The Dante Club: A Novel [Paperback]

Matthew Pearl (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Random House Inc (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099465981
• ISBN-13: 978-0099465980
• ASIN: B001OCGXUY
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (354 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,050,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Devine" Thriller, February 23, 2003

By 

Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dante Club: A Novel (Hardcover)

Every few years a book is written that breaks the mold of the standard mystery/thriller fare. Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose", Martin Cruz Smith's "Rose", more recently Boston Teran's "God is a Bullet", to name a few. "The Dante Club", the remarkable debut of writer Matthew Pearl, is another example that represents a bold, ambitious, and refreshing approach to the familiar serial killer "who-dunnit".

I'll admit that at first I was somewhat leery of the concept: the Fireside Poets - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell cast as investigators of a string of horrific murders? An ambitious premise for a novel, for sure, but more aptly, bizarre and ripe with risk. Pearl, however, pulls this off with a curious combination of the poet's love of the language and the storyteller's knack for pace and action.

The "Dante Club" refers to the group assembled by Longfellow - including Holmes and Lowell - to assist him in the first American translation of Dante's "Devine Comedy". As people in high places - a judge, a minister, a wealthy merchant - turn up tortured and murdered in scenes recreating those described in Dante's classic, the poets hit the streets of Boston and Cambridge in search of the killer. The result is an exceptionally well-researched book that is rich in historical detail while capturing the post-Civil War American psyche and culture. Pearl's description of the Civil War horrors and post-war trama is especially gripping. Not since "Silence of the Lambs" or "Se7en" have murders been so brutally and vividly portrayed, as the victims are variously eaten-alive by maggots, buried upside-down and set on fire, and (literally) cut in half. Yet despite the graphic butchery, this is a book that must not be rushed, but savored for the intricacy of the plot and the intensity of the prose. It is the rare book that draws the reader to revisit the poetry of Longfellow, US history in the wake of the Civil War, and the mystery of Dante in 19th century America. In summary, a stunning first novel from a writer destined to become a household name. Don't miss it!

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dante Club, August 15, 2003

By 

John Lubahn (Erie, Pa. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dante Club: A Novel (Hardcover)

Mattew Pearl's recent novel, the Dante Club, combines history, suspense, and mystery in a truly unique reading experience. Famous, well known characters such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Windell-Holmes and James Russell Lowe are intricately woven into a plot which develops around their translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. Their work is disrupted however, when a series of murders in Boston are modeled after mankind's punishment in hell as described in Dante's Inferno. The murder of prominent citizens modeled after their translation make them suspect.

These noted historical authors work closely with a black police officer, Nichola Ray, to prove their innocence and solve the murders.

The vivid description of Boston in 1865 and the unique literary skill of Mattew Pearl to weave the history of the civil war and racial relations into this time period is pure genius. The words used to describe the Boston street scene at this time in history are reminiscent of Caleb Carr's description of New York City in his book the Alienist.

This book is a must for any reader who enjoys historical fiction and I would strongly recommend it to them.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a fan of this Club..., April 4, 2003

By 

Sean Conwell (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dante Club: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've read many reviews from other people touting the "greatness" of Matthew Pearl's debut novel. While I DO agree The Dante Club is a great achievement for Pearl as it showcases his Harvard education, I can't quite stomach the absolute opaqueness the novel exudes. After reading the novel, I know more about Dante and the historical circle of Longfellow, Lowell, and Holmes, but I don't have a very clear sense of the STORY, the murderous tale that is the premise of the novel. You will be absolutely blown away by the grotesquely wonderful opening of The Dante Club--maggots and all--but you'll quickly lose interest as Pearl takes you on a very long, DRY journey through a post-Civil War Boston. In a nutshell: You might get to visit the rings of Dante's Hell and appreciate Matthew Pearl's use of that classic as a launchpad for The Dante Club, but you're better served to put down--PUT DOWN!--this novel and quickly run to a more entertaining historical murder thriller like Caleb Carr's The Alienist.