Arthur & George - Julian Barnes

In my own mind this particular review has been too long anticipated. Mostly because I've taken way too long to read it - I read every single other book I've blogged about here since starting Arthur & George, (except The Life of Charlotte Bronte which I read while I was waiting for Mum was finish the Barnes book early this year). The other reason is that I've been talking about this book to any and everyone with ears since reading the first sentence. I've been a big fan of Julian Barnes' since I read A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters a couple of years ago and fell in love with his writing. Then I found England, England and a book of short stories The Lemon Table, while only a fraction of Barnes' very substantial literary output which fully I intend to read through one day, further solidified my barnacle-like attachment to his way of storytelling.



This book is going to receive my first five-star rating on this blog. Since we try and rate as fairly as possible, some of you may stop reading this review at this point and skip below to the Robert Downey Jr pictures. As long as you understand how great Arthur & George is and use the time saved by exiting at this early point to go out and find/read/love this book I will be satisfied. For those of you either harder to convince or who are so enamoured of my blogging that you hang on Every Word I Type, let's break this claim of extreme excellence down -

Arthur & George is based on the true story of the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I was sold on this book as soon as I realised that HE was the Arthur of the title) and a man called George Edalji. Sir Arthur is plagued by his most successful creation - Sherlock Holmes - and the fame the great detective has brought him.



George is a country solicitor who struggles to gain the respect of his colleagues and to gain an audience for his book about railway law. He's also been receiving some hate mail and the police don't like him very much. The two men's paths cross when George is arrested for a really horrible crime and Arthur decides to play the part of detective for real. It really was a landmark event for the English justice system as George's case, called the 'Great Wryly Outrages', became a catalyst for the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal in England. There's a lot more going on than a law case in Arthur & George, though that's what brings the titular characters together and changes both their lives. I loved the illumination of Arthur's growing interest in Spiritualism and George's struggle with his own Christian faith and the many other paralells and divergences of character between them - but I especially love the gentle touch of the writing that reveals without judgment the social experience of two men who were, for very different reasons, seen as different and seperate from those around them.

It's hard to convey without the same gifts for writing, the subtlety and humour of Barnes' language and the way he way he builds his extraordinary story - which feels more like looking through a wormhole in time that Being John Malkovich style puts you inside the character's brains than the result of really good scholarship. I don't want to say any more because Arthur & George is a a mysterious, cloudy jem of a book and I don't want to give any more of it away. I love this book. You should all read it. NOW.

*****/***** (5 of 5!)

Here's another picture of RDJ as Sherlock Holmes and his buddy Watson, played by Jude Law - just because I can. What a fine film it was.