The North Carolina Ice Storm—which I’ve heard called
Icetastophy—came through the South this week. And I can tell you this
California girl was FREEZING! Thank goodness I didn’t have to leave the house.
It gave me the chance to catch up on things like housework, schoolwork and, oh
yeah, writing. I also had a chance to finally finish the BBC miniseries The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012).
My older son and I sat down and watched part one months ago.
Maybe even six months ago. For some reason, we never took the time to finish
it. Can you tell we were riveted? So yesterday I remedied that problem.
For those of you who don’t know, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is adapted from the Charles Dickens
novel of the same name. The thing about this novel is that it was unfinished at
the time of Dickens’ death so there have been speculations ever since that time
as to how the master would have concluded the story. Imagine reading this story
in installments and in 1870 it just stops after twenty-something chapters due
to the author’s death. And no ending?! Can you imagine the fan-fiction we’d
have today?
A summary of the plot: An opium-addicted man, John Jasper,
envisions murdering his nephew (Edwin Drood) who is engaged to Rosa whom Jasper
is secretly in love with. Edwin disappears
and the rest of the story concerns discovering his whereabouts or his body.
You can see how an unfinished story of this kind would
baffle readers for generations. In fact, it has been nearly 150 years and
academics are still trying to figure out this mystery. The University of
Buckingham has launched a project to have the average reader help solve the
mystery. Here is a recent article
on the project.
Even though the book lacked a denouement that didn’t mean it
didn’t excite the imaginations of readers and movie watchers everywhere.
Authors have been trying to conclude it since 1870. And film adaptations began
as early as 1935. Even Doctor Who included an episode in which Dickens made an
appearance and at the end he had come up with a finale to his book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, giving a
supernatural explanation to Edwin’s death.
The most obvious conclusion is that Jasper killed him and
hid him in the family crypt. It’s the conclusion that has been drawn most
frequently. There is evidence to support this conclusion. But I wonder even if
Dickens began his story by telling a friend, “The story ... was to
be that of the murder of a nephew by his uncle,” perhaps he changed his mind
and came up with an ending that would surprise us all. He wouldn’t be the first
author to do such a thing.
So, what of this latest adaptation (2012)? I liked the way
they ended it because it gave it more of a happy ending. And I do love an HEA. I
don’t want to spoil you, but it was a cleverly devised plot that worked for the character of all
concerned. It’s hard to say how Dickens would have concluded his final work. It
was only half finished. And if you have any experience with a Dickens novel,
the middle of the book is only the beginning of the ride on which he intends to
take you.
Watch the 2-part miniseries. I enjoyed it. It’s free on
Amazon Prime.
2 comments:
Excellent article, Cindy. Dickens is one of my favourites, and yes, the story is quite an enigma; yet I am prone to believe that the logical conclusion is not how Dickens whould have ended it. He was full of surprises. There could be a suble hint contained within; however, he may not have even written the clue before he died. The world may never know. It seems ironic that he died in the middle of fantacizing a mystery death. Was his death of natural causes? Is this in part a true story?
Thanks for the comment, Robert. I agree. I think Dickens had an ending that we didn't even expect. That's why I like the ending of the new miniseries. It's like nothing that has even been done before on film.
His death? He was overworked, had just suffered the loss of his adult son and his mother, his health was failing and he continued on even doing live appearances. It's believed he had a stroke.
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