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Revision as of 13:27, 4 February 2012
, 13:27, 4 February 2012no edit summary
And perhaps the key distinction of this edition is that it has been generated from the television adaptation, which in predictably media fashion had been created with an 'end' to the mystery. So one debate must be whether an ending should be provided at all. An edition obviously targeted at a wide and mixed readership probably needed a sense of an ending, it needed to be a real crime novel rather than leaving it as an intriguing classic. And if that means the novel will with all its fascinations actually reach a wider audience then that must be to the good.
And Gwyneth Hughes (the adapter) does retain the integrity of the novel, as there is no attempt to continue the piece in Dickens' style - this isn't the 'completed mystery' but the original with an explanation in the last few pages of how the story was resolved in order to create the BBC adaptation. The actually actual choice of solution, as all the others before and those still to come, will of course be a matter of speculation and debate. While it is a creative spin on some of the evidence, personally I don't buy it, as it means too many alterations of the original in order for it truly to work. But as a spin off text, the likelihood is that readers will have already seen 'the solution'. So as a way to encounter the original 'Drood' then this edition is very up-to-the-moment and treats both the reader and Dickens' work with respect.
It is difficult to recommend a single Dickens text above any other, but [[The Christmas Books by Charles Dickens]] do provide an easily accessible contrast to Drood, being much more social in tone, yet with, in 'The Chimes', a very recognisable setting. And of course biographies of Dickens abound in this anniversary year, but [[Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin]] is a work which explores some of the complexities of Dickens own relationships with women, and might give a clue as to how some of the themes of 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' connect to Dickens' own life.
