer. But shortly before the start of organizational work, the royal’s favorite died after falling from a restive horse. The royal couple unanimously decided that Peel's plan could not be abandoned, despite the mourning, it must be brought to life. The Great Exhibition was intended to be a showcase for the best examples of culture and industry from around the world.
Shortly before the tragic incident, the Prince Consort became involved in organizing the exhibition event, overcoming all the obstacles of the British bureaucracy to hold it. Albert “was an active person. He opened museums, laid the first stone in the foundations of hospitals under construction, chaired meetings of agricultural societies, and participated in scientific meetings.”
It was the queen's husband who managed to ensure that the project site was moved from the suburbs to the very heart of the British capital - to Hyde Park. He also hoped that the success of the enterprise would allow him to become popular and gain recognition among the British. The prince came from the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg, a tiny and impoverished country in Germany, which was smaller in size than the smallest English county. In addition, Albert was a Protestant and a subject of Germany, and therefore most of the British treated His Royal Highness with undisguised contempt. For example, parliamentarians, wanting to clearly demonstrate their “finess” to the prince consort, assigned him a payment of thirty thousand pounds, although all previous royal spouses received fifty thousand, and Victoria herself received thirteen times more.
In the palace where the newlyweds lived, his position was completely unbearable. Here, everything was run by the queen’s governess, Louise Letzen, who humiliated Victoria’s husband in every possible way, for which the latter nicknamed her “pet dragon” and tried with all his might to deprive her of influence. It was Albert who managed to restore order in the palace economy, where there was complete confusion. For example, the windows in the palace were washed by two different departments: one from the inside, the other from the outside. Also, the meticulous Saxon prince discovered that, according to documents, up to half a barrel of selected wine was supplied daily to a certain “red drawing room” of the palace. It turns out that during the time of King George III, officers of the royal guard rested in this room and brightened up the hardships of service with abundant libations. After the death of George III, expensive wine continued to be supplied there for another twenty-five years, where the servants indulged in it with pleasure. Therefore, the “Great Exhibition” became a chance for Albert to prove his importance to his new homeland, and he happily took Peel’s project into his own hands.
The exhibition was to take place in the “Crystal Palace” - this is how Londoners dubbed the huge glass and metal building built especially for this grandiose event. Under the arches of the Crystal Palace, measuring 563 meters long and almost 125 meters wide, there was a space measuring 70 square kilometers, which housed 13 thousand objects and exhibits from around the world. Among the completely unique curiosities were exhibits not only from Great Britain and its colonies, but also truly unusual items from a variety of countries. Even a stone mosaic table and cabinet made by the Peterhof Lapidary Factory were exhibited, as stated in a special entry in the magazine. But, so to speak, the highlight of the exhibition was the opportunity to see a rare gem - the Kohinoor diamond.
The territory was divided into galleries extending from the central boulevard and fenced off by trees, fountains and sculptures from numerous areas with exhibits. The Crystal Palace resembled a kind of city with streets, squares and monuments. The construction of an incredible-sized pavilion and the media hype caused extraordinary excitement far beyond the capital. Most Londoners and island residents dreamed of visiting this wonder of the world. And, indeed, in five and a half months, six million people, mainly British, visited the exhibition: an incredible figure for its time, because six million was a third of the entire population of the then Great Britain.
This is how our compatriot, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, who visited London in the summer of 1862 and saw the Crystal Palace with his own eyes, describes the amazing event:
Yes, the exhibition is amazing. You feel the terrible power that united all these countless people here who came from all over the world into a single herd; you are aware of a gigantic thought, you feel that something has already been achieved here, that there is a victory of triumph here. You even seem to begin to be afraid of something. No matter how independent you are, for some reason you feel scared. “Isn’t this, in fact, an achieved ideal? - you think. - Isn't this the end? Isn’t this, in fact, “one herd?” Won’t you really have to accept this as the complete truth and become completely numb?” All this is so solemn, victorious and proud that your spirit begins to oppress. You look at these hundreds of thousands and these millions of people, obediently flowing here from all over the earthly world, people who came with one thought, quietly, stubbornly and silently crowding into this colossal palace, and you feel that something final has happened here, done and over. This is some kind of biblical picture, something about Babylon, some kind of prophecy from the Apocalypse, being fulfilled with your own eyes.
The success of the exhibition is evidenced by the fact that already on the first day of work The Times, usually a sensible and balanced newspaper , could not restrain herself and released a satirical article describing the unprecedented event:
“Never before in the memory of mankind have so many people gathered in one place. Great battles and migrations of peoples cannot be compared with the army that crowded the streets of London on May 1...” The newspapermen could not help but mention the main exhibit, even if only metaphorically for now, because until that moment only a few had seen the diamond: “... a flaming arch made of transparent glass with a hot sun blazing on the polished edges and walls, like Kohinoor itself.”
The public, eager to see everything on the first day, began to gather before sunrise. And by breakfast the queues had turned into a crowd. All the streets surrounding Hyde Park were crowded with Londoners. Thousands of people were waiting for their opportunity to enter the Crystal Palace, although the opening was scheduled for noon. The newspapermen sneered: “If you, as a civilized person, rush to the Strand or Holborn at eight in the morning with the intention of attending this show, seeing from afar what is happening, you will be forced to turn back from the mere thought that it is useless to go where the whole world has gathered before you.”
The aristocrats were informed that the queen would be visiting the exhibition, and they appeared in their best clothes, but were forced to leave their carriages and carriages in the adjacent streets and stand in line with the commoners.
Towards noon, the rays of the sun broke through the London drizzle and eternal clouds, and, as if timing the moment, the trumpet cries of the royal guards were heard from afar: “God save the Queen!” The Scots Guards mercilessly pushed the crowd aside, and the royal carriage drove up to the very doors of the Crystal Palace. “Overwhelmed with emotions,” Victoria came out and, without hesitation, declared the exhibition open.
As soon as the announcement was made, even the reinforced police cordon could not contain the first wave of visitors. The most impatient ones rushed forward, wanting to see the wonderful diamond. The gem was placed in a glass safe with the highest degree of protection available at that time. It lay on a velvet cushion inside a glass cube, behind the bars of a golden grille, a reminder that the British Empire could take any jewel in any part of the globe, as if it were personal property, and demonstrate power in its capital.
By the end of the first exhibition day, it became clear that something was wrong with the stone. The dissatisfaction of visitors who managed to get through and look at the exhibit was best expressed by the Illustrated London News:
“Diamonds are, as a rule, colorless stones, and the best of them are completely free from stains or defects and resemble drops of pure water. Kohinoor is not at all suitable for illustrating purity and splendor and will therefore disappoint many who are so eager to see it.”
The stone looked unsightly in its gilded cage. Visitors saw bright lattice bars, dark velvet, and instead of a diamond - only yellowish spots. The gloomy London weather did not seem to want to please the visitors, and if the sun's rays nevertheless penetrated inside the Crystal Palace, then behind the shine of the golden bars of the lattice and the velvet fabric, the gem became completely invisible. Concerned by the rumors, Prince Albert immediately ordered gas lamps to be placed inside the cage so that the stone could at least be seen.
Negative reviews continued to multiply, rumors spread throughout the city, and His Royal Highness ordered the construction of a separate room for Kohinoor. On June 14, the new exhibition was presented to the public, the opening of which was attended by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their two eldest sons. The diamond was now placed in a separate room made of wooden panels, blocking the natural light that entered the Crystal Palace through the glass roof. Numerous gas lamps and mirrors located at a certain angle presented the gem in the best possible way. The dark red velvet on which it was previously located was replaced by a velvet fabric of such a bright color that reporters differed in their assessment - descriptions ranging from poisonous pink to purple were preserved.
No other exhibit at the exhibition received such close attention from the royal organizers. These efforts were not in vain, the press noted:
One of the most unusual metamorphoses is the change that occurred with the Kohinoor diamond. Doubts as to its value and authenticity and the impossibility of ascertaining its splendor in the full light of day led to the enveloping of the cage and its contents in massive folds of scarlet drapery and the display of its splendor under artificial light. The diamond passed the test admirably and fully lived up to its characteristics... The difficulties in gaining access to the room in which it is placed are not much less than those encountered by Aladdin during his visit to the diamond garden. All this revives the attraction and charm of the famous jewel.
The excitement around limited access has restored the stone’s seemingly lost aura of mystery. And the newspapers remembered its exotic origin and continued vying with each other to retell legends and rumors about the unusual exhibit.
Additional advertising for Kohinoor was provided by a special security system created by Jeremiah Chubb. Today, few people know the name of the person who invented the modern lock with which most of our apartments are locked - a lever lock, opened with a key with teeth and grooves. This design was incredibly popular in the second half of the 19th century, when it was believed that, unlike others, it could not be opened. So, at least, Sherlock Holmes thinks: Arthur Conan Doyle in his stories mentions Chubb's castle as one that is “impossible to break into.”
For the diamond, Jeremiah invented a special safety lock design. It became his best work. The device responded to a simple touch to the inner glass cube - the gem instantly disappeared into a secret compartment inside a wooden stand and slipped through a special channel into a safe built somewhere deep underground.
When the first enthusiastic impressions wore off, the public began to show dissatisfaction again. Gas lamps burning oxygen in an isolated room, an endless stream of visitors and heavy fabric turned the place where the diamond was exhibited into a bathhouse. With enviable regularity, those who wanted to see the treasure fainted, and the press, like a small child torn by opposing desires, again attacked Kohinoor:
There seems to be something contradictory about this gemstone: the more it sparkles, the less inclined it is to show off its splendor. Those who were tempted to test the stifling heat of the Diamond Cave on Saturday with a temperature of 83 or 84 (about 28-29 degrees Celsius) were by no means satisfied with its appearance...
When the exhibition closed on October 11, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and the newspapers wrote more about the difficulties of the work of the policemen on duty at the Kohinoor cage, forced to endure endless trials. Diamond, freed from humiliating public attention, finally went into storage.
Prince Albert, who was very sensitive to this failure, gathered the best jewelers and scientists and wanted to hear practical advice on how to improve the appearance of the stone.
Physicist Sir David Brewster, known as the “father of modern experimental optics,” inventor of the kaleidoscope and specialist in mineral analysis and the physics of light, delivered his verdict. He stated that there are yellow spots in the center of the Kohinoor, which prevent it from refracting light. This means that the stone should be subjected to a cutting process, as a result of which most of its weight will be lost. But Brewster warned that such an operation could lead to the gem breaking into small crystals.
This proposal was opposed by hereditary jewelers from the respected Garrard family. The Dutch masters present there were among the most famous specialists in their field. They familiarized themselves with Brewster's findings, but assured the prince and queen that, thanks to cutting, they could give the diamond a unique shine and also maintain its size. Albert and Victoria had no doubt who to entrust with the responsible procedure.
A specially equipped workshop was constructed to work on the stone. Steam engines were already built in it, driving grinding machines brought from Holland. Together with the equipment, two of the best cutters arrived in England from Amsterdam.
And a crowd of onlookers gathered around the workshop. For the first week, the curious, like a free patrol, were on duty outside the building, listening to the knocks and humming coming from inside, since the work process itself was not visible. But the jewelers were still just setting up sharpening and grinding machines and racking their brains over the problem of how to make the first cut without crushing the mineral into small crystals, so that Brewster’s “prediction” would not come true.
On July 16, 1852, under heavy security, Kohinoor was taken to the workshop. And the newspapers continued to make fun of the diamond:
The gem, synonymous with the 1851 World's Fair, which last year was attended by many people to look at it, disappointed with its dull radiance... did not live up to the expectations of the diamond, nicknamed "Mountain of Light", and the pompous descriptions that had previously been given to it, which is why many viewers considered it unfair.
The curiosity of the onlookers was rewarded the next day, July 17, when the “Iron Duke”, Napoleon’s conqueror, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, arrived at the workshop. It was the people's favorite who was entrusted with making the first cut on the diamond.
Dutch jewelers, who had been racking their brains for several weeks over how not to crush the stone, finally placed it in a lead shell, leaving only one protruding corner exposed.
Wellington was charged with simply placing the Kohinoor on a grinding wheel rotating at incredible speed. This is how the first cut was made. There was an incredible noise, but the mineral passed the test and remained intact. Having fulfilled his duty, the Duke left the workshop,, amid the frantic shouts of the crowd, jumped on a white horse and quickly rushed away. Despite all his merits, he was a very modest person and shunned public triumphs.
Days passed after days, weeks passed, but the Dutch jewelers continued to conjure the stone. The crowd in front of the workshop gradually melted away, everyone was waiting for the final result. Wellington was not the first victim of the legendary Kohinoor; he did not have time to see the diamond. The “Iron Duke” died on September 14, 1852, and the process of cutting the gem was completed a couple of days after his death - again, not the first coincidence associated with the “curse of the diamond.”
The queen learned about the completion of the stone from an invoice sent to her by members of the Garrard family. They asked for a reward of eight thousand pounds sterling - a very substantial sum at that time, because in terms of modern exchange rates it is more than a million pounds. Victoria paid the bill immediately, there were no problems, but then the time for surprises came.
Despite all the assurances and guarantees of respected jewelers, the size of the diamond has decreased, and quite significantly. It has lost more than half of its previous volume. Originally measured at 190.3 (modern) carats, it was now only 105.6 carats and easily fit in the palm of one hand.
Prince Albert prepared for a “storm of criticism” and was surprised to find that only a few newspapers were noted for their dissatisfied muttering, while the public was as if spellbound by the new type of precious stone.
Usually, when cutting, jewelers make thirty-three facets on top and twenty-five at the bottom. The Garrards gave the Kohinoor perfect symmetry - thirty-three sides on top and bottom. The shine of the diamond was simply incredible!
It seemed that after such an operation all the failures were over, the curse of the stone was lifted. In no time, Kohinoor became an incredibly popular brand. Ships, houses, pets and racehorses were named after him. An echo of this popularity has reached the present day - a company was founded that produced pencils of special diamond hardness, which, according to advertisements, brought good luck to their owners during exams. We still buy pencils from this company without thinking that they bear the name of the legendary diamond.
While in England Kohinoor was taking on a new, ideal form, in India there remained a child whose soul seemed to be forever connected by an invisible thread with this diamond - which was manifested in all the events of his life. He was a formal captive of the English crown, but in fact became the favorite of the British queen and one of the most exotic and brilliant representatives of the royal court. When Kohinoor was deprived of weight, the Indian prince - according to the teachings of his Christian pupils - was converted to Christianity. Kohinoor changed his appearance, and Prince Duleep abandoned everything Indian, acquiring a new appearance - an English gentleman. He was taught European manners and instilled in British values. As a result, he accepted the Christian faith and renounced his throne, country, faith and people. And finally, he asked to come to the UK as if it were not a whim, but a vital necessity. But, despite his excellent command of the English language and impeccable manners, Maharaja Dulip Singh could not become a real Englishman, the ideal embodiment of the idea of the superiority of British culture over others. The motives for his inexplicable desire to get to Great Britain and his willingness to do everything imaginable and unthinkable for this, to overcome any obstacles, became clear only later, when he asked “his queen” to return Kohinoor to him. The prince could not survive separation from the diamond, tied to his bicep from early childhood, and which he had been the owner of since birth, having received the gem from his father.
Civilized England did not immediately believe in the magical power of the crystal. At first, the stone only gained the status of the most famous diamond in the world. Journalists forgot that at that time there were at least two other diamonds of comparable size in the world - the Derianur, or “Sea of Light”, today located in Tehran, and the “Great Mogul”, which, according to most, is identical to the diamond “ Orlov”, presented to Catherine II and crowning the scepter of the Russian emperors.
Along with the attraction that Kohinoor had on those around him, negative features associated with the curse began to appear, namely: mysterious and inexplicable events began to occur, for which a rational explanation was found for a while, but, lined up in a chain, they all indicated that “Mountain of Light” is not just a jewel. It seemed that Kohinoor was able to influence the destinies and control the lives of people who touched him. Maybe this is why Queen Elizabeth II prefers not to pick up a gem and wears a crown with a diamond only once a decade, fearing not so much international scandals as stories about the “curse of the stone.”
In 1855, Queen Victoria announced plans to visit France on a state visit. This was the first visit by an English royal in more than four hundred years. From the moment when the Bourbons were not only overthrown, but subjected to the humiliation of public execution, relations between France and England were not easy.
The situation became even more complicated after France was ruled for eleven years by Napoleon Bonaparte, who over the years transformed from a military dictator into an emperor.
In December 1851, France announced the transition from a republican form of government to a monarchical one. Bonaparte's nephew, Napoleon III, did not hide his love for England, and, contrary to common sense, often made decisions motivated by the desire to please the queen. He and his wife visited London and begged the monarch to visit Paris. In honor of Victoria's arrival, the Palace of Versailles was decorated with such luxury that any Louis would envy. The heir to the British crown decided to take this unprecedented step, trying to support her ally in the Crimean War.
She arrived in Paris on August 18, 1855. 1,200 guests from all over Europe, representing the cream of the aristocracy, were invited to this meeting. The Palace of Versailles was surrounded by a garden in which there were four orchestras, or rather, one gigantic one, divided into four groups. The musicians were hidden from prying eyes behind lush bushes, and they were conducted by the famous Johann Strauss.
Victoria asked her husband to make his own decisions regarding outfits and jewelry. While work meetings were taking place, her business attire did not impress the sophisticated Parisian elite. But at the end of the trip, on the twenty-fifth of August, a big ball was to take place. Here the queen stole the show, and not with her dress: she wore the new crown for the first time.
The white satin dress with gold flowers embroidered on it and a contrasting blue sash draped over the shoulder looked flawless, but it was the tiara that caught everyone's attention. Over the course of twelve months, the royal jewelers assembled a new crown of three thousand small diamonds, carefully arranged to highlight the beauty of the legendary diamond located in front.
The Kohinoor was inserted so that, if necessary, it could be removed and worn as a brooch. Despite the weight of royal jewelry, Victoria waltzed with Emperor Napoleon III until the morning.
Six years later, she gave up jewelry forever. After the death of her beloved husband, the monarch never wore ball gowns and brooches. She dressed in black and remained faithful to this habit until death. The only decoration that the widow allowed to be attached to her belt was the Kohinoor.
Victoria believed in the curse of this stone, and therefore after the death of the queen, according to her will, the diamond was inherited not by her son Edward VII, the new emperor of India, but by her daughter-in-law Alexandra. Since then, the British believe that only women can wear the Kohinoor without any consequences.
The magic of “Mountains of Light” is also reflected in fiction. Writers vying with each other rushed to talk about the unprecedented adventures of Indian diamonds. The most famous of them? First, the novel “Lothair” by ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, which tells about the amazing adventures of a bag of diamonds purchased from an Indian maharaja. Then “Moonstone” and its many re-covers. Of course, it is obvious that in the chest from Agra, among the jewelry poured into the Thames, there should have been very large diamonds mentioned in “The Sign of Four” by the founder of the detective story, Arthur Conan Doyle. Or in The Diamonds of Eustace, Anthony Trollope does not hide his contempt for Collins's prose, telling a story remarkably similar to the one described by the master of the sensation novel. Robert Louis Stevenson's stories - "The Suicide Club" and "Raja's Diamond", united on the screen in Soviet times under the title "The Adventures of Prince Florizel", are quite obviously inspired not so much by Doyle's works as by Collins' novel.
Today, the “Mountain of Light” is kept in the Tower, and visitors are very surprised by the modest size of the diamond. According to jewelers' estimates, it is currently the 90th largest diamond, but this does not make Kohinoor less famous. Not only the Indian government, but also Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, China and other countries that claim the status of the homeland of “the most famous diamond in the world” still want the famous stone back.
It is surprising that Wilkie Collins makes almost no mention of the diamond in his diaries. He talks about visiting the Crystal Palace in his letter to his mother, but there is not a word about Kohinoor. The magical effect of the crystal appeared in his work much later.
At the time of his encounter with the Great Exhibition, he was an aspiring lawyer with the ambitious dream of becoming a writer.
Articles by other authors about the novel
Moon rock
The first, longest and best of modern English detective stories - this is how Wilkie Collins described the novel Moon rock another classic of English literature, Thomas Eliot. Eliot was a big fan of the English detective story, and with his remark he once again poked in the side the wildly popular stories about Sherlock Holmes, which he considered snobbish and dry. But he was only partly right. The Moonstone is truly the first novel to show the story of the investigation.
Collins bases the plot on the principles developed by Edgar Poe, where suspicion falls on an innocent person, and the detective does not so much investigate a crime as restore injustice to the defenseless. Its main task is to correct the humiliating position of a person suspected of stealing a diamond. The detective drawn by Collins is a brilliant storyteller, and his lines are like pearls that you constantly stumble upon in the stories of Sherlock Holmes, the novels of Agatha Christie, the ironic works of Crispin and in many other detective novels of the 20th century, for example, this spot and the missing diamond are pieces of the same puzzle.
As for the comment about its length, it is unlikely that readers immersed in its atmosphere will want to take away a few pages in order to quickly find out the ending. And today we have already read more novels. Regarding quality, any categorical assessments (worst or best) should be discarded, since the novel is really good. Therefore, for those who have not yet read, take Eliot's review as a kind of advertisement and a reason to read Moon rock .
Now a few words about the novel. Collins combines two amazing things, the theft of an almost magical moonstone and an absolutely realistic investigation. The author does not try to hide anything from the reader, and therefore all the facts for the investigation are presented in the first ten chapters. But if only it were that simple. Collins again brilliantly uses such a literary device as red herring, focusing his attention now on one hero, now on another, and since he is a brilliant storyteller, the story does not let the reader get bored. The brilliant character study fully illustrates the novelist's talent.
The theme of the irrational, which literally lies on top of logical conclusions, is realized very beautifully. The theme of a diamond brought from mysterious India, reacting to moonlight, and therefore remaining inaccessible to rational thinking. The beauty of a diamond echoes the horror it evokes. The brilliance flowing from it was like the radiance of a full moon. When you looked at the stone, its golden depth drew your eyes to it so that you could not see anything else. Its depth seemed immeasurable; this stone, which you could hold between your thumb and forefinger, seemed bottomless, like the sky itself. At first he lay in the sun; then we closed the shutters and it shone in the darkness with its own moonlight. At the same time, Collins immediately sets out strictly scientific facts. Simple coal- this is what one of the heroes says (today, of course, we will laugh at this simple explanation).
Collins's novel stands proudly alone, since a lot of time passed between the time the novel was written and the beginning of the detective boom. Despite good sales, critics were unwilling to give the author enthusiastic reviews. But time has corrected this mistake...
First detective
Inspired by illness and gloomy reflections on the ideas and circumstances surrounding him, Wilkie Collins' new novel Armadale tired not only readers, but also the author himself with the hopelessness of his images. And yet, having briefly recovered from another attack of the illness that tormented him, Collins was already beginning a new novel, internationally recognized today as his best creation. In the spring of 1867, he completed a sketch plan for the Moonstone. Having become acquainted with this plan, Dickens wrote to his co-editor Wills: It has been written with extraordinary care, and the book has every prospect of being a great success. In many ways the best thing he had ever planned. In 1868, the novel was published as a separate edition. The content of the main intrigue comes down to the circumstances under which the diamond bequeathed by John Herncastle to his niece (Rachel Verinder) that he had once stolen in India disappeared and how then the search for the culprit of the theft, committed under strange and mysterious circumstances, took place. The emergence of the constructive motif of the Moonstone - the motif of the yellow diamond stolen during the storming of Seringapatam, which adorned the brow of the Indian god of the Moon, as well as the legend about the fate that awaits anyone who encroaches on this Buddhist shrine - should be dated back to 1857. Having invited Collins to write about the Great Mutiny, Dickens at that time interested his friend in the history and legends of India. Ten years later, thinking of starting a new novel, Willkie returned to the Indian materials he had and enriched them with new ones. At the same time, he became interested in the working methods of the then famous English detective Whicher. In the novel, Moonstone Whicher became the model for the character of Cuff. Subsequently, he became the image of Sherlock Holmes and all the numerous offspring of this popular literary hero. This was the basis on which Collins began to weave a complex and masterfully constructed detective story. Much has been said by various critics that in The Moonstone the reader seems to be present at the birth of the modern detective novel - a genre that is extremely popular these days. It is indisputable that the Moonstone is not only a classic example of this genre, but also the work from which it took its origin in modern times. About how brilliantly the intrigue is constructed, how skillfully Collins used the technique of illuminating the topic with the testimony of various persons, with what ease the author ensures that the mystery of the crime remains unclear until the very last pages of the book, it is hardly necessary to talk today: quite a lot has already been said about this and convincingly. But to talk about The Moonstone only as a detective story is to unforgivably impoverish a wonderful work of realistic art.
Collins characters
As in all his best books, Collins sculpted a number of prominent and highly vivid realistic characters, as in all his books, looking deep into the psychology of his characters, without pressure and very subtly showing the direct connection of this psychology with the social class with which this or that character of his dramatic story is connected by social circumstances that formed this or that character. After the twists and turns of the plot told by different people - witnesses of what happened and what happened after the disappearance of the diamond - are already erased from memory, the participants in the dramatic events remain alive - not gray dummies or walking diagrams, but full-blooded, subtly individualized and finely outlined people. This is, perhaps, first of all the butler Betteredge, shown in all the originality of his curious personality, but with the traits characteristic of an old English servant of an ancient family, brought up to respect titles and blood. The beauty of his speech is individual, his approach to people is individual, his manner of carrying himself is individual and, finally, in all cases of life he seeks support and help in Robinson Crusoe, who contains for him much more wisdom than the traditional Bible. This old man, who grew up in the ideas and principles of the ancient traditions of serving the landowners and at the same time full of unspeakable nobility and self-esteem, is Collins’s greatest success as an artist. But Betteredge is not the only success in this wonderful novel. Detective Cuff, who sees right through people and amazes everyone with his extraordinary powers of observation, is also interesting in other ways: he is ready to talk for hours with rose lovers about different varieties and methods of growing them, and after retiring, he gives in to his passion as a gardener. Old Maid Clack (niece of Sir John Verinder), ready to enlighten everyone and everywhere with the light of the Gospel, regardless of place and time, and strictly monitoring the morality of her neighbor even on the threshold of his death... A deeply decent lawyer Breff with traits of eccentricity... Lady Verinder's maid Rosanna with her dark past and a tragic secret attachment to Franklin Black... The fisherman's daughter is a cripple, devoted to Roseanne to the point of self-forgetfulness... The Verinders' sweet and slippery cousin Godfrey Ablewhite is the sweet-tongued patron of charitable ladies... Some characters in the novel are designed in tragic tones (Roseanne), others are written with gentle humor (Betteredge), others are comedic, even almost grotesque (Clack). The main characters of the dramatic plot - Lady Verinder, her daughter Rachel and lovers Rach and Black - are perhaps the least striking in this book, rich in images. The completeness of the characters in The Moonstone is indisputable proof that the novel was written by a genuine high-class artist.
Quicksand
The atmosphere, which Collins was a master at creating, is less gloomy in The Moonstone than in the novels The Woman in White, No Name, and even more so in Armadale. Dark, ominous colors, meaningful descriptions and allusions appear mainly where the author draws the coastal quicksand in which the unfortunate Roseanne dies. The description of these quicksands, sighing like a living creature, ominous and inexorable like rock, is impossible to forget or not notice.
The son of an artist and a connoisseur of painting himself, Collins early discovered a brilliant gift for creating landscapes, especially landscapes rich in mood, most often conveying tension and anxiety. Collins returns repeatedly in Moonstone to the quicksand, until its shifting and terrifying image lives up to foreboding by consuming Rosanna Spearman.
The description of this terrible cemetery, which swallowed up more than one unfortunate girl, is permeated with an atmosphere of horror and darkness. Where we are talking about Roseanne, a former thief who tragically fell in love with a young aristocrat and convinced herself that she was in possession of his secret, the motives of melodrama inherent in Collins’ style are quite strong. But at the same time, the image of Roseanne is the author’s success in creating a psychologically deep image. Collins, without any sensational pressure, shows the inevitability of Roseanne's death when her dreams are not realized. She is fatally heading towards her death, destined not by Providence, but by the logic of the current situation.
The musical keys in the novel are constantly changing, and this is its special charm. Tragedy meets comedy, the dramatic episode associated with Roseanne Spearman alternates with London episodes with their diversity of figures, moods, emotions and positions. Thus, the sad episode of Lady Verinder's death is relieved by comic interludes appeals her prude Klak, scattering soul-saving brochures designed to reverse Lady Verinder on her deathbed. The confusion and disorientation of Franklin Black, the long-incomprehensible rage of Rachel Verinder, who does not want to hear about Franklin after the disappearance of the diamond, are balanced by the captivating harmony of Betteredge, supported by the philosophical wisdom of Robinson Crusoe, note, wisdom that combines the empirical rationalism and the Puritan belief in Providence.
IN Moonstone, despite its emphatically detective plot, there are no villains like Sir Glyde or Count Fosco. Godfrey Ablewhite, who stole the diamond and was eventually overtaken by the revenge of the Hindus, is anything but the villain of a melodrama or a Gothic novel. This favorite of pious old women and spinsters is completely false and hypocritical, but there is nothing theatrical about him. The offense he committed was convincingly explained by the young man’s hopeless situation at the time of the theft.
With all its plot Moon rock balanced by a strong humorous and no less strong moral descriptive tendency. This novel, exciting with an unsolved mystery and complicated by side episodes, is at the same time a brilliant chronicle of the customs of ordinary life.
Have you been to Moonstone a social theme that resonates powerfully in the writer’s previous great novels? If they exist, they are muted and less obvious, since the emphasis falls more on the study of the psychology of the characters than on the analysis of social causes and consequences. But on the other hand, there is no reason to talk about the author’s reconciliation with modern society. Some ironic remarks and reflections on free the homeland of Franklin Black, constantly fleeing the stuffiness of English society abroad, they say that Wilkie Collins did not change his critical attitude towards the country of bourgeois prosperity.
Without exaggerating the autobiographical nature of the last episode in the novel, where Ezra Jennings, a sick drug addict doctor, first appears, and it becomes clear ordinary The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the diamond from Rachel Verinder's chambers cannot, however, be discounted as Collins' personal experience with the varied effects of opium. But something else is interesting here. Collins for the first time in English prose and very boldly approached Moonstone to depict what is happening in the subconscious. It is in this regard that the question is raised about where individuality begins and ends and what is the measure of responsibility of a person exposed to drugs.
Moon rock can be read as sensational novel, and most readers perceive it that way, not noticing the problems posed by the author. What are the limits of the individual and thus what are the limits of his moral responsibility? The problem that psychologists of our day are pondering and solving in different ways could only have been posed in the 60s of the last century.
The basis of Collins's method, which built recognition through the testimony of people familiar with only part of the truth, is a comparison of what exists in reality and how it is refracted in people's minds on the basis of deceptive appearances (even the great Cuff makes a mistake here, suspecting Rachel Verinder in the theft of a diamond belonging to her!).
One can agree with those researchers who consider Moon rock as a work in which the detective genre was born. But we can't stop there. Like Collins's previous great novels, he is not only a detective or an action film, not only a model sensational novel of the corresponding school: Moon rock has every right to be considered one of the best realistic works of its time.
The largest and most significant of Collins's novels, Moon rock was also the last of large the writer's works. Everything the author wrote Moonstone in the last two decades of his life, cannot be compared with Moonstone, neither with The woman in white, with none of the novels of the 60s, written during the heyday of his work.
Moon rock captivates with the sharpness and dynamism of the plot. The reader is concerned about the long unresolved problem of the mystery of the disappearance of the diamond...
But the novel, having all the features of a superbly constructed detective story and plot works cannot but captivate others: this is a subtle depiction of living people, a wonderful reproduction of realistic portraits, a deep penetration into the secrets of human psychology. In addition, we cannot forget for a minute about what time and in what country the events take place.
Objectively assessing Collins' legacy today, it is necessary to put an end to various prejudices against this writer. An analysis of Collins's best works shows that, having seen much of what his older contemporaries saw and each showed in their own way, Collins often looked at things with new eyes. Born only 12 years later than Dickens and 13 years later than Thackeray, he nevertheless belonged to a different generation and anticipated the coming 20th century in many of the motifs of his work.
