The Hollow Man 10 out of 10

 The Hollow Man

10 out of 10

 

 

On quite a few levels, this is the most extraordinary mystery novel that one can read, indeed, a panel of 17 mystery authors and reviewers have named it ‘the best locked room mystery of all time’ and the ‘locked room lecture’ seems to be very frequently quoted, with its incredible scenarios that are presented to the audience and the readers, plans for the ‘Perfect murder’ that include ‘shooting an icicle’ into the victim, who would die, then the ice would melt and you would have no murder weapon, no evidence and no clue as to how you have a dead man or woman on your hands…and there are more ways explained there, including another spectacular idea that grabbed the attention of yours truly, using a bullet made of…frozen blood.

 

It is all so overwhelming that one might be tempted to abandon and look at the last page and see who has done it and be over with it, only it would not be just the last page, indeed, come to think of it, this magical work starts explaining what ‘really’ happened, not what we think it was, about one chapter or more before the end, because the itinerary of the killer, the false and the exact timing are so convoluted that one of the brightest and inventive minds has to put it together and the author, John Dickson Carr is one of the best, if not as that panel said, the greatest, especially given the fact that he not only offers the solution to this Double Homicide, but you have that lecture in which you see how to do it, without being in the room – if you are so inclined to be a Very Stable Genius or a member of that cult that will take to the streets on November 5th, if their pathetic king will not have been anointed…

In other words this is a phenomenal novel, creative in the most extreme – I mean, The Killing of Roger Ackroyd http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-murder-of-roger-ackroyd-by-agatha.html appeared to be the nec plus ultra in terms of unsuspected murderer, an Agatha Christie opus wherein the killer is the…narrator – where the details count, but you are often sent on the wrong path – that is if you have any idea about who is the main suspect and what is going on while you read this…I know I had given up anticipating and I wait for the crime story where the one who looks like the most likely suspect IS the one who did it, that would be the ultimate surprise, for it looks like he or she never does it, it is always the most unlikely…you may even wonder when you will find that the killer is the…murdered man or woman.

 

The situation is made ever more complicated by the past of the man who dies early on, Professor Charles Grimaud, appreciated as he is, he proves to have been first of all somebody else in name, for he had been born Karoly Horvath, in Transylvania – this makes the novel particularly interesting for the under signed, given that he had traveled extensively to the region where he had lived for about three years, close to Brasov aka Brasso, which is mentioned quite a few times in the book – where he is found to have been jailed, together with three brothers, on one testimony because of political activities, but another path would suggest that in fact he had robbed a bank in Brasso, then he was imprisoned with the other two brothers and eventually, with the help of a doctor that would declare them killed by the plague, he would escape, get out of a…grave, then find a good Samaritan and find his way to England…without the brothers.

 

When Gideon Fell, the main character of this and a series of detective stories by the same brilliant John Dickson Carr, is looking into the killing – they may soon be two – he discovers quite a few details, though he would later admit that in the first place he had been sent off the right track – admittedly, nobody except this outstanding investigator would be able to follow the plan and the failures of it, given the complications, intuition, Emotional Intelligence, overwhelming creativity and IQ required – because he has a chance to hear the dying Charles Grimaud aka Karoly Horvath whisper some last moment words that appear to indicate what happened, when pieced together by the ingenious protagonist, who thinks of fox, do not accuse the poor man, he was there and then he was gone, to create a first version of the events.

This passage is a repletion, for yours truly has initially placed it here, but then thinking that it is important and even those that only look at the first few lines and then abandon the rest – which clever and what you should have done and not stick with this foolish note – I was called an idiot, by the way, a few days ago, on account of a video posted on boycotting Mulan, in which I refer to the actress in the main role as ‘Wang, Wund, whatever her name is’ which this guy said was racist and even if it was not, I just do not know her name, do not care to know it and not because she is Chinese and I am against Asians, it because of her political stand for the Chinese communists and their despicable actions in Hong Kong…it remains though a problem, should you read this, considering even this latest move into the wilderness, unconnected with the Hollow Man- It is all so overwhelming that one might be tempted to abandon and look at the last page and see who has done it and be over with it, only it would not be just the last page, indeed, come to think of it, this magical work starts explaining what ‘really’ happened, not what we think it was, about one chapter or more before the end, because the itinerary of the killer, the false and the exact timing are so convoluted that one of the brightest and inventive minds has to put it together and the author, John Dickson Carr is one of the best, if not as that panel said, the greatest, especially given the fact that he not only offers the solution to this Double Homicide, but you have that lecture in which you see how to do it, without being in the room – if you are so inclined to be a Very Stable Genius or a member of that cult that will take to the streets on November 5^th, if their pathetic king will not have been anointed…

 

The killing looks to be the work of The Hollow Man – and maybe it is, even if it would prove so complex, unexpected as to leave you open mouthed in wonder…I know it did it for me – a visitor who came in with a disguise, a shot is then heard, Grimaud aka Horvath is found just about dead, he utters words that send Fell in the wrong direction, then there is the appalling Transylvanian history – which is delightful in that it offers some history, traditions of vampires – the fact that there are no footprints in the snow and then a fabulous incursion into the world of Illusion – this made the under signed think of the famous Gorilla experiment in which people are found to be oblivious to the apparition of a…gorilla, in the middle of a basketball game, something which you should look on the net, because it is so thrilling, real and explains how we do not notice even something huge coming in front, in various conditions – and then various scenarios are contemplated, as it should be, timelines are written down, only to be changed, when one indicator proves to be false, a main suspect, brother ‘Henry’, has to be eliminated and the psychology of the various individuals participating in the events offers a very interesting and challenging fresco in what is a marvelous magnum opus, listed with the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read