Complete and unabridged Wordsworth Classics edition (pbk).
"When the hero, Walter Hartright, encounters a solitary, terrified and beautiful woman dressed in white one moonlit night in north London, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress."
A haunting tale of a woman robbed of her identity.
One of the first excursions into the genre of mystery novels.
503 pp. Wordsworth Classics paperback.
This book is on the 'to be read' list of my special reading project 2006: Classical novels from world literature.

Finished my reading early in the morning, March, 20. The book is a fine combination of sensational romantics and almost scientific description. The story has nearly everything the romantic reader wants (no risk for spoilers here, I daresay): dark woods, stormy nights, tender love, mysterious characters, murderous intentions, fraudulence, stolen fortunes, kidnappings, look-alikes, gruesome church-yards, secret societies, Italian villains... Nearly everything, because one thing I failed to find in the book was real, romantic Passion. Wilkie Collins has written a novel about all the events, facts and thoughts concerning a fatal intrigue, but he chose a somewhat dull form for it, I think, letting his characters consecutively give their exhaustive retrospective view. Still, this is but a minor objection, because reading the book was a happy adventure. It has deepened my interest in nineteenth century literature. Then there is the added advantage of my having made my acquaintance with a new literary heroine in the person of Miss Halcombe.

RINGBOOK. (Netherlands only because of high international postage rates.) Postage NL: 2,25 euro.
RingList:
-Taowaki (v/h beppie)
-MaaikeB
-Gnoe
-Yinny
-a3ana
-...
-and back to Taowaki

Op weg naar MaaikeB. Veel plezier ermee!

Bedankt, beppie. Helaas viel er gisteren net een ander ringboek in de bus. Het zal dus wel even duren voor Wilkie Collins verder reist, maar ik doe mijn best!

I tried, I really tried, but on page 184 I had to admit my defeat. I was really looking forward to this book, since so many people whose opinion I value praised its virtues, but it failed to win me over. I have similar problems with Jane Austen. Again and again I try her books, but every time I am disappointed again. The conversations and the story just babble on. These men and women seem to do little more than take a stroll, have a meal and chat a bit. And wait for things to happen. Maybe the real excitement is hidden in the second part of the book, but for me this will remain a secret.
I'll hand the book over to Gnoe as soon as we meet again, which will be soon, I hope.

TNX for playing postman MaaikeB (& the fitting postcard)!

Update 21-05-2006
Well, I've started reading (haven't got very far yet though) and I really like the atmosphere of the beginning. But.. what a lot of pages and such small letters! That's gonna take a while I'm afraid. Good thing I've got some days off coming up ;-)

I thought The woman in white had been on my wishlist for quite a few years now: since I read PD James' autobiography 'Time to be in earnest' in 2001. She points out that The woman in white is considered the first real detective by many people (although not by the author herself). So now that I had started reading that significant book, I looked up the concerning paragraph and... Oops! It is not the correct book! I confused it with Collins (later published) The Moonstone!

So I started reading expecting a detective (the preamble kept me safely unaware of my misunderstanding) but that didn't make us get off on the wrong foot. It's a mystery anyway ;-) And the most important thing is that it'll be a nice read. I'll get back to you about that!

Update 04-06-2006
That was quite a nice read! I love how the book is structured and lets the story unfold. I also recognised elements of later works, like Sarah Waters' Fingersmith (a bit too much similarities?) and the dénouement of detectives like Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot or Columbo. It's really nice to have read this classic novel!

I have contacted Yinny so we can arrange a date for the exchange.

Update 04-07-2006
Because we couldn't manage to arrange a date I have delivered the book at the reception of Yinny's working office.

Eindelijk dan, daar is The woman in White! Dank je wel, Gnoe, voor je doorzettingsvermogen om het boek bij mij te krijgen ;) en Taowaki voor het ringen van het boek. Er zijn nog 2 wachtende boeken in de rij en dan is deze aan de beurt!

Finally, finally, finally, I have finished this book. It took me a long time to finish due to many reasons:
- the small print, really small letters
- archaich English, which, of cours, could be expected. But I really needed to switch books sometimes, because I just couldn't concentrate anymore on this book.
- a heat wave in Holland! Yes, and that was a cause for my lack of concentration as well
- the story wasn't really interesting the first 200 pages. After that, the mystery began and so my reading was speeding up as well.

Now the book is finished I can say I quite enjoyed this book. The events, the atmospere, even the language.

This book shall travel to a3ana as soon as I have her address!

Vandaag per post gekregen. Eerst nog een ander boek uitlezen (gewoon geleend, dat kan ook nog...) en dan is het aan de beurt. Ik ben er erg benieuwd naar, want veel er van gehoord.
Bedankt taowaki voor het ringen en yinny voor het opsturen!

I finished the book yesterday evening. I enjoyed it immensely - this whole atmosphere of people who seem to occupy themselves most of the day with -indeed Maaike- almost nothing, the clearly class-defined society with its (to me) complicated rules of behaviour, the etiquette, the roles of men and women. Collins lets her heroes resolve the mystery to every detail, which became a bit dull in the last 80 pages or so, when the most of it was made clear.
And then, of course, this heroine Marian Halcombe. You really wonder what's in a man's (in this case in Walter Hartright's mind) to fall for the rather dull Laura, when there is this strong, witty, able Marian at hand?
I'll send the book back to Taowaki, as soon as I get her address.

...dankjewel a3ana, het boek is weer terug op zijn oude plekje op mijn boekenplank. Bedankt voor al jullie leuke reacties!

In de boekenkistjes bij de AH.