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Arthur & George is based on the true story of two men. One is Arthur Conan Doyle, the other is George Edalji, a solicitor from Birmingham. Their nineteenth-century lives are worlds and miles apart, until a series of shocking events brings them together. In dubious circumstances, George is found guilty of harming animals and is sentenced to seven years' penal servitude, a future of ignominious obscurity. However, when Arthur, who is now one of the most famous men in the land as creator of Sherlock Holmes, hears of this racist miscarriage of justice he decides to clear George's name. Told against the backdrop of Arthur's family life, his own passionate affair with the woman who was to become the second Lady Conan Doyle and his wife's lengthy battle with TB, this extraordinary novel is a dazzling exercise in detection.… (more)
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One goes on to study medicine and become a world famous writer, but loves a woman not his wife. The other, on his way to becoming a solicitor, becomes the victim of increasingly nasty anonymous letters and a suspect in the vicious maiming of farm animals. In an act of desperation to clear his name and restore his rightful place in his profession, George seeks our Arthur and presents him with his case, and this intersection of their paths result in changes in both their lives.
The book contains excerpts from letters and newspaper articles and Julian Barnes weaves these smoothly into his fictionalized take on the the personal experiences of both these men. Apart from the rich story, what's incredible is the degree to which he exposes the inner strength that exists in some people even in the face of unbearably unfair treachery, where they draw their strength from, how love can fuel a person to greatness, and how a person's integrity can slide because of an enormous desire for something beyond his reach, and the false sense of comfort one feels when one lives in denial of the truth.
Arthur, the son of an alcoholic, has a difficult childhood and grows up to become a doctor; George, the son of a vicar, has a different kind of difficult childhood and grows up to become a solicitor. Arthur is torn between
I adored the writing, and the vividness of the characters. The slow revelation of the story and the build-up of layers of characterisation was impressive. The tension was well-sustained and there were some very poignant moments towards the end.
Very highly recommended.
A good
However, if this were one of my students' papers I would have written "Get to the point" in the margin. This book can safely be read by skipping the first half (or at least the first third). Starting when the protagonists were small children did not add much to the story. Most of the action (and the plot) are in the last half of the book (unless you like lots of historical detail as atmosphere: some readers do.)
There were also several moments when the author seemed to be showing off how much research he had done; at points I wanted to read the non-fiction book he could have written, instead. As a professional historian I know what good research can and cannot do, but there is no need to put blinking arrows pointing at the minutiae one has dug up. I knew something of one of the protagonist's life, and more about the four religions mentioned (including, as background, the Zoroastrians (or Parsis)) but at several places I felt Mr. Barnes was showing off. (Good research, like [[Mary Renault]]'s does not shout and wave its arms.) I read people showing off their grasp of minutiae all day: this is something that irks me when it appears in my time off.
That said, if you like Victoriana; if you are interested in the history of minorities (and women) in Britain; if you like the history of trains, railroads (or railway law); if you would like to know more about the life of a famous figure; if you want to learn about the history of the British legal system (less dull than it sounds); or if you would like to try guessing at who the two protagonists are then I would recommend this long and carefully thought-out telling of a piece of history.
-Kushana
Arthur and George is the story of two men from very different backgrounds, whose lives become entwined in a most unusual way. Arthur is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. George Edalji is a solicitor who is wrongly imprisoned for crimes committed in his village. The characters are first introduced as boys. Arthur is the son of an alcoholic father, who is largely absent. His mother figures prominently in his life, and Arthur seemingly wants for nothing. George, the son of a vicar, grows up in a repressive environment with virtually no friends. Arthur moves through education and military service with ease, marries, and joins London society. George struggles to establish himself as a solicitor in Birmingham, while continuing to live with his parents. George begins to receive anonymous, threatening letters, and at the same time village livestock are being brutally murdered in the middle of the night. George is accused and convicted of these crimes, and serves a 3-year prison sentence. Meanwhile, Arthur leads a prosperous life, although his wife has become an invalid and his true love waits patiently for the inevitable to occur.
Arthur and George do not meet until more than halfway through the book, when Arthur becomes interested in George's case, and begins to investigate what really happened. While initially a character study, at this point the book begins to read more like a detective novel, and I was unable to put it down. Barnes held my interest throughout this book with his deft turns of phrase (my favorite: "They squelched through the consequences of a herd of cows..."), and his use of authentic letters and newspaper accounts from the period. Highly recommended!
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle famously took up the case of George Edalji, who had written to him claiming he was the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. George had been convicted of maiming animals in and around the village of Wyrley in Staffordshire. He had been sentenced to 7 years penal servitude, but had been released after serving three years. George was a working solicitor and the son of the local vicar, he was of Indian descent and being a shy man kept himself to himself. He seemed to have a watertight alibi for the charge in question and much of the evidence against him was circumstantial. This is the only known case where Sir Arthur used his skills as a writer of detective fiction to research and re-investigate an actual criminal offence.
Julian Barnes introduces his two main subjects by providing a biography of each in alternate short passages. The reader has to wait for well over half the book for the first meeting between the two. Barnes by this time has fixed the contrasting characters firmly in his readers mind. The rich, successful, gentleman adventurer that is Conan Doyle and the slightly repressed unambitious solicitor scraping a living in the Midlands that is George. Two men who have little in common socially, but come together, because one of them writes to the other and finds a recipient whose interest and humanity is piqued by an injustice. The reader is well aware of the events in George's life by this time, especially the circumstances that have led to his conviction. Barnes takes the readers through George's trial almost point by point. If the aim of this passage is to stir up in the reader a sense of injustice, then the amount of detail used tended to numb the effect for me. The writing is prosaic and this would be my main criticism of the novel, Barnes is so intent on explaining why things happened he does not always spark emotion in the reader. It is if he is writing a Victorian Detective novel.
Arthur and George held my interest, but only just. I felt that the novel was overlong and there was too much detail. Perhaps because he had chosen such an unemotional character in George this was necessary and because Conan Doyle strove to uphold gentlemanly values at all times this made both his characters; too one dimensional. I found myself yearning for something to shake these people out of the ruts that had been chosen for them, however as this novel is based on historical facts this was not going to happen. I found myself wondering if these events warranted such a biographical approach and so 3.5 stars.
This is important, because George, our much-suffering protagonist, is the son of a Parsi vicar and his Scottish wife. Successful, but unremarkable and socially stunted Birmingham lawyer George Edalji is accused of bizarre and gruesome crimes against livestock in what seems, at best, a farcical miscarriage of police investigation. Outrage upon outrage ensues. Injustice reigns. The identity of the true perpetrator remains elusive and provides a mysterious background tension.
Doyle steps in and intertwines his own slightly-fictionalized biography with Edalji's. The novel shifts gears from a frenetic charge of clues and evidence to one more introspective. We learn of Doyle's complexes and conflicts. It is here that Barnes loses a bit of steam. While the reader champs at the bit to learn more about George and what really happened to George, we are instead derailed (to use a pervasive railroad symbolism in the book) into a yearning, self-exploratory quietness.
This, while arguably more literary, is a disappointment. Tensions are ultimately resolved and it feels like the question that was, overall, asked, is left as an exercise for the reader.
I like well-written, literary novels, and I like well-plotted, gripping novels. But (if I'm going to make a wide and probably inaccurate generalization) it's rare that a novel has both characteristics. Arthur & George knocks it out of the park on both pitches. As I said, both leads are strongly characterized, and Barnes is simply marvelous to read as a writer; his prose is very strong and very insightful. But at the same time, I was very nearly always on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happened next, especially during the trial sequences. It's a detective novel in some ways, but it's a detective novel that has something to say about how we look for truth and how we hold up in the face of it. Absolutely fantastic, I was hooked all the way through, and I can't recommend it enough. The best book I've read in ages.
The plot
The two main characters are similar in their application of logic. Arthur applies logic in the manner of a detective in attempting to break a case. George, as a student of law, employs an analytical approach to his situation, trying to remove as much emotion as possible. Each sees something the other cannot. For example, Arthur is aware that racial prejudice has played a role in George’s accusation and George sees that Arthur has come up with an alternate suspect using a great deal of circumstantial evidence.
I frequently read historical fiction based on real people, and this book is a masterful example of the way convey a feeling of authenticity. Barnes convinces me he has a grasp on the personalities of these people, as they try to navigate the complexities of their lives. This book provides a satisfying blend of plot, character, flow, originality, and style. I enjoyed it immensely.
In Julian Barnes' new novel, Arthur & George, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is coping with similar feelings when he stumbles upon the case of George Edalji. Edalji is the son of a Parsee father and a soft-spoken Scottish mother. His father is a clergyman in the Church of England and he has lived his entire life in the vicarage. His entire life that is, except for the last three years, which he has spent in jail, for a crime he did not commit. And, as with the Dreyfus Affair across the English Channel, race has much to do with the conviction. Before the trial, Edalji was a solicitor, but because he is released from prison without a pardon, he can no longer practice law. The only thing that Edalji wants from his government is the chance to return to his chosen profession.
By this time, Doyle is famous. He has created Holmes, killed him, then brought the detective back to life. He has built a fortune, traveled the world, fought for his country, and been awarded a peerage for his efforts. He has also married a woman he does not love and fallen for one he does. He has managed to reconcile these two relationships in a way that does no damage to either woman's honor. Then, after many years as an invalid, Doyle's wife dies. And everything changes. Doyle, the consummate man of action, is struck by an inability to do much of anything. Until he receives a letter from Edalji. And then, like Watson so many years before, his interest and curiosity came back to life.
Days later, they meet, and as Barnes tells it, "They had stood to say good-bye, and Sir Arthur had towered over him, and this large, forceful, gentle man had looked him in the eye and said, 'I do not think you are innocent. I do not believe you are innocent. I know you are innocent.' The words were more than a poem, more than a prayer, they were the expression of a truth against which lies would break."
Of course, Doyle throws himself into action, and with his clerk playing the role of Watson to his Holmes, the writer succeeds, not only dismantling the case against Edalji but also in tabbing the actual perpetrator of the crimes. He also succeeds in making a lot of noise, both in the media and in the halls of government. And for his efforts, Doyle gets a national debate, Edalji gets a pardon, and the British get an appellate court.
Though there is always plenty of action, Arthur & George is slow to unfold. It takes a full third of the book for the narrative to truly take root in the reader's imagination. The story doesn't drag per se, but it doesn't become truly gripping until Edalji is released from jail and Doyle's first wife dies. Once we reach that point, however, then the game is afoot. Chapters breeze by as Doyle begins his detective work, and then, all too soon, the book reaches a close.
Barnes is a talented writer, but there can be no doubt that he is at his best when he is writing about identity. English identity in particular. And in Arthur Conan Doyle and in George Edalji he has a complex pair of foils which he can use to poke at the topic. In George, he has a character who so admires his country and the image that it projects that he refuses to blame race for all his troubles. And in Arthur, he has a man who calls himself one of the "unofficial English" but lacks the capacity to be anything but. Between them, Barnes manages to develop a highly convincing portrayal of life, of both insiders and outcasts.
Barnes has chosen an interesting bit of history to resurrect here, and while my copy of "Arthur and George" did not contain a bibliography, but it's obvious that he did a great deal of research as he wrote this novel. His descriptions of period domestic and professional life are minutely detailed and ring true throughout. To his credit, he also resists the temptation to view the past through the eyes of the present. He doesn't even employ a modern narrator as an intermediary, as John Fowles did in his own exercise in careful historical reconstruction, "The French Lieutenant's Woman." Barnes's characters are, for better or for worse, very much inhabitants of the Victorian age, and the author makes no apologies for their interests and attitudes. We get an unedited look at Conan Doyle's infatuation with spiritualism, his concern for public order, his typically Victorian industriousness. George, on the other hand, lives a quiet, contained life defined by his family obligations. Like in many novels of the Victorian era, the most affecting moments of "Arthur and George" occur when their preternaturally reserved characters strain against the social framework that defines their lives.
Sometimes, though, this isn't quite enough. While I realize that "Arthur and George" is a successful book, there's something about it that keeps me from loving it. It might be Barnes's language, which is more formal and straitlaced than the diction he employed in, for example, "Talking it Over." This shift in tone might accurately reflect his character's own mindsets, but it also made it hard for me to feel genuine affection for either title character. George, in particular, is so drearily conventional that it's hard to say we know him at all, even after reading five hundred pages about him. "Arthur and George" is a fine, well-written example of faux-Victoriana, a novel I can admire I can recommend even if I can't quite bring bring myself to enthuse about it.
As a historic novel/recreation, this is a worthy and highly readable effort. Barnes evokes, with seeming effortlessness, a sure and convincing sense of period: not just the "props" - the clothes , the manners - but the ways in which Victorians viewed the world, their role in the world, and themselves. Barnes is especially strong when recounting the role that circumstance, prejudice, ignorance and pride play in ensnaring Eydalji. These chapters - full of mounting suspense and menace - are among the best in the book and made me miss more than one meal. Moreover, Barnes uses the vehicle of the murder mystery as a chance to explore larger themes such as prejudice (conscious and unconscious), human resiliency, and the evolution of the English justice system
The story also works as an incomplete but intriguing bio of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, exploring the role that his absentee artist father, his Scottish mother, and his "traditional" British upbringing shaped him into the man that he became, a simultaneous embodiment of the past (ex: his chivalric but rather clueless attitude towards women), the present (ex: he was an avid sportsman, numbered among his acquaintances most of the notable men of the period, and even dabbled in politics), and the future (ex: his Sherlock Holmes stories famously foreshadowed the use of forensic evidence to solve crimes). But make no mistake: this is no homage. Barnes' Doyle may be clever, accomplished, and driven by a sense of honor, but he is also crippled by intellectual vanity.
However, I believe Barnes' primary goal (and greatest achievement) is his exploration of how a man as rational as Doyle - not just the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but a trained medical doctor - can have developed so deep and (seemingly) irrational a fascination with spiritualism. How could the man who gave birth to Sherlock Holmes have believed in ectoplasm, telepathy, mesmerism, ouija boards, spirit writing, and (perhaps most famously) fairies? Barnes' depicts Doyle as a man so tormented by rational doubts about organized religion, he finds himself seduced by spiritualism and its promise of providing scientifically verifiable evidence of an afterlife. Alas, however, Doyle's intellectual vanity prevents him not only from identifying the real culprit behind the crimes of which Eydalji is accused, but also prevents him from being able to rationally debunk the spiritualists who successfully manipulate him into believing what he wishes to believe.
Which eventually leads the reader back to the major theme of this story: that people will find a way to believe what they want to believe, no matter how irrational the conclusion. The way a normally "just" justice system came to believe Eydalji guilty of murder. The way Doyle convinces himself that he can love two women without compromising his honor. The way humans continue to believe that the spirits of their beloved dead still walk among us, just waiting for us to find a way to communicate with them.
The story builds up the 2 contrasting
Arthur comes across as a man of action and impulse, but perhaps lacking self-knowledge. George is quiet and introspective, but the strongest character in the book.
My only criticism is that the book also tries to cover Conan Doyle's spritualism, I found the final section about the mass seance in the Albert Hall after Conan Doyle's death far less interesting than the rest of the book.
George I had less trouble with: Thanks Barnes for George Edalji, and the generosity and decency of working through race and colonialism and splittings of colonized subjects. The sexlessness of George and his family, however, struck me as a bit Mr. Miyagi-y.
Much better than it sounds.
I like Barnes's straightforward, clear writing and his ability to turn a clever phrase. I knew from the very first paragraphs of the book that I'd enjoy it. It begins like this:
A child wants to see. It always begins like this, and it began like this then. A child wanted to see.
He was able to walk, and could reach up to a door handle. He did this with nothing that could be called a purpose, merely the instinctive tourism of infancy.
I love that bit; the instinctive tourism of infancy. I also loved this bit at the end where Edalji attends the spiritualist's presentation in honor of ACD, and the spirits seem to all be speaking at once:
George listens to the crowd of spirits being given fleeting description. The impression is that they are all clamoring for attention, fighting to convey their messages. A facetious if logical question comes into George's mind, from where he cannot tell, unless as a reaction to all this unwonted intensity. If these are indeed the spirits of Englishmen and Englishwomen who have passed over into the next world, surely they would know how to form a proper queue?
All in all, an entertaining book and one I'd highly recommend.
However, I found the writing style a bit hard to take at times, and was particularly irritated by the sustained use of the present tense.
English author Julian Barnes has taken DoyleâÂÂs exacting criteria to
Now, melding his sensibilities with those of Doyle, Barnes draws upon copious historical resources to reenact a fascinating episode in Sir ArthurâÂÂs life: the Edalji Case. Documenting one of the few times when the mystery writer employed his celebrity to an actual crime, Arthur & George delivers an engrossing true-life Victorian mystery story that, in a time of racial profiling and increased fear of the outsider, still has unfortunate relevance.
George Edalji is an English solicitor, a man who fervently believes âÂÂthat he is English, he is a student of the laws of England, and one day, God willing, he will marry according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England,âÂ? However, GeorgeâÂÂs father is Indian, a Parsee, and as such, George is constantly judged as being different.
In an occasion of monstrous discrimination, Edalji is convicted of horrific crimes on absurdly thin evidence, and sentenced to seven years in prison. Doyle, wielding the skills of his fictional detective, takes up GeorgeâÂÂs cause, eventually uncovering precisely how English police decided that âÂÂa respectable lawyer, bat-blind and of slight physique, [became] a degenerate who flits across fields at dead of night, evading the watch of twenty special constables, in order to wade through the blood of mutilated animals.âÂ?
While the mystery is a fascinating one, far more realistic than those of Holmes, Arthur & George truly functions as a meticulous literary duet between two men, outwardly dissimilar, yet each possessing qualities that make them, in DoyleâÂÂs words, âÂÂunofficial Englishmen.âÂ?
George is almost the stereotypical Englishman, armed with a placid demeanour and firm belief in the rule of law, yet his skin marks him as someone of differing values, and therefore must be feared. Arthur, by way of contrast, is thought of as the ultimate Englishman, yet his bombastic attitude, Scottish heritage, and unwavering belief in spiritualism set him far apart from his countrymen.
Barnes fills his pages with pointed subtext concerning governmental whitewash techniques and racial profiling, but they are subtle barbs, piercing the skin ever so slightly. Like his earlier novels, especially the rambunctiously funny The History of the World in 10 ý Chapters, Barnes never lets a diatribe get in the way of a good story.
And Arthur & George is indeed a good, good story, intelligent, interesting, and complex. While the reticent George ultimately decides that âÂÂthere are worse fates . . . than to be a footnote in legal history,âÂ? Barnes has no such reluctance. In Arthur & George, he has brought about a graceful re-imagining of a forgotten event, in a manner that would do Sir Arthur proud.
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