Volume 21, Number 12 · July 18, 1974
Gothic Guesswork
By Karl Miller
The Wonder-Worker
by Dan Jacobson
Atlantic-Little, Brown, 191 pp., $5.95
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
by John le Carré
Knopf, 355 pp., $7.95
The Rachel Papers
by Martin Amis
Knopf, 240 pp., $5.95
Lord Richard's Passion
by Mervyn Jones
Knopf, 368 pp., $7.95
The detective story, like the love story, is a fictional category which no one has any trouble in identifying, and both these categories can be identified among the four British novels which I am reviewing. But it is apparent that detection enters extensively into works which could not be confused with the ordinary detective story. They are something very different, and yet they apply themselves to clues and surmises and surprises. The long and tortuous history of the Gothic novel, with its special interest in magic and madness, and in doubles and Doppelgängers, may be thought to illustrate the proposition. Whether or not a Gothic tale offers, as Jekyll and Hyde does, some of the satisfactions of the detective story, it tends to offer detection. It may be quite like an Agatha Christie, it may be that the double done it: but, one way or another, it is likely to have an element of suspense, delusion, and discovery. This preamble is meant to introduce the suggestion that Dan Jacobson's latest novel depends upon detection, while not being a detective story, and that it asks to be considered in the light of the Gothic tradition.
Review, 4617 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |