Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Quite a Sensation

I think I’ve mentioned before that among the numerous things I do to keep myself busy, I work some hours each week in an independent bookstore near where I live, in Seattle. When I first took the job, I was hoping to expand the shop’s crime-fiction section, and I have done so. But I’ve been a bit disappointed by the continuing call for what I consider less interesting works published within this genre--mysteries in which cats or dogs do the detecting, series that don’t evolve much over time, and works in which the plot must do all of the heavy lifting, because goodness knows the writing quality isn’t sufficient to maintain one’s interest. Countering that disappointment, however, has been my surprise at seeing how many people come in to buy the works of Wilkie Collins.

Collins, whose 184th birthday would be today (he died in 1889), was an English novelist and playwright. He penned more than two dozen novels, but is certainly best known nowadays for just two: The Woman in White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868). Both are epistolary works, and early mystery stories. They were well read in Collins’ time; in fact, the author was once one of the most popular and highly paid writers of the Victorian Era. Following his death, though, Collins’ reputation faded fast. It is only over the last decade, largely because of theatrical and stage presentations, that those novels have regained attention. Collins, who lived in an age when books weren’t plentifully and cheaply produced, and when not everyone knew how to read, might be stunned, perhaps amused to discover that his work is still being enjoyed in the age of the Kindle and print-on-demand. And thankfully, it is.

Project Gutenberrg has made available free online downloads of both The Woman in White and The Moonstone, so you can see what the fuss is all about. And a site called The Wilkie Collins Pages provides plenty of background information about the author, his work and world, and even his Last Will and Testament.

Happy birthday, Mr. Collins.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Wilkie Collins pages also provides links to e-texts of most (if not all) of his works.