YAY for the first section of Alice’s The Moonstone Readalong!
SO! This section is narrated by Betteredge, who I cannot help but picture as Carson:
And Betteredge is pretty hilarious, especially when you imagine him with Carson’s voice. That being said, Betteredge introduces us to various other characters such as the suspicious Indian trio walking around, the servant with a sketchy past Rosanna Spearman, his daughter Penelope, and Mr. Franklin & Godfrey, both of who wish to marry Rachel. He tells us his account of how the moonstone came into Rachel’s possession, how it went missing, how Superintendent Seegrave was an incompetent douche, and how Cuff is a weird little man but also kind of awesome.
Well, you know what all happened, you read it.
I know that we’re only 1/4 into the book now but I’m loving it. I can totally see why this was so popular back in the day and why it pretty much invented the mystery/detective genre. Maybe it’s just because I NEVER see what’s coming, but I have no clue who took the diamond. And I’m totally all wrapped up in the mystery and intrigue and it’s SO HARD not to read ahead. So far no obviously awesome female characters have been made known, but that may change later. But basically I’m all wrapped up in my love for Betteredge because he says hilarious things like:
“Selina, being a single woman, made me pay so much a week for her board and services. Selina, being my wife, couldn’t charge for her board and would have to give me her services for nothing.” (Oh come on tell me that doesn’t sound risqué.)
and
“Study your wife closely, for the next four-and-twenty hours. If your good lady doesn’t exhibit something in the shape of a contradiction in that time, Heaven help you! – you have married a monster.”
and he goes on a big rant about the boredom of rich folk, and dude loves Robinson Crusoe like it’s his JOB, and he speaks plainly about his fondness for female figures, and makes fun of Mr. Franklin for being practically schizophrenic. I really like Betteredge and I’ll be sad when his narrative is over. I don’t like Rosanna much, cause she’s weird and morbid as all crap. I don’t have a solid opinion yet of Mr. Franklin or Godfrey, except that I assume that Godfrey is some sort of womanizer, because why else would he be all into these female charity thingys? And I don’t like Rachel’s mom, cause she’s kind of annoying and I half-suspect her of stealing the diamond… but then again I half-suspect that of everyone.
Oh and I like Cuff! He’s kind of an oddball, but he shut Seegrave DOWN! And with style. It reminded me of Paul Smecker and that stupid cop in The Boondock Saints. Even his little humming thing reminded me of Smecker listening to his classical cd while investigating the crime scene in the alleyway. Plus he’s sensitive to the servants being people too and not instantly trying to pin the blame on them, which is nice.
Totally loving Wilkie Collins so far. I went to the library today to see what other books of his they had and was severely disappointed to see that they only have The Moonstone and The Woman in White. If I’m still really digging him after the readalong is over, I may have to do a bit of online Wilkie-shopping.
~Sarah
If Gabby likes to cuddle with it then it MUST be awesome.
ALWAYS MORE WILKIE! I can recommend Armadale, although it’s a LOT less mysterious than this, and The Woman in White. But still awesome.
Anywho! I totally suspect everyone too! EVERYONE. Even Betteredge. Even *Rachel*, and it’s her freaking diamond! But awww, I love Betteredge and his Robinson Crusoe thing (that I totally forgot to mention) cause books! Books and the meaning of life!
Man, I have used too many exclamation points, which means I’m much too excited. Going away to toooone it down now…
Rachel IS a suspicious character! She refuses to let anyone search her stuff so I’m like “Mmm hmmm she’s hiding something” in my head.
Don’t tone it down, it’s finally Wilkie Day! I’ve been waiting for Wednesday so hard so that I could finally start the next section, lol.
You brought back so much more than I remembered to say but I loved all of this stuff too. I love Gabriel even though I think he’s a little pig. Who couldn’t love a man that finds all his answers in Robinson Crusoe? Oh, shoot, I also forgot to mention Cuff. I liked him from the minute Gabriel described him as the skinny guy that loves roses. Who couldn’t love a man that knows about grass paths instead of gravel? I think Rosanna has had a difficult life. She would rock in the 21st century, if someone would just give her a chance. Great post!
I think that Rosanna might be really goth or emo in the 21st century. LOL! She was just very gloomy over there by the sand.
She has a lot of feelings.
I don’t think we’re going to find our strong female character during Betteredge’s narrative, given his whole “women are lesser than men so we need to be extra nice to them except my wife who was crazy and a monster”. But his narrative is still fun. I mean look at how much he LOVES Robinson Crusoe (which in my version is written all in caps and I like to think that means Betteredge shouts the title constantly).
LOL he does seriously love Robinson Crusoe. I haven’t read it yet, so now I’ll be holding it up to extremely high expectations. Thanks alot, GB. I think we might find a strong female character among the servents… I think one of them has a narrative? Otherwise most of the narratives are from the men.
I think we can all agree that Cuff is the coolest.
And yeah — Robinson Crusoe! It’s like his replacement for the Bible, which I find reeeeeally interesting. “What do I turn to in times of trouble? Well OBVIOUSLY Robinson Crusoe. Nothing like a story about a man and a goat.”
I wonder if Wilkie was trying to say anything there, with the love of Robinson Crusoe. Like… use literature as a moral compass instead of religion? Or is Wilkie just a secret fangirl of that novel?
I keep thinking that maybe Godfrey and Rosanna know each other, since she was probably the type of person his charities aim to help… Hm, maybe they are in it together!
This is approximately the 72nd ridiculous theory I’ve put forward in comments tonight…
That’s a good theory! While I don’t necessarily like or trust Franklin yet, I like Godfrey even though I don’t trust him… I assume he’s some sort of date rapist or something. I’m apparently just suspicious of any men that claim they want to help women out of the goodness of their hearts. I’m such a pessimist.
Rosanna! I know – I don’t know what to make of her. I hope we get into her head more as the story goes on. I’d like to like her, but she’s so flighty right now. But that could be Betteredge’s perspective. I NEED TO KNOW HER THOUGHTS.
At least Betteredge seems to genuinely like and want to protect Rosanna. Like he feels bad for her and stuff. I hope she’s less emo in some of the other narratives.
It’s a good thing that I took to loving Betteredge right away, because it’s the only way he can get away with saying things like that he married Selina for free, legit housewivery. I swear, this book is like one big opium-induced plug for Robinson Crusoe.
LOL it’s true. He says such messed up, sexist things but some reason I just take it all in good fun. Plus I’m assuming that Wilkie isn’t a sexist, since had created some amazing female character named Marian and everyone loves her. So maybe Betteredge’s funny/offensive views are Wilkie’s way at poking fun at sexists?