Onze site gebruikt cookies om diensten te leveren, prestaties te verbeteren, voor analyse en (indien je niet ingelogd bent) voor advertenties. Door LibraryThing te gebruiken erken je dat je onze Servicevoorwaarden en Privacybeleid gelezen en begrepen hebt. Je gebruik van de site en diensten is onderhevig aan dit beleid en deze voorwaarden.
In the early nineteenth century, a series of murders took place in and around London that shocked the whole of England. The appalling nature of the crimes-a brutal slaying in the gambling netherworld, the slaughter of two entire households, and the first of the modern lust-murders-was magnified not only by the lurid atmosphere of an age in which candlelight gave way to gaslight but also by the efforts of some of the keenest minds of the period to uncover the gruesomest details of the killings.These slayings all took place against the backdrop of a London in which the splendor of the fashionable world was haunted by the squalor of the slums. Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Carlyle, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and others were fascinated by the blood and deviltry of these crimes.In their contemplations of the most notorious murders of their time, they discerned in the act of killing itself a depth of hideousness that we have lost sight of, now living in an age in which murder has been reduced to a problem of social science and skillful detective work. Interweaving these cultural vignettes alongside criminal history, acclaimed author Michael Knox Beran paints a vivid picture of a time when homicide was thought of as the intrusion of the diabolic into ordinary life.… (meer)
I poked at the other reviews of this book before writing thing and someone knocked the author’s style and I get it, but the guy is writing about murder through the lense of gothic romanticism. What, exactly, did you expect Anyways, that’s irrelevant.
I enjoyed this one. It really made me question WHY I so many of the things I enjoy are horror/thriller/murder mystery based. The last chapter’s essay on the real reason that murder no longer disturbs us, really struck a cord with me and it was completely worth wading through what, to some, might seem like unwieldy pre-Victorian prose. ( )
Dry and occasionally boring. It wasn't awful and was a solid three stars until toward the end, when the author began insulting Mystery novels and their readers. I get it. You're an academic and your thoughts on murder during the 19th Century are intellectual and important. [/sarcasm] However, you are publishing a book on murder for the commercial market. Who the hell do you think your readers are going to be? Generally, they are going to have a lot of crossover with Mystery readers. Insulting them and their chosen genre maybe isn't the best idea. ( )
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Very few can boast of hearts which they dar lay open to themselves, and of which, by whatever accident exposed, they do not shun a distinct and continued view. . . .
—Dr. Johnson
Opdracht
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
To my wife
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
On an autumn day in 1823, a coach set out from the town of Watford, in Hertfordshire, and drove toward the nearby village of Elstree, some ten miles north of London.
Citaten
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
If so, the time may be ripe for a reappraisal of the work of the Romantic murder writers.
In the early nineteenth century, a series of murders took place in and around London that shocked the whole of England. The appalling nature of the crimes-a brutal slaying in the gambling netherworld, the slaughter of two entire households, and the first of the modern lust-murders-was magnified not only by the lurid atmosphere of an age in which candlelight gave way to gaslight but also by the efforts of some of the keenest minds of the period to uncover the gruesomest details of the killings.These slayings all took place against the backdrop of a London in which the splendor of the fashionable world was haunted by the squalor of the slums. Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Carlyle, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and others were fascinated by the blood and deviltry of these crimes.In their contemplations of the most notorious murders of their time, they discerned in the act of killing itself a depth of hideousness that we have lost sight of, now living in an age in which murder has been reduced to a problem of social science and skillful detective work. Interweaving these cultural vignettes alongside criminal history, acclaimed author Michael Knox Beran paints a vivid picture of a time when homicide was thought of as the intrusion of the diabolic into ordinary life.
)
Google Books — Bezig met laden...
(2.88)
3
I enjoyed this one. It really made me question WHY I so many of the things I enjoy are horror/thriller/murder mystery based. The last chapter’s essay on the real reason that murder no longer disturbs us, really struck a cord with me and it was completely worth wading through what, to some, might seem like unwieldy pre-Victorian prose. (