A Dead Man in Deptford (Paperback)

~ (Author) "YOU must and will suppose (fair or foul reader, but where's the difference?) that I suppose a heap of happenings that I had no eye..." (more)
Key Phrases: kit kit kit, leathern bag, Sir Walter, Tom Watson, Sir Francis (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Burgess's last book, published in England two years ago, shortly before the author's death, is a masterly piece of work. It is an extraordinary reflection on the state of American publishing that the novel had to wait so long for publication here, and then be brought out only by a small but enterprising company like Carroll & Graf. Like Burgess's Nothing Like the Sun 30 years ago (arguably the finest novel ever written about Shakespeare), this volume reflects the author's magical sense of language and his deep immersion in the Elizabethan ethos. The story of the short life of brilliant young playwright Christopher Marlowe is ostensibly told by an actor of the time; so perfectly is the period voice caught that it is hard to believe the novelist was not transcribing contemporary documents. Marlowe is seen as a student at Cambridge, soon caught up in the life of a secret agent, shuttling between England and France as the religious struggles of the time reach their apex in the slaying of Mary Queen of Scots. Himself a skeptic, and an active homosexual (frolicking with the young heir of the powerful Earl of Walsingham), Marlowe manages for several risky years to keep his head above the sectarian waters, working when he can at his plays, ever after "the mighty line." Then some of his fellow conspirators, suspicious of him, fabricate a brawl on a spring evening in a tavern and he is slain, still in his 20s. Burgess's command of his material is absolute; he wrote his student thesis, he tells us, on Marlowe and brings a lifetime's linguistic and fictional gifts to this headlong, shining, cruel portrait of a terrifying-but posthumously glorious-age.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Written to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Marlowe's death in 1593, the late Burgess's final book is essentially a novelization of Charles Nicholl's revisionist biography, The Reckoning (LJ 3/1/94). In Nicholl's view, Marlowe was a secret agent paid by spymaster Francis Walsingham to infiltrate the insurgent Catholic underground. However, as a freethinker and a homosexual, Marlowe had little use for Catholics or Protestants and preferred to spend his time promoting atheism and smoking the new drug tobacco, a habit he likened to "buggery of the lungs." Burgess brilliantly evokes the murky world of Elizabethan politics, where even a person's name is a mystery. Marlowe is also known as Morley and Merlin, and an apprentice playwright answers to Shagspaw, Choxper, and Jacquespere. One of this prolific author's finest books, A Dead Man in Deptford is a worthy companion volume to Burgess's classic Shakespeare novel, Nothing Like the Sun (1964). For all collections.?Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786703210
• ISBN-13: 978-0786703210
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,130,121 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dead Man in Deptford, July 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Dead Man in Deptford (Hardcover)

A novelization of the career and death of Elizabethan writer Kit Marlowe.

Wonderfully clever on a sentence level, and also a realistic evocation of period mentalities. I found nothing that seemed anachronistic here; the characters are steeped in the thought, literature, and problems of their times.

Sometimes the cleverness detracts from the story. The unusual dialogue punctuation in particular makes conversations hard to follow. At times the themes have great power, but too often they, as well as plot and characterization, sag under the weight of verbal expression. A framing device -- as well as a puzzling new voice coming in at the end -- doesn't add much and seems unnecessary.

Overall, I found this to be an ambitious and well-written book which will probably lose a number of readers who can't follow its verbal twists and turns, but which is well worth reading.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stick With It, It's Worth It, March 5, 2003

By	Robert Franklin (Belmont, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Dead Man in Deptford (Hardcover)

While some have said this is a difficult book (and I must admit I felt that way at first) if you relax and stick with it you'll find that it will begin to flow very smoothly.
Burgess takes us into the mind of Marlowe; his images are vivid. There were many passages that I had to reread, not because they were difficult, but because they were so beautiful. Sir Walter Raleigh introducing Kit to tobacco is marvelous.
I have to agree with those who found that following the characters was a bit confusing. I had the good fortune to have read Charles Nichol's book 'The Reckoning" first, a true story about the death of Marlowe. That work is a great introduction to most of the players in Burgess's book.
Please, don't be intimidated by "Dead Man", it is a pleasing and enlightening work.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging but worth it, March 7, 2000

By	Gail Dohrmann (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Our book group comprised of many retired teachers read this book recently; some members balked at its difficulty, but those who persevered felt that reading the book was a very rich experience. How else could you really sense the danger, the intrigue, the raw energy, and the vitality of the times. Burgess brings the period alive brilliantly through his inventive language and ironic humor. The book gets easier as it goes along, so stick with it; you'll be rewarded.