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A review by missbryden
Original Sin by P.D. James
3.0
Gets suspenseful right in the last several chapters.
It has me wondering, as with previous book(s) in the series, how much side character background is necessary to the mystery novel when it doesn’t end up being connected to the ultimate story. I know there’s such a thing as red herrings and perhaps it’s realistic to not have it all neat and compartmentalized, but you get this long novel with background on loads of characters and settings and then it’s wrapped up comparatively quickly and left hanging, not knowing what will be the effect on most people concerned.
This book was on my list before I started reading the series because it was on a list of novels featuring archives or archival records. So that feature was interesting, especially at the end, and its mentioning of archival use in fiction or other published work.
Mystery writer writing about mystery writers. Meta like her [b:Unnatural Causes|3827|Unnatural Causes (Adam Dalgliesh, #3)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1321172465l/3827._SY75_.jpg|58690]. She mentions two characters (one a mystery writer) having a mystery collection of mostly women writers from the Golden Age, and doesn’t quite defend modern gritty stories in the voice of the publisher, “And what do you mean by bad? Beacher tells a strong story, keeps the action moving, provides that mixture of sex and violence which people apparently want”, that the older female writer refuses to put such things in her work. James herself may not have explicit sex scenes but she expresses that all are obsessed with it, whether they’re “old virgins” not having it, or are having it, and whether they’ve enjoyed it, are happy about their situation or not.
Dalgliesh’s age not keeping up with series timeline: 63 year old cleaner says he wasn’t even a glimmer in his father’s eye in 1940, which he seems to confirm, but the first book was published in 1962 when he was already an inspector, so I reckon he should've been 30 something, thus now (this book published in 1994) about the same age as the cleaner. If he wasn’t born yet in 1940 he’d be not even 22 in a [b:Cover Her Face|3832|Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh, #1)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298412294l/3832._SY75_.jpg|625423]. The books on the whole seem to be contemporarily set, they keep up with current references.
Really doesn't feature Dalgliesh’s view much except in others' opinions, and in description of his quiet reactions. One example which is saying more about the other character observing him, and/or about the author. When he and Miskin are interviewing a young girl, she thinks he (like other men) must be finding the child unfortunate because she’s plain (he’s said to be showing pity and tenderness, couldn’t that be about her living situation, not her looks?) , and describes her being like her mother yet plain and unattractive. Miskin in thought does recognize that she as a woman should’ve been more sympathetic in her views.
So we don’t actually know Dalgliesh’s thoughts in that moment. In others when we do get his thoughts, it’s mostly about architecture and art, although it was interesting to compare his visit to Etienne's house with description of housekeeper and house to when Frances and others go there, although his was a more relaxed, less fraught visit. His visit included a physical description of the housekeeper. Why does the author seem to only excessively physically describe the women, especially with heavy or large breasts, and legs, and, oppositely, of an anorexic side character, which only seems to serve to show Mandy’s meanness (also compared her anorexic appearance to a concentration camp victim). I don’t remember much description of the men, no paunchy bellies, muscles, excessive scrawniness or acne (there was some of that in the previous book), mostly just if they’re handsome, or old.
Miss Blackett seems written as if she’s an old woman nearing retirement age, yet it is written that she came to Peverell Press when she was 17 and she’s been there 27 years - she’s only 44!
Gerard is 38 with his 20 year old fiancé. Frances late 20s?
I was annoyed by the threats of police workplace romances, especially that Kate puts off Daniel because it wasn’t a good idea amongst colleagues (smart) yet she indicates she wouldn’t put off Dalgliesh if he offered.
Declan Cartwright seems to respect Mr. Simon, and mentions to Claudia, Simon’s family’s experience of Auschwitz, but then later refers to Daniel as “jew-boy” as Daniel said fellow police officer Massingham had done. Maybe it’s naive of me to think that one character who seems to understand and respect one Jew would carry it over to another, and maybe Cartwright was playing a part to get Simon’s money or property. Then Kate in talking about identities and how they’re treated, doesn’t want to bring up being a woman in a man’s world so compares her being illegitimate to his being Jewish. Again maybe naive of me but can that many people tell just by looking that someone’s Jewish (when we’re past the days of clothes literally labeled with that identity) and he’s not orthodox? Or how much is Daniel’s identity used in the book to connect with the plot?
It has me wondering, as with previous book(s) in the series, how much side character background is necessary to the mystery novel when it doesn’t end up being connected to the ultimate story. I know there’s such a thing as red herrings and perhaps it’s realistic to not have it all neat and compartmentalized, but you get this long novel with background on loads of characters and settings and then it’s wrapped up comparatively quickly and left hanging, not knowing what will be the effect on most people concerned.
This book was on my list before I started reading the series because it was on a list of novels featuring archives or archival records. So that feature was interesting, especially at the end, and its mentioning of archival use in fiction or other published work.
Mystery writer writing about mystery writers. Meta like her [b:Unnatural Causes|3827|Unnatural Causes (Adam Dalgliesh, #3)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1321172465l/3827._SY75_.jpg|58690]. She mentions two characters (one a mystery writer) having a mystery collection of mostly women writers from the Golden Age, and doesn’t quite defend modern gritty stories in the voice of the publisher, “And what do you mean by bad? Beacher tells a strong story, keeps the action moving, provides that mixture of sex and violence which people apparently want”, that the older female writer refuses to put such things in her work. James herself may not have explicit sex scenes but she expresses that all are obsessed with it, whether they’re “old virgins” not having it, or are having it, and whether they’ve enjoyed it, are happy about their situation or not.
Dalgliesh’s age not keeping up with series timeline: 63 year old cleaner says he wasn’t even a glimmer in his father’s eye in 1940, which he seems to confirm, but the first book was published in 1962 when he was already an inspector, so I reckon he should've been 30 something, thus now (this book published in 1994) about the same age as the cleaner. If he wasn’t born yet in 1940 he’d be not even 22 in a [b:Cover Her Face|3832|Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh, #1)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298412294l/3832._SY75_.jpg|625423]. The books on the whole seem to be contemporarily set, they keep up with current references.
Really doesn't feature Dalgliesh’s view much except in others' opinions, and in description of his quiet reactions. One example which is saying more about the other character observing him, and/or about the author. When he and Miskin are interviewing a young girl, she thinks he (like other men) must be finding the child unfortunate because she’s plain (he’s said to be showing pity and tenderness, couldn’t that be about her living situation, not her looks?) , and describes her being like her mother yet plain and unattractive. Miskin in thought does recognize that she as a woman should’ve been more sympathetic in her views.
So we don’t actually know Dalgliesh’s thoughts in that moment. In others when we do get his thoughts, it’s mostly about architecture and art, although it was interesting to compare his visit to Etienne's house with description of housekeeper and house to when Frances and others go there, although his was a more relaxed, less fraught visit. His visit included a physical description of the housekeeper. Why does the author seem to only excessively physically describe the women, especially with heavy or large breasts, and legs, and, oppositely, of an anorexic side character, which only seems to serve to show Mandy’s meanness (also compared her anorexic appearance to a concentration camp victim). I don’t remember much description of the men, no paunchy bellies, muscles, excessive scrawniness or acne (there was some of that in the previous book), mostly just if they’re handsome, or old.
Miss Blackett seems written as if she’s an old woman nearing retirement age, yet it is written that she came to Peverell Press when she was 17 and she’s been there 27 years - she’s only 44!
Gerard is 38 with his 20 year old fiancé. Frances late 20s?
I was annoyed by the threats of police workplace romances, especially that Kate puts off Daniel because it wasn’t a good idea amongst colleagues (smart) yet she indicates she wouldn’t put off Dalgliesh if he offered.
Declan Cartwright seems to respect Mr. Simon, and mentions to Claudia, Simon’s family’s experience of Auschwitz, but then later refers to Daniel as “jew-boy” as Daniel said fellow police officer Massingham had done. Maybe it’s naive of me to think that one character who seems to understand and respect one Jew would carry it over to another, and maybe Cartwright was playing a part to get Simon’s money or property. Then Kate in talking about identities and how they’re treated, doesn’t want to bring up being a woman in a man’s world so compares her being illegitimate to his being Jewish. Again maybe naive of me but can that many people tell just by looking that someone’s Jewish (when we’re past the days of clothes literally labeled with that identity) and he’s not orthodox? Or how much is Daniel’s identity used in the book to connect with the plot?