The vengeance of the opium

We come to the end of The Moonstone and the end of this FANTASTIC readalong. I would firstly and foremostly(?) say that this as been stupendously fun. And yes, Wilkie gets some credit for that because that man can write a mystery. But most of that has come from everyone playing along and being the definition of awesome* with all the gifs and the comments and everything. You guys rule. And if you didn't get a chance to play along this time I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Now onto the last part of The Moonstone and there's going to be spoilers because MYSTERIES ARE FINALLY SOLVED.

I went with that title quote because it could have served as the subtitle for this book. Except that would have been all spoiler-y, so good choice on Wilkster's part in not doing that.Whoever guessed that Dr. Candy drugged Franklin, ten points! And he didn't do it for any awful reasons. He didn't even want to embarrass Franklin. He just wanted him to admit that sometimes you need medicine and thought drugging him with opium would be the best way to prove that. Alright, so maybe not the BEST idea but nothing sinister in those motives.

Rachel never gets to be our Marian probably because a) we never get to hear HER narrative and b) she was like 18 and needs to stop being a teenager to reach Marian levels of greatness. But there is hope for her. Because how sweet was it when Jennings told her "oh hai, so Franklin was high as a kite that night and honestly didn't know what he was going. I'm going to do a whole experiment that's really not that sound to prove it so..." and before he could finish she's like "I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!"
She just wanted the littlest excuse to believe that Franklin didn't do it. Or did it but didn't know he did it at least.

Anyone else think Jennings was going to be evil? Especially when he startled Franklin leaving the doc? Way to teach me not to judge a book by it's cover, Wilkie. And instead he's SO SWEET and SO TRAGIC. I wish we got to learn more about him and the things he did and his love.

In a small way, I kinda don't blame Godfrey for taking the diamond. Because of course he's the one who took the diamond to London. But he was having all these money problems and Franklin literally HANDED HIM THE DIAMOND. Maybe he even convinced himself it was fate.
That doesn't make what he did right and that doesn't make him less of a douchenozzle for the whole "trying to marry Rachel for money" thing or "probably defrauding those lady charities" things. Yeah, he deserved jail and a lifetime of loneliness but not smothered to death.

And Cuff comes back! Although he doesn't really do too much other than perform his little detective magic trick. Writing down who he THINKS stole the diamond in an envelope to be opened later. Guess what, Cuff. WE ALL THOUGHT GODFREY DID  IT. All that gardening has made you soft, sir.

One last thing. The Indians got their Moonstone back. Happy endings for everyone! Except Godfrey. And Rosanna. And Lady V. And Limpin' Lucy. And Jennings. OK so happy endings for some. Death for a bunch of other people. But Franklin & Rachel get together and they have a baby because Robinson Crusoe said so.

*In both the hot dog and space version of the word.

Title quote from page 210, location 6728

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Public domain books, published 2012. Originally published 1868

For your own sake, get on with your grog

It's Wednesday again, so here we are again to discuss The Moonstone as part of Alice's readalong. Are you excited? You should be. Unless you aren't playing along in which case these posts are probably annoying to you. Sorry about that. Anyway, onto Wilkie!

First up, we get MOAR CLACK!
I thought we were done with her after the last section but she's back for more. After Lady V's death Rachel goes to hang out with Godfrey's family cos apparently Rachel must be guarded at all times. And for whatever reason she invites Clack to hang out with her, which is a win for us, but I can't figure out why exactly she wants her there. Other than we need Clack to tell us what happens during this scene because there is BIG NEWS. (Also the opium.)

Remember how we ended the last section all going "Rachel and Godfrey are engaged, whaaaaa?" Rachel has come to her senses and broken off the engagement and with no reason. Well no reason she'll tell anyone, because being stubborn is her thing apparently. Godfrey's dad is NOT having this and the scene is all tense and angry and he's face is going red and there's a lot of yelling. Clack is there to break the tension though with a tract! She apparently carries tracts for all occasions and his occasion calls for "Hush, for Heaven's Sake!" You know all that frustration everyone felt about her but were too nice to say? Daddy Godfrey isn't too nice. He calls her an "impudent fanatic" and "Rampant Spinster" and kicks Rachel out of his house. Don't worry though, because Mr. Bruff agrees to take her in and also Clack has decided she'll leave Rachel a whole bunch of tracts in her will.

Next we move into Bruff's narrative and we don't get too much here except the knowledge that those three Indians that I keep forgetting about are still after the diamond and they found out that they're going to have to wait a year because it's currently being used as collateral for a loan. We also learn that SOMEONE wanted to take a look at Lady V's will not long after she passed and that SOMEONE proposed to Rachel because that SOMEONE is Godfrey! Because we were all totally right that Godfrey should not be trusted. Bruff tells Rachel about this and Rachel breaks off the engagement and now we're finally getting some answers.

And we're about to get some more answers because our next narrative is by Franklin! We learn what's in Rosanna's letter and what she put in the Shivering Sand! Except everything we find out causes more questions and we all need more grog.
Rosanna really was in love with Franklin and she was totally neglectful of Lucy and my dreams were crushed a little.
It was a nightgown in the Shivering Sand. The nightgown with the pain smear. And that nightgown belonged to....FRANKLIN! Whaaaa?
No seriously, what? Cos Franklin says he must have done it because I mean, there's his nightgown with the stain so irrefutable evidence right there. And he just doesn't remember it.
Rachel broke it off with Franklin and refuses to speak to him because she SAW HIM steal the Moonstone.
But they still want to be together! But they can't because she sees him as a thief and he knows he didn't do it and has to prove it to her and then they walk away from each other and the section we're supposed to read ends! BUT I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!
How is this going to play out? Did Franklin really steal the Moonstone? And does he actually not remember taking it? Or is this all part of his con?
Why did Godfrey look at the will? What's his end game?
Who is using the diamond as collateral? And for what?
What about those Indians that keep randomly showing up whenever I have forgotten about them?

Wilkie! Tell me your secrets!

Title quote from page 158, location 5142

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Public domain books, published 2012. Originally published 1868

I am (thank God!) constitutionally superior to reason

Welcome to the next Moonstone post as part of Alice's readalong. Heads up to those not playing along, there will be spoilers. However, please enjoy the GIFs!

Before I get to anything else I want to say this: Miss Clack wants in Mr. Godfrey's pants.
I wrote my last Moonstone post after finishing the assigned section, which seems like the logical way to do things. However SO MUCH HAPPENED that I ended up blathering on about the plot and missed out on lots of the amazing things that I had wanted to write about but forgot when the time came. So this week I've decided to write down a bunch of stuff as I'm reading it so hopefully I'll forget less of the stuff I want to say. Why yes, I could make sure to just focus on one part instead of trying to cram a bunch in here, and thus make a well thought out post. But I'm going to go with the random spewing of thoughts that will make for an incoherent mess. As I do

Rosanna died???
I thought the shivering sand was going to be our ominous Woman in White lake but nope, turns out to be an actual danger. OR IS IT? I mean, we're just assuming Rosanna is gone, based on those footprints Cuff found. And based on that suicide note she left about doing just that. But still, I want to see a body. I think it's very convenient that "What the Sand gets, the Sand keeps forever." And what did she chain down into the sand? The Moonstone seemed like a good guess to me but I guess not.

Rachel is still being Rachel-y and refusing to help or talk to anyone and is basically acting like a pain in the ass. Cuff tells Lady Verinder and Mr. Betteredge (who needs to be there so he can tell us what happens) that essentially Rachel's got some debts that she NEEDS to pay or there will be busted kneecaps (implied, or whatever the Victorian version of that is) and she actually has the diamond. Lady Verindar and Betteredge vehemently disagree. Now I do think/hope Rachel actually has more going on than what we're seeing so far. I still don't think she's our new Marian.

We leave Betteredge's narrative to head over to Miss Clack's and she is the most sanctimonious stick-up-her-ass brat so her narrative is equal parts painful and AMAZING. She's that awful person that talks about what a good Christian she is and how leaves people helpful literature (tracts) about how they're dressing like a (Victorian) slut titled "A Word With You On Your Cap-Ribbons" and is that a real tract? Can someone please find that and share because I want to read that.

Anyway, as I said the ever proper Miss Clack wants in Mr. Godfrey's pants. Trousers. He is everything perfect and he thrilled her when he would talk about "our prospects and trousers." Granted, the prospects and trousers in question were part of a clothing drive for the needy, but that does not change how much Miss Clack liked talking about trousers with Mr. Godfrey. But Mr. Godfrey loves Rachel, who is SO BENEATH him, Miss Clack can't even stand it.

We also learn Lady Verinder is very ill but she doesn't want to tell Rachel what's wrong. She does tell Miss Clack which was a major misstep on Lady Verinder's part, but it does give us a fantastic scene where Miss Clack leaves a bunch of religious books hidden around the house for Lady Verinder. And when they're returned because, you know, awful-person, she spends the time copying out passages from the books so she can leave letters around the house. Easier to hide I guess? Plus it gives Miss Clack the opportunity to sneak around the house and listen in on a conversation between Mr. Godfrey and Rachel. Of course this also gives her the opportunity to hear Godfrey propose to Rachel and have Rachel agree and oh the horror, the HORROR.

There's also stuff about the Moonstone but since I've already babbled enough, I'll let other people talk about everything else.

Title quote from page 83, location 2767

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Public domain books, published 2012. Originally published 1868

Whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn't matter, you must have your breakfast

Post one of the actual Moonstone readalong. Or rather, first post once we have all read the first section and can really appreciate what Wilkie is doing. And it's so exciting. Heads up, this is going to contain all sorts of spoilers and probably non sequitors.

The story begins very Indian Jones-esque as we learn about the theft of a sacred Hindu (Hindooooo) stone called the Moonstone and you can practically hear someone yelling

or temple

But the Moonstone, a diamond the size of a bird's egg, does not stay in the temple. Instead it ends up in the hands of a Colonel Herncastle, who's sort of a douche. If you didn't get that from the whole "stealing sacred stone" thing. His family hates him and refuses to have anything to do with him. When he dies he leaves the stone to his niece Rachel. Is it a peace offering? Is it to pass the curse to the family that hates him? Who knows? I don't yet. But I'm so excited to find out!

As is Wilkie's style (which I can say after reading only 1 Collins book) the story is told as a set of narratives from different characters, writing out everything they can remember about the incident. Betteredge is the head servant (I guess, I don't understand servant hierarchy) and we get to hear his side of the story first. He meets up with Mr. Franklin Blake, Rachel's cousin (and suitor..eww) who is bringing the stone to the family. He was followed by a trio Indian jugglers and a little British boy that is able to see the future, so long as he has a special ink poured into his hand and the jugglers (actually Brahmin priests!) say the proper incantation and do you hear how amazing this is??

Mr. Franklin doesn't give Rachel the stone right away. It's supposed to be presented to her on her 18th birthday and Mr. Franklin knows all about the curse on the stone and about the jugglers that had shown up before he arrived. He and Betteredge decide that the thing to do is put the stone in the bank and see what happens. If nothing out of the ordinary occurs, it's probably safe to give it to Rachel. Apparently future seeing random Indian jugglers and their little British boy is old hat for this house. Rachel and Mr. Franklin spend a lot of time decorating a door, and please someone tell me if that is code for something else? Or implied something else? Were they really just painting a door for a month plus? Anyway, the only person acting strangely is one of the maids/servants Rosanna Spearman, but she always acts strangely (staring a quicksand that is apparently right near the Verinder homestead) so yeah, all normal here.

Rachel and Mr. Franklin finish painting the door just in time for Rachel's birthday and since the Indian guys haven't shown up again Mr. Franklin decides it's alright to give her the giant diamond. She gets it and wears it  and there's much oohing and ahhing. And then naturally the next morning the ring is GONE
After a misstep with a useless detective Sergeant Cuff is brought in and he is wonderful and very Sherlock Holmes-esque except he loves roses instead of opium. Or he loves both but so far he's only told us about the roses. I guess since Cuff came before Holmes, it's really the other way but saying Holmes is Sergeant Cuff-esque makes no sense.

I have spent so much time and I haven't even gone into some of the best things Betteredge says. I'm going to leave it to everyone else to go into that but instead I'll save a couple of my favorite quotes so far

"To make things worse, [Mr. Franklin] had promised to be tall, and had not kept his promise."

"I follow the plan adopted by the Queen in opening Parliament -- namely, the plan of saying much the same thing regularly every year."

"Betteredge, your edge is better than ever" This is actually from Mr. Franklin to Betteredge, and I'd like to think that line was one of the ones written while Wilkie was in his opium haze.

Title quote from page 39, location 1363

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Public domain books, published 2012. Kindle edition. Originally published 1868

The Moonstone: The Introduction!

Alice's Wilkie Collins The Moonstone readalong is upon us! Oh, the excitement!

For those of you new to my blog, welcome! I'm Red. Or Alley. Hello!

If you didn't take part in the last Collin's readalong when we all read The Woman in White, well you are in for a treat. I hope. I don't want to build this up too much but last time it was super fun and lots of gushing over the awesomeness of Marian, the boringness of Laura, the creepiness of Fosco. I hope for more of the same. But you know, with Moonstone characters, whomever they may be.

I've decided to go into this one like I did the last one, meaning I haven't bothered to look up a damn thing about this before I dive in. Last time it was because I didn't pay enough attention to the posting schedule. This time it's because I'm procrastinating. I did try to really study the Siege of Seringapatam, which Wikipedia does have a page on, so I don't have to make something up. However, military stuff makes my brain go "oh this is the time I can quit paying attention" so the details are mostly going in one ear and out the other. So here are the details that I can seem to grasp

-The "belligerents" are the British East India Company and the Sultanate of Mysore and I can't help but go "your sore what?" and giggle because I'm a small child.
-They call it the Anglo-Mysore War but I like it the other way cos then I can giggle some more. "Ow I've bruised my Anglo"
-The Moonstone begins with someone stealing jewels from "the legendary treasury of Tippu Sultan" who was "a short, fat officer" although later in that same section it says he was about 5'8 which doesn't seem that short. He also had delicate wrists and ankles.
-Wilkie Collins has a huge forehead. I know, not about the siege and I talked about it last time but seriously, look at that. Look. At. It.

I look forward to seeing everyone's thoughts and picking favorite characters and the gifs. I am excited for all the gifs.