Customer Reviews

The Company

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2 star:		(1)
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"An engrossing debut novel from an English writer now living in Australia, cited as Best First Book in a recent Commonwealth Writers Prize competition. The story's based on a historical incident: the wrecking of a Dutch East Indies flagship, the BATAVIA, on a coral reef off the western coast of Austrialia in 1629--and also on the real-life figure of Jeronimus Cornelisz, a Dutch apothecary who led a murderous mutiny of shipwreck survivors against others of their fellow passengers and the BATAVIA's crew. Edge tells this from the viewpoint of Cornelisz, a serial prisoner who had faked his way on board the ship in order to escape prosecution for his crimes--which are revealed in meditative flashbacks juxtaposed with a spine-tingling episodic account of the survivors' 40-day ordeal on the nearby Abrolhos Islands. Cornelisz is thus gradually revealed to us as the product of a stunted family environment (his father is a brutal sexual predator, his mother a passive religious zealot); the willing student of his Dostoevskyan mentor Torrentius, a wealthy epicurean artist who might have been a crony of Aleister Crowley's; and a deranged visionary who imagines he has committed evil acts in previous lives (having, for example, delivered Joan of Arc up to her martyrdom). Cornelisz is both a memorable Faustian monster and--in an impressive feat of symbolic suggestion--a nightmarish incarnation of the ruthlessness and avarice at the heart of Dutch mercantile culture ("Trade--what will a man not give in exchange for his soul?"). The scenes in which he manipulates "a drunken group of corporate boys" (the overindulged sons of rich merchants) to do his lethal bidding are rendered even more compelling by the psychotic intricacy of Cornelisz's crafty self-justifications. A stimulating mix of OLIVER TWIST, LORD OF THE FLIES, and two great Australian novels: Thomas Keneally's THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH and Patrick White's A FRINGE OF LEAVES. And, both because of and despite these echoes, a stunningly original triumph for a brilliant newcomer." KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)

In 1628, apothecary Jeronimus Cornelisz flees Amsterdam because some of his views on sorcery are considered heresy. In spite of his assisting the city's burghers with various vials including poisons, Jeronimus knows his exile must start immediately. His need to leave town forces the pompous Jeronimus to travel by sea, a mode of transportation he loathes. Still Jeronimus becomes a passenger on the Dutch East India ship Batavia heading to Indonesia.

While sailing on the endless oceans, Jeronimus realizes the ship carries a fortune that he believes should be his by divine right. He also lusts after another passenger, who spurns his efforts at courting. Still, Jeronimus manages to use his charismatic personality to incite a mutiny. Soon, the Batavia runs aground with many dying at sea. Those who survive soon turn to "the seducer of men" to keep them safe until a rescue ship can arrive. Instead of a leader of a temporary haven, Jeronimus begins forty days of torture, mayhem, and murder.

THE COMPANY is a powerful historical fiction told in the first person by the beguiling villain. The story line is frightening because it is based on a true incident and person. Arabella's Edge's research into Jeronimus allows the reader to see behind his charm into the head of this psychopathic megalomaniac. Yet his fellow mutineers and survivors fell right into his devilish allure. Genre fans will have a field day with this novel, especially comparing this diabolical individual with some of history's charismatic, but deadly tyrants.

Harriet Klausner

Arabella Edge's The Company (The Story of a Murderer) is a fictionalized account of the wreck of the Batavia in 1629 off the coast of Western Australia told from the point of view of the leader of the mutineers, Jeronimus Cornelisz. It is a well written book that becomes very difficult to read as it progresses and the endless horrors and atrocities continue unabated. As it is narrated by such a powerful character who is presented from the first as evil (mixed with cowardice, a dealy combination) and without any moral compass, the novel does not develop the horrors slowly but simply presents them one after another after another leaving the reader numb. The author is skilled at this piling on of horrors and creates moments of surprise throughout although finding a meaning to all of this terror seems rather futile. This book never reaches the level of Lord of the Flies but is nastily effective, in its own right, at relentlessly showing man's baser nature.

This is not really a 'likeable' book, but it is certainly an impressive one. Set in the 17th century, it seeks to chronicle the true events of the final fateful voyage of the merchant ship, the Batavia. The level of research and the imaginative translation of a huge amount of period detail into a vibrant, credible and textured landscape is extraordinary. Tonally and atmospherically it feels like a cross between the moribund amoral worlds of 'Perfume' and 'Lord of The Flies'. It doesn't quite work as an explanation of why the main character did what he did. The psychological analysis is the least persuasive aspect of the novel, not because it is unbelievable, but because it is slightly too knowing in its exposition. The language, however, is a delight. It has a seductive rhythmic quality, often using alliterative lists of unfamiliar things as a sort of literary underbelly to its world. It also balances the old and the modern to create just the right feeling of unease without being over-stilted. Definitely worth reading, but more for its craft than any great illumination of the human condition.

In Arabella Edge's The Company the reader is taken on a most unusual journey, sadly the journey ends up being a boring one. Our main character, Jeronimus Cornelisz, is a psychopath, though of course not many people know that. He is also an alchemist and an apothecary: poisons are his love. From a young age he has been obsessed with killing and controlling people through poisons and potions. Now he is throwing that all away, and with forged papers, is joining the crew on a ship of the Dutch East Indian Company, the Batavia, which is to transport goods to one of its Dutch colonies. Apart from a beautiful woman who Cornelisz is interested in, there is also a Dutch governor aboard and with him an untold amount of riches.

Soon a plan is forged between Cornelisz, the captain, and some of the crew to mutiny, get rid of all the unwanted people (but some of the women they will keep) and take the chests of gold for themselves. Except Mother Nature has a change to make in their plan: an obscured reef that the Batavia will have its hull ripped open. And those who survive will have to make do on an uninhabited island. The problem is none of them know they have a psychopath within their midst. While partially based on a true story, The Company does not really go anywhere, even though it has a remotely interesting story. But then there is the cliché of the uninhabited island along with one of the members of the crew being insane. It results in a somewhat doomed plot, but then if murderers and desert islands in the key of Treasure Island are what you like, then The Company may well be the book for you; just don't expect too much.

Originally published in June/July 2002.

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I read this book a few years ago, it was very gripping, kept me entertained until the end. Recommended it to a friend and he liked it as well, definitely worth a read.

To compare this book to any of these: OLIVER TWIST, LORD OF THE FLIES, THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH, A FRINGE OF LEAVES, as the publisher's review (below) does, is purely ridiculous. All of these books have thoughtful and interesting characterization, while The Company, by Arabella Edge, does not. They are all studies of the individual within society, and of the way society operates, but The Company is not.

The Company is a fictional recreation of a gruesome historical event. It merely dresses up the event with setting and description, never seeking to explore Cornelisz's psychopathology, and growing very tedious after the first few gruesome murders. Edge seems content to merely tell us Cornelisz is insane - not to explain that insanity or plumb its depths. Cornelisz is insane and he kills people. This is the sum total of the book.

If you want to read something interesting and gripping, something which shows the true depths to which humans can sink, read one of the books so thoughtfully mentioned by Simon and Schuster in their review. Don't waste your money on this one.