- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd (19 April 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0719567041
- ISBN-13: 978-0719567049
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 501,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Pale Blue Eye
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Review
'Hardback fiction worth looking out for' -- Publishing News 20051111 'A most satisfying murder mystery' -- Bookseller 24 Feb 20051111 'Really outstanding crime fiction is rare ... so it's a joy to see Louis Bayard pull off this coup ... As gory and melodramatic as Poe's own writing ...brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver' -- Sunday Times / Culture 'Bayard's shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental new mystery reads like a lost classic ... Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction, rendering the 19th century as if he'd witnessed it firsthand' -- New York Times Book Review 20060701 'An immensely satisfying whodunit, richly imaginative ...Good, clean homicidal fun' -- The Times: Kate Saunders 20060701 'The Pale Blue Eye kept me transfixed ...a moody, cunning mystery ... In the course of the narrative, Bayard ingeniously weaves in motifs from Poe's work to thrilling effect' -- Observer/ Review 20060701 'A Dickensian thriller strong on atmosphere' -- Sunday Telegraph 20060701 'Louis Bayard is a writer of remarkable gifts: for language, for imagination, for that mysterious admixture of audacity and craftsmanship that signals a major talent in the making' -- Joyce Carol Oates 20060701 'A tour de force, an intense and gripping novel ... This beautifully crafted thriller stands head and shoulders about other recent attempts to fictionalise Poe' -- Publishers Weekly 20060701 'In THE PALE BLUE EYE, Louis Bayard pays a stunning and fitting tribute to Edgar Allan Poe -- not only in his crafting of a twisty, Gothic mystery that would have delighted the master himself, but in his use of a young Poe as a character. A gorgeous, melancholic tale from a fearless writer. I can't wait to see what Bayard does next' -- Laura Lippman, author of To the Power of Three 20060701 'Dazzling' -- Scotsman 20060701 'A fictional mystery in a real historical background' -- Sunday Telegraph 20060701
The Times: Kate Saunders
`An immensely satisfying whodunit, richly imaginative... Good,
clean homicidal fun.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
clean homicidal fun.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I guess anyone getting to this novel will either have read Mr Timothy (I hadn't) or will at least have heard enough of Bayard to expect a fine piece of writing, but I think this is an extraordinary novel by any standard. A retired New York policeman is summonsed to West Point military academy in 1831 to solve a gruesome murder where he enlists a cadet, one Edgar Allan Poe, to help solve the case.
For a long while I thought that the invention of this episode of Poe's life was just a device to allow Bayard to write some passages in even more equisite prose than the rest of the book (i.e when Poe is speaking or writing), that it was a sort of harmless conceit, because it seemed that the story didn't really need it to be Poe. Any sidekick would have done.
But this book is a real sleight-of-hand. It is not what it seems and you have to read all 400+ pages to get to the truth. And then it becomes clear that Bayard didn't just slip Poe in. He was an essential ingredient.
I suppose the story is not without its technical faults. There are some holes in the plot but this is top-class storytelling which takes enormous risks and more than compensates for any structural flaws with the brilliance of the writing. And I think most readers with forgive Bayard just about anything. Just for the experience. I don't think anybody else is writing like this today. Wonderful !!
For a long while I thought that the invention of this episode of Poe's life was just a device to allow Bayard to write some passages in even more equisite prose than the rest of the book (i.e when Poe is speaking or writing), that it was a sort of harmless conceit, because it seemed that the story didn't really need it to be Poe. Any sidekick would have done.
But this book is a real sleight-of-hand. It is not what it seems and you have to read all 400+ pages to get to the truth. And then it becomes clear that Bayard didn't just slip Poe in. He was an essential ingredient.
I suppose the story is not without its technical faults. There are some holes in the plot but this is top-class storytelling which takes enormous risks and more than compensates for any structural flaws with the brilliance of the writing. And I think most readers with forgive Bayard just about anything. Just for the experience. I don't think anybody else is writing like this today. Wonderful !!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bayard is building a niche little brand for himself as a concocter of literary thrillers, of which, this is the second. It's built around the seven months Edgar Allen Poe spent at the West Point military academy in 1830-31, and a series of crimes that occur while he is there. August Landor, A former New York policeman who's retired to the countryside for his health, is asked by the academy commandant to investigate a gruesome murder. As he is burdened by the recent death of his wife and elopement of his daughter, he has no demands on his time and accepts the assignment. Landor throws himself into the investigation, eventually enlisting cadet Poe as his eyes and ears on the ground.
The story moves at a rather measured pace, as Landor and Poe are laboriously discover clues, and more crimes are committed on the academy grounds. However, it's very thick with atmosphere, as Bayard strives to channel the heavy, oppressive tone of Poe's darkest work. Having Poe act as a sidekick is a nifty gimmick, as his highly mannered speech and writing make for colorful breaks from the gloom and doom that otherwise pervade the story. Poe comes alive off the page as a larger than life oddball outsider, and without him, the story would be dull indeed.
The drama builds slowly, as Poe falls in love with the daughter of the academy's doctor, and her brother becomes the prime suspect in what are now several murders. And for much of the last act of the book, I was getting steadily irritated with the pace at which things were unfolding and the motives that were being revealed. I can't say much more without spoiling things, but there is a twist ending that yanks the rug out from under the reader and suddenly reveals Poe's presence in the book as not just a fun gimmick, but a critical element, and elevates the plot from completely banal to something a good deal more interesting.
Poe as a fictional character is nothing new (see, for example, Joel Rose's The Blackest Bird, Andrew Taylor's The American Boy, Harold Schecter's series of mysteries, and Barry Perowne's A Singular Conspiracy, to name but a few novels featuring Poe as protagonist), but he's well used here. And Poe aficionados will find plenty of references to his work woven throughout. The most obvious being the name and home of the protagonist, which come from a short descriptive story Poe wrote in 1849 called "Landor's Cottage." All in all, a fairly satisfying -- if rather slow-moving -- literary thriller, if that's your kind of thing. Just good enough to make me want to check out Bayard's other two books.
The story moves at a rather measured pace, as Landor and Poe are laboriously discover clues, and more crimes are committed on the academy grounds. However, it's very thick with atmosphere, as Bayard strives to channel the heavy, oppressive tone of Poe's darkest work. Having Poe act as a sidekick is a nifty gimmick, as his highly mannered speech and writing make for colorful breaks from the gloom and doom that otherwise pervade the story. Poe comes alive off the page as a larger than life oddball outsider, and without him, the story would be dull indeed.
The drama builds slowly, as Poe falls in love with the daughter of the academy's doctor, and her brother becomes the prime suspect in what are now several murders. And for much of the last act of the book, I was getting steadily irritated with the pace at which things were unfolding and the motives that were being revealed. I can't say much more without spoiling things, but there is a twist ending that yanks the rug out from under the reader and suddenly reveals Poe's presence in the book as not just a fun gimmick, but a critical element, and elevates the plot from completely banal to something a good deal more interesting.
Poe as a fictional character is nothing new (see, for example, Joel Rose's The Blackest Bird, Andrew Taylor's The American Boy, Harold Schecter's series of mysteries, and Barry Perowne's A Singular Conspiracy, to name but a few novels featuring Poe as protagonist), but he's well used here. And Poe aficionados will find plenty of references to his work woven throughout. The most obvious being the name and home of the protagonist, which come from a short descriptive story Poe wrote in 1849 called "Landor's Cottage." All in all, a fairly satisfying -- if rather slow-moving -- literary thriller, if that's your kind of thing. Just good enough to make me want to check out Bayard's other two books.
Format:Hardcover
An excellent novel, it has a good plot and characters and it is very well written. I will be reading more of Louis Bayard's novels in the future. I highly recommend The Pale Blue Eye. It has so much going for it and it deserves the starred reviews it received from Publisher's weekly and Kirkus reviews.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Deserves more recognition
This novel is so beautifully written I will not be able to do it sufficient justice in a review. The use of language is skillful and seems so right for the era it is portraying. Read more
Published 2 months ago by N. A. Moore
An intriguing and witty read
I liked this book a lot. I found it a most unusual detective story, beautifully evocative of the time and the place, the Hudson Valley in 1831, or more specifically, the West... Read more
Published on 27 April 2010 by Crime Buff
So why do I feel slightly dissatisfied?
A retired New York City police detective. The cultural and political atmosphere of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1830. Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by J. Lesley
The best read in years
This is a fantastic read, very cleverly constructed and incredibly original. Unusually in this day and age, the writer is prepared to take risks with a daring plot which becomes... Read more
Published on 15 May 2008 by Lolita
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