The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The story concerns a young woman called Rachel Verinder who inherits a large Indian diamond, the Moonstone, on her eighteenth birthday.
The book is widely regarded as the precursor of the modern mystery and suspense novels. T. S. Eliot called it 'the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels'. It contains a number of ideas which became common tropes of the genre: a large number of suspects, red herrings, a crime being investigated by talented amateurs who happen to be present when it is committed, and two police officers who exemplify respectively the 'local bungler' and the skilled, professional, Scotland Yard detective. (Summary from Wikipedia) (20 hr 8 min)
Chapters
Reviews
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ListeninginChicago
From Wikipedia: Rachel Verinder, a young Englishwoman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt English army officer who served in India. The diamond is of great religious significance as well as being enormously valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond). Rachel's eighteenth birthday is celebrated with a large party, whose guests include her cousin Franklin Blake. She wears the Moonstone on her dress that evening for all to see, including some Indian jugglers who have called at the house. Later that night, the diamond is stolen from Rachel's bedroom, and a period of turmoil, unhappiness, misunderstandings and ill-luck ensues. Told via a series of narratives from some of the main characters, the complex plot traces the subsequent efforts to explain the theft, identify the thief, trace the stone and recover it. My comments: Mike Gardom reads quite a few chapters and does an excellent job. The balance of the chapters are taken by a variety of Librivox readers. Most are done quite well and on balance, this book is well read and easy to listen to. Wilkie Collins tends to be a bit long-winded in his writing, but the many twists and turns keep the plot interesting.
A LibriVox Listener
Great book, but too many different readers with incompatible styles. Background noise can be heard during some recordings. One reader with an otherwise pleasant voice is not a native English speaker; she mispronounces words often, making it hard to get lost in the narrative. Another reader uses an English accent that comes and goes.
A LibriVox Listener
Delightful book; inconsistent narration. One woman has such a thick accent in English, it is incomprehensible to me, another (also with an accent, this one not so thick, but a little distracting for an English novel) sounds as if she is torturing children in the background or is reading outside a playground. There are curdling shrieks behind her. Perhaps they can replace these chapters with comprehensible readers who can speak clearly and pronounce all of the words? Karen Savage, where are you , you perfect narrator? I appreciate this service and everyone’s volunteer efforts, and again, I love this book, but I’ve reached chapters that I cannot understand! Now that I’m addicted it is so sad to abandon it!
A LibriVox Listener
I loved the first half of this book, very engaging and had many twists and turns that when you thought you knew what happened it went a different direction. The second part was so hard to understand the reader. Mispronouncing words I couldn’t follow what was even going on... I understand the readers are volunteers, but this is the second Wilkie Collins book I will not finish because I cannot understand the reader..
can't finish it...
lmjy
I'm enjoying the book so far, just finished the first period, all was well read and understandable... the second period of the book was too difficult to understand due to the strong accent of the reader, it seems she had difficulty pronouncing certain words what can be distracting and makes one loose the flow of the story...
SUPERLATIVE
Avid Listener
One of the most ingenious plots that I have ever read. Unusually, in this instance, the use of multiple narrators did not detract from the story. Highly recommended!
I enjoyed this book.
Wintergreen
The readers did a good job, and Mr. Collins did a fabulous job. I was surprised at the end, despite it being somewhat accurate to what I guessed. Sergeant Cuff is my favourite character, closely followed by Gooseberry. S. Cuff is serious, down to earth, hardworking, intelligent, respectful, and respectable. I was sad when he left the story, but when he came back, I was surprised and overjoyed. His detective work was great. He was right when he said no man could've figured out the truth with what he had had, unless they were some magician or could read minds. Also, S. Cuff does an amazing job wrapping it up the case. Well-written, well-read, over all 11/10. Robinson Crusoe being Betteredges Bible, though. Hilarious! (There are a few reviews with complaints to the readers; while I may agree the lady reading had a heavy accent, I did not find her hard to understand. I enjoyed her accent a lot. I think the more experience one gets listening to accented readers, the easier overall it is to understand them.)
Cant finish it!
Themerrybookworm
Firstly, Wilkie Collins is brilliant. This is my fourth novel by him, and I’ve been engrossed in it for a week, but am now hopelessly lost in the storyline due to the incomprehensible reader that begins the second period - Kristine Bekere. However, Mike Gardom, the beginning reader gives an excellent performance! I do appreciate the volunteers, but there should be qualifications in order to read, such as being able to pronounce English words. Also, it throws the feel and mood of a story to have so many varieties of readers. But the mile-thick accent of Kristine Bekere is unbearable Please, LibriVox, ask Mike Gardom, to re-read the beginning of the second period. I should really love to know how this novel ends.