'Drood,' chapters 1 and 2

I haven't got very far in Drood yet, but I wanted to get started blogging on it anyway. Our narrator is Wilkie Collins, author and friend of Dickens, and a man half-insane with envy. In fact, we seem to have a Mozart/Salieri thing going on, although so far Dan Simmons is being subtler about it than Peter Shaffer.

While Collins is constantly professing loyalty and admiration to his friend, he clearly feels stuck in his shadow, and slips in words like "smug" and "self-righteous" to describe Dickens's attitude -- especially when he gets into the subject of Dickens's marital troubles. (As Collins's own domestic arrangements are a little irregular, this seems to be less condemnation of his friend's behavior than the typical sneering at hypocrisy by those who have no standards to begin with.) Not that he's always insidious with his criticism; early on he shares a memory of seeing Dickens in an undignified position, an image that is brief but, shall we say, blunt. It's an odd detail to throw in, but seems to confirm the feeling toward his friend that lurks just under the surface of Collins's mind.

The book starts off with a description of Dickens's train accident at Staplehurst. When Dickens tells Collins the story, he mentions a mysterious figure with a "skull-like visage" who appeared at the scene. The figure, who introduced himself as "Drood," seemed to be trying to help the accident victims -- but thinking it over afterwards, Dickens wondered if his intentions might not have been more sinister. . . .

Comments

[christopher harris]

Gina, I have done a good bit of research on the relationship between Dickens and Collins, and I believe that Dan Simmons understands their dynamic pretty well. It is fairly common knowledge that Dickens tried to edit Collins' work to conform more with his 'Dickensian' style; but Collins was pretty effective at maintaining his authorial prerogative. Personally, I find their writing styles to be about as different as night and day; and couldn't imagine one trying to change the other and being successful. Finally, I think your reference to Mozart and Salieri is a good one - it probably was a bit of a love/hate relationship (Wilkie's addiction to laudanum probably 'clouded' his perceptions in any event). I really enjoyed the book, and look forward to seeing what your overall impressions will be