Quincunx

Rating:
Summary: Test your memory skills
Review: What could be better than pleasurable reading that also provides stimulation for your memory skills? The Quincunx is an intelligently-written mystery, so complex in its layers of intrigue that the inattentive reader may easily get lost. Don't put this book down for several weeks, as I did, or you may find yourself struggling to recall important details from earlier chapters. Fortunately, Palliser presumably recognized the complexity of the yarn he was weaving, as he frequently repeats himself in convenient places, lest the reader should forget key clues along the way. Of course, the downside to this is that it makes for a lengthy novel, weighing in at just under 800 pages. The majority, however, is fresh plot twists, and it maintains a decent pace for the most part.

The Quincunx is the tale of a boy struggling to unravel the mystery of a family will that may lead to his inheritance of a vast estate. He learns quickly that this will be no easy task, as various other characters have a significant interest in seeing him dead. Palliser convenes an impressive cast of characters - so many, in fact, that he offers an index at the end to keep track of them all. And with each, it is unclear whether our young hero should trust or fear them. Palliser weaves a complex tale of hidden agendas among familial relations that are rarely what they seem to be.

This reader has only two pieces of criticism to offer. The first is that the writing lacks a certain subtlety that would have meshed well with the sense of mystery in which the plot is shrouded. Too often, plot twists and discoveries were presented like proverbial bricks to the head. Second, while the plot never grew boring, the length was somewhat tedious. Even a good roller-coaster ride should eventually come to an end - preferably in less than 800 pages.

Rating:
Summary: An Intelligent and Unforgettable Historical Page-Turner!
Review: With a huge, colourful cast of characters, The Quincunx by British author Charles Palliser is, like Edward Rutherfurd's London, the kind of book that comes along all too rarely--a book wherein one loses all sense of the present as one is transported back through history to another time and place. This is a novel that is at once a family saga, an adventure, and a mystery with plenty of twists and surprises. With it, Palliser has proven himself to be a master storyteller, and it has been a long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as this. In fact, I'm not sure it didn't surpass London--another historical of epic proportions that I highly recommend--as my favourite novel by a contemporary author. (I ought to mention I've yet to read Eco's The Name of the Rose).

At 781 pages, however, this historical masterpiece set in early nineteenth-century England is not for the faint of heart. At stake is a legacy--title to a huge estate of land. Though the story literally takes place during the span of several years, it is a tale about an extended family (and their relationships with one another) whose beginnings take us back five generations. Bit by bit the family history is revealed--and it is a history rife with intrigue, double dealings, scandal, and even murder. What makes the revelation of the family history so exciting and so important is its relevance to the novel's present, for not only is the identity of our young protagonist and narrator, Johnnie Mellamphy, at issue, but his very survival hangs delicately in the balance.

Those for whom this engrossing, unputdownable novel will be a special treat are those who enjoy solving word or logic puzzles (I am a puzzle buff myself). To be enjoyed to its fullest, this is a book that benefits from active participation on the part of the reader; indeed, it is (in my opinion) to a certain extent mandatory. As the story unfolds, Palliser provides the reader with both outright information and clues (some of which are quite subtle) as to who's who, what really happened, and why. Palliser enjoys teasing us, and some of his subtle clues result in our drawing the wrong (though perfectly plausible) conclusions. At other times (particularly near the end), he refuses to spell things out for us, leaving us to rifle back to previous parts for a confirmation (and perhaps even an explanation) of what happened. For those with ready access to such, Palliser would even have one delving into reference books in order to find the dates when certain events occurred (like Johnnie's birth, for example), for they are all revealed by reference to other events which occurred at or around the same time.

I might just mention: I found it very helpful to create a family tree (in pencil!) as the geneology unfolded--be it from village gossip, facts, or my own suppositions. I also set out who would inherit if certain conditions were met and identified these individuals on the tree. Very early on, I began to dog-ear important passages that I thought I may wish to refer back to (to make the rifling back process easier!). Most importantly, I found this to be the sort of book that benefits from reflection, for it is by logically following an idea through in one's mind that one can reach a number of accurate conclusions ahead of the protagonist. Don't think that this will ruin the surprises for you, for it won't. Palliser, I have no doubt, expects no less of us.

In conclusion, I highly, HIGHLY recommend this to anyone looking for an intelligent, captivating, masterfully written novel. I simply cannot praise it highly enough. It is not, however, for the individual who expects to be spoon-fed by an author. In other words, if you are looking for something one can read while putting the brain in neutral, you'd best look elsewhere. With this novel, what you get out of it is directly proportionate to what you put into it!

Rating:
Summary: Like "The Jungle" or the Book of Job
Review: This book mostly concerns how poor and abused a boy and his mom can become. Everytime you think they've hit bottom, it gets worse. I finished this book, not out of a sense of joy or discovery, but just to do it. I kind of wish I hadn't as the end was a waste. If you want to be transported to another place and time read Shogun. If you want to say the word "Dickensian" over and over, read this. I don't recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Complex, intricate, but so,so engrossing
Review: A young boy, a will and a mystery set in Regency England.

I read this book originally in the early 1990's and have just finished reading it for the second time.

If I had placed a review immediately after the first reading I think that I would have shared other reviewers' relative disappointment at the ending.

However after this second visit, I now think that a tidier ending with all loose ends accounted for, would not have done justice to the complexities of the rest of the book.

Looking at the story now, it seems to me to be an entirely satisfactory and deeply considered work of art, one that the master of this sort of novel, Wilkie Collins would surely have approved of.

Very few writers have Pallisers skill to immerse the reader so quickly in the world he describes. Once you have dipped your toe in this book (say 40 pages or so), then the rest of the 1100 pages or so swim by without your noticing its extraordinary length.

Indeed I believe that you will become so engrossed that it will be with increasing irritation that you find yourself having to put the book aside for another night.

If you have any feeling at all for the historical novel, or enthralling mysteries, then be good to yourself and start reading now!

Rating:
Summary: A Triathlon Read!! Whew!!
Review: After reading Charles Palliser's "Quincunx" I felt as if I had participated in a triathlon. This is not a book for those with short attention spans or for those who lack patience. Although I usually like epic novels, if the plot is interesting and varied and the characters well developed, I found this novel very difficult to get through. The book has been hyped as "Dickensian" but the only similarities to the work of Charles Dickens' lie in its length, 781 densely printed pages, its setting, Victorian England, and many of its characters who are the poor and disenfranchised. The quality of writing, storyline and character development are not at all comparable to that of the great novelist.

Young John Huffam, our hero, and his mother have been hiding from their enemies from the time of his birth. John is heir to vast lands and a title, which seemingly every character in the book lays claim to. There is a lost will and a secret codicil that officially proclaim John the rightful heir to enormous wealth. The entire novel is based on his search for his identity and for his hereditary rights. Parallel to this purpose are the many attempts to thwart him, usually by greedy family members he has no knowledge of. They either want John dead, or alive and in their power. For the duration of the novel John barely escapes from one near-death experience after another. In spite of his obvious intelligence and precocity, he is totally blind to all clues about his true history and dilemma. He naively trusts everyone, even after numerous betrayals. He bumbles from one mishap to another, with apparently half of London's population following him and wishing him ill.

The plot is very simplistic, and the author's attempts to make the storyline more complex, with various and sundry twists and turns, fail because, with all their intricacy, there are just too many coincidences here to form a credible plot. Even Houdini couldn't have escaped from some of the episodes young John manages to extricate himself from.

The character development is nil. John's mother is probably the shallowest, least likable fictional character I have met in years. With all her problems, I found it difficult to summon much sympathy for her. I believe this is because she is extremely flat, one dimensional, as are all the book's characters, including John. The book introduces us to many villains, very few decent folks and a few martyrs. There is little variation and even less humanity and basic decency here. A key at the back of the book lists all the characters and I found myself using it constantly, much to my surprise. I have read most of Dickens, and many Russian authors who cast their novels with multitudes of characters. I do not remember ever using a list to keep track of them. When I thought about this I realized that because Mr. Palliser's characters lacked the most basic development, they never came to life for me and thus my memory problem.

I did give the book 3 stars, mainly because the author managed to persuade me to complete it. And completing the read was indeed a difficult process, but I did want to find out the conclusion. I suppose I could have just read the last page.

For those who are interested, a 'Quincunx' is an arrangement of five objects with one at each corner of a rectangle or square and one at the center. The heraldic device used by all members of John's family took the form of a quincunx.
JANA

Rating:
Summary: great atmosphere and detail, lousy characters and plot
Review: While the author has obviously done a great deal of research and painstakingly recreated an interesting historical period, ultimately one is uninterested in the characters and praying for the thing to please please end.

This was a tortuous, thrilling and exhausting trip into a Dickensian world populated by a multitude of characters acting almost exclusively out of self-interest. There are many characters here, none of them pleasant -- the protagonist's mother is one of the most annoyingly weak characters I've ever encountered on a page -- and many with similar names. One key character has a complete and irrational reversal of motive and action at the end of the book, and the ending is lame, particularly considering that the reader has invested the time and energy to slog through over 800 pages of text.

Unless you are a glutton for punishment, do yourself a favor and reread Dickens or Conan Doyle instead. Vastly overrated.

Rating:
Summary: Charles Dickens without the over-sentimentality
Review: Money has always brought out the worst in people. Add in contested property ownership, a purloined will, include many acquisitive close and distant relatives and you have the recipe for disaster. _Quincunx_ revolves around John Huffam, who seeks justice for himself and for his mother. They have been denied their rights of inheritance to an ancestral estate due to familial greed and vengence. John's true identity and heritage, which are very slowly revealed to him throughout the years, are kept from him by his mother for fear of discovery. She takes an alias and lives under constant dread of being murdered. Even their closest friends, relatives, and servants are suspected of attempting to betray them.

Like a Charles Dickens novel, _Quincunx_ takes place circa Victorian England. Also, as do many of the Dickensian characters, the Huffams eventually slide into dire poverty. We also experience the opulence of their more fortunate relatives. Like a typical Dickens child, John undergoes severe abuse and neglect by those who run so-called schools and other institutions, including by those individuals in the legal system. The novel is also very atmospheric with loads of colorful and picaresque characters, and is comprised of numerous labyrinthine plots and subplots. There are enough deaths, through murder and other means, cliffhangers, and intrigue to fill at least ten mystery novels. Unlike a Dickens novel, however, _Qunicunx_ avoids the sentimentality that the great master often utilized to manipulate tears from his readership. Charles Palliser relies, instead, on great storytelling that kept me glued to this compulsively readable novel.

Rating:
Summary: Great Detail!!
Review: I must say I greatly enjoyed this book. All the plots and subplots come together wonderfully in the end, and it's an absolute must read for anyone that enjoys a good (great!) mystery. I have just two small issues with this book:
1. - and I know this goes contrary to most reviews but the last 100 pages or so should have been closer to 200. I felt the author himself got tierd and tied everything up too quickly. It's as if it wasn't fleshed out and rich like the rest of the book. I finished the book 2 days ago and I still feel I need to pick it up and read the end. So there's something missing for me.
2. This is less of an issue, and if it were just for this I would have given it 5 stars. Just how many evil people can one guy run into without at least one good nice guy coming your way. At least this is how I felt 500 pages into the book. It detracted a bit from believability.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointingly lackluster and 2-dimensional
Review: Reading Palliser's first epic, 'The Quincunx', is a bit like fishing - it requires a great deal of patience (and a good memory wouldn't hurt either). Whether or not the "catch de jour" is worth all the effort or not is entirely another story.

Quincunx is a sprawling and ambitious drama set in early 19th century England. It takes the form of a narrative from the perspective of a young man who endures ruthless betrayal and misuse at the hands of countless relatives, with hopes of despoiling his inheritance. The plot is duly peppered with plenty of twists and turns, capable of confusing and puzzling even the most avid of bookworms.

Granted, Palliser has obviously done his homework. Throughout the novel, he skillfully sets the scene with remarkable detail - sometimes too much so. As a result I found the actual story to be lacking any real depth, giving it a somewhat two-dimensional ambiance, amidst all of it's rich detail. With all the unnecessary minutiae, secondary characters, and behind-the-scene goings-on, Palliser easily lost the "heart" of the plot.

All in all, I feel Quincunx is a bit too overdone for my literary taste. I prefer the subtle and mysterious to the blatant fanfare of melodramatic storytelling. It failed to connect with me on pretty much every level.

Palliser has been hailed as the next Charles Dickens, but I honestly fail to see any striking resemblance in style to evoke such a worthy comparison. Quincunx was disappointingly lackluster...a mediocre read at best. Nevertheless, I can justify giving it a 3 star rating for Palliser's fine attention to detail, if nothing else.

Rating:
Summary: The new Dickens? Humbug!
Review: Charles Palliser has been called the new Charles Dickens ad nauseum, tho superficially that may seem apt. But Palliser's closer to Umberto Eco, especially in the Quincunx--it can be complex and tedious at times, but in the end all your hard work is well rewarded.
If you enjoy Eco or Iain Pears, read this book!