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Title: A Conspiracy of Paper by Michael Cumpsty, David Liss ISBN: 0-375-41011-2 Publisher: Bantam Books-Audio Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 3 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.23 (145 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Step Back Into A World Becoming Modern
Comment: David Liss takes his readers to the 18th century. Not only does he capture, from extensive and detailed research, the ethos, color, and texture of the time, but his novel, written in the first person voice of Benjamin Weaver, is a near mirror of the writing style and tenor of 18th century British literature.
In this first novel, Mr. Liss educates about the beginnings of the modern financial world--did you ever wonder how and why poeple started attaching value to paper? But, he does so with the intrigue of murder, clandestine meetings, brawls, and the dark alley mysteries of London life. He paints great pictures of the sights and sounds of 18th century London, and yes you can almost smell the stench of the open sewers which were the streets.
His characters come alive. They are well drawn and vigorous. Benjamin Weaver, his narrative protagonist, is not only likeable, but he is extremely interesting, worldly, and persceptive of human nature and human condidion. (We definitely need another novel with this character as our guide to life and times in London.)
This book is without doubt worth the reading. Although it begins a bit slowly, you are committed to discover with Weaver why his estranged Father has been murdered and what that has to do with potential damaging financial scandals.
Mr. Liss is a gifted writer and scholar of the times in which he sets his very good story. Enjoy, his work. It is a labor of love.
Rating: 3
Summary: Light & entertaining but forgettable history/mystery
Comment: Like most people who've read "A Conspiracy of Paper" by David Liss, I'm a big fan of historical fiction, mystery, and the growing niche of books that blend the two genres, but this one won't want recount the plot (since you probably have a good idea of what it's about) but here are a few things I liked and disliked about the book:
I enjoyed reading about Jewish characters in 1700s England. Honestly I'd never considered that there was any significant Jewish community in London at that time, and it was interesting to learn about some of the restrictions on their way of life (not allowed to own property, treated as 2nd class citizens, etc.) and to read about the protagonist Ben Weaver's struggle to fit into traditional British society and to reconcile that with his Jewish roots. It was also interesting, at least in theory, to read about early stock market scandals, particularly since more sophisticated market scams (Enron, ImClone, etc.) have been big news over the last few years.
That said, as a mystery "A Conspiracy of Paper" is pretty ho-hum. Liss barely scratches the surface of London's stock exchange, instead painting the conspiracy in the broadest of strokes. "A Conspiracy of Paper" is guilty of one of my biggest book pet peeves: The mystery isn't properly foreshadowed or woven into the plot, so it comes off somewhat coincidental and left this reader flat. Weaver's true enemy really could have been a half dozen other characters in the book, all of whom would have been at least as credible as the villain. And, I found Ben Weaver to be a pretty simple, bland and generic protagonist for this kind of books. A skilled "thief-taker" (i.e. bounty hunter), boxer, good looking, fairly successful, etc.
For a quick read or summertime beach book, you could do a lot worse than "A Conspiracy of Paper," but in all it was a pretty routine and by-the-numbers mystery dressed up in Judaism and 1700s London garb.
Rating: 5
Summary: Follow the Money
Comment: Perhaps David Liss has started a new genre, the financial thriller. In the twists and turns of the tale of Benjamin Weaver, Liss allows the historical backdrop of London in 1719 and the impending scandal of the South Seas Company to dress an amazingly complex train of scandal and duplicity. Using an historical figure Jonathan Wild as the arch-villain as an 18th century Mafioso profiting from theft, prostitution and even "peaching" his own crooks to the gallows for profit when they've outlived their usefulness, Liss has a great cast of characters. The behind-the-scenes maneuvering of the Bank of England's Bloathwait vs. the South Seas Company's Adelman serves to keep each new discovery off-balance. The other remarkable accomplishment is the amazing amount of humor that Liss scatters through the tale with Weaver's observations of various loose characters. The supporting characters of his buddy Elias who performs surgery when not too drunk, Kate Cole the un-penitant prostitute and Sir Owen gives amazing possibilities for a budding screenwriter. As Weaver seeks to find the cause for his father's death, we are constantly caught off guard with each new bogus stock or less-than-random act of violence. Cousin Miriam adds a love interest and issues of feminism to the mix. Add to this the cultural backdrop of Weaver being a Jew in Christian England, and Liss weaves an incredibly rich and complex tale that keeps our interest as the pages burn from turning. The climactic scene in the theatre as Weaver unmasks the mysterious phantom of Martin Rochester is breath taking. Bravo!
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Title: The Coffee Trader : A Novel by David Liss ISBN: 0375760903 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: A Spectacle of Corruption : A Novel by DAVID LISS ISBN: 0375508554 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 16 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Dante Club : A Novel by MATTHEW PEARL ISBN: 0812971043 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 10 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Winter Queen : A Novel by Boris Akunin, Andrew Bromfield ISBN: 1400060494 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears ISBN: 0425167720 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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