The Fifth Heart

[lunabee34]

The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I wanted to like this so much. Dan Simmons is one of my favorite authors. Ilium and Olympos are among my favorite books ever. Hyperion is delightful. Drood is wonderful.

The Fifth Heart is okay.

I think maybe the problem is that I'm not a Sherlock Holmes nut and so much of the intricacy of the story is probably lost on me. I also don't know much about James or the other historical/literary figures in the text.

I was also a little disappointed that at no point was anything the characters in the novel think is funny actually funny to me. Mark Twain is funny. His writing makes me laugh. Mark Twain in this novel is not funny. I would think that's the point, that the funny man is not actually funny, except that the other characters all seem genuinely amused by his stories.

IDK

This one was not for me.

I did enjoy the ending, especially the epilogue, with James standing arm in arm with Holmes on the deck of the ship the way he's always wanted to stand with someone else.



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Comments

[lunabee34]

Very much Holmes. POV alternates between Henry James and Holmes.

And Holmes is very interested in the question of whether he's a real person or a fictional construct.

[kore]

Ooh I love Holmes! I love metafictional Holmes!

....although urrgh, Henry James I want to drown in a bucket. Although at least Henry James filtered through someone else's consciousness is less horrible than actual Henry James. (sorry if you are a Henry James fan)

[lunabee34]

LOL

I don't think I've actually read any James, so not a fan.