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The Lamplighter
An atmospheric thriller set in nineteenth-century Edinburgh, Anthony O'Neill's elegant, darkly masterful novel is full of psychological suspense and first-rate horror.
Evelyn is a clever orphan at the Fountainbridge Institute for Destitute Girls. Enchanted by a cheerful lamplighter who fires the streetlamp outside her window each evening, she mesmerizes the other girls with flights of fancy. In a time before Freudian awareness of sexuality and the subconscious mind, such tales are forbidden by the institute's governor, who warns Evelyn to cease her nocturnal storytelling.
Evelyn defies him -- and is cast out of the orphanage and sacrificed to a shadowy figure claiming to be her long-lost father. Who is this man, and why does he lock Evelyn away in a hunting lodge?
Years later, the mutilated body of a professor of ecclesiastical law turns up on one of Edinburgh's finest streets; the grave of a famous colonel is ravaged; a shady entrepreneur is slaughtered while dashing for a train; and a retired lighthouse keeper is ripped to shreds while walking his dog -- all this after Evelyn, now a young woman, has reappeared in the city. What connects the victims? And what of Evelyn, anguished and appealing, who repeatedly claims to have dreamed the murders in great detail -- each time blaming a mysterious "lamplighter"?
Leading the official investigation is Carus Groves, a conceited yet effective police inspector desperate to cap his unremarkable career with a sensational case. Heading up the unofficial investigation is a disillusioned professor of logic and metaphysics, Thomas McKnight, and his assistant, Joseph Canavan, a strapping young gravedigger. Using reason, intuition, philosophy, and luck, these men race to solve the murders and unveil the source of Evelyn's torment, and in so doing penetrate the very gates of Hell.
Evelyn is a clever orphan at the Fountainbridge Institute for Destitute Girls. Enchanted by a cheerful lamplighter who fires the streetlamp outside her window each evening, she mesmerizes the other girls with flights of fancy. In a time before Freudian awareness of sexuality and the subconscious mind, such tales are forbidden by the institute's governor, who warns Evelyn to cease her nocturnal storytelling.
Evelyn defies him -- and is cast out of the orphanage and sacrificed to a shadowy figure claiming to be her long-lost father. Who is this man, and why does he lock Evelyn away in a hunting lodge?
Years later, the mutilated body of a professor of ecclesiastical law turns up on one of Edinburgh's finest streets; the grave of a famous colonel is ravaged; a shady entrepreneur is slaughtered while dashing for a train; and a retired lighthouse keeper is ripped to shreds while walking his dog -- all this after Evelyn, now a young woman, has reappeared in the city. What connects the victims? And what of Evelyn, anguished and appealing, who repeatedly claims to have dreamed the murders in great detail -- each time blaming a mysterious "lamplighter"?
Leading the official investigation is Carus Groves, a conceited yet effective police inspector desperate to cap his unremarkable career with a sensational case. Heading up the unofficial investigation is a disillusioned professor of logic and metaphysics, Thomas McKnight, and his assistant, Joseph Canavan, a strapping young gravedigger. Using reason, intuition, philosophy, and luck, these men race to solve the murders and unveil the source of Evelyn's torment, and in so doing penetrate the very gates of Hell.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
11 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Anthony O'Neill
14 books63 followersAnthony O’Neill is the son of an Irish policeman and an Australian stenographer.
He was born in Melbourne and lives in Edinburgh.
He is the author of Scheherazade, a revisionist Arabian Nights epic; The Lamplighter, a psychological horror novel set in Victorian Scotland; The Empire of Eternity, a history-mystery involving Napoleon Bonaparte and the early years of Egyptology; The Unscratchables, a Swiftian satire featuring dog and cat detectives; and The Dark Side, a crime novel set on the far side of the moon.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He was born in Melbourne and lives in Edinburgh.
He is the author of Scheherazade, a revisionist Arabian Nights epic; The Lamplighter, a psychological horror novel set in Victorian Scotland; The Empire of Eternity, a history-mystery involving Napoleon Bonaparte and the early years of Egyptology; The Unscratchables, a Swiftian satire featuring dog and cat detectives; and The Dark Side, a crime novel set on the far side of the moon.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
April 25, 2011
I bought this book on sale from my local library, never having read this author before, but I will certainly be seeking out his other efforts after this read. O'Neill begins his tale with the orphan's imaginative tales inspired by her interpretations of "Leerie" the Lamplighter and his escapades, and his protective nature towards her. He is her escape from the dreary and restrictive life within the orphanage. One day she is whisked away to a secluded house in the country by a man claiming to be her long lost father, but things definitely take a turn towards the paranormal, when Evelyn meets a mysterious black man straight out of Africa, and strange occurrences in the house seem to indicate a conspiracy of some sort against the child. Twenty years later, there appears to be a serial killer on the loose of Edinburgh who makes Jack the Ripper look like pretty tame. Enter the wannabe hero in Detective Groves, who wants to prove himself to the community and the constabulary and give him some more substance for his memoirs, and amateur detective Professor McKnight and his younger friend Joseph Canavan. Professor McKnight lives in the world of philosophy, and his sideline of psychology gives him some insight into the motives, reasonings and character traits of particular personalities. His friend Joseph is a devout Christian and is a perfect foil to McKnight's theories, and between them they set out to both solve the mystery and save Evelyn from the clutches of ...is it the devil, her imagination or some rogue from her past?
O'Neill writes like some of the authors who have been his source of inspiration, such as Robert Louis Stevenson. His prose is rich and transports one back to the misty streets of Edinburgh in the 1880's, I could almost feel the foggy chill on my cheeks. How the repressive and punitive measures taken against a little girl for her imagination could lead to such a turn of events is not unbelieveable given the not too distant persecution against unfortunates branded as witches. That the vehemence and fervour of extremist puritans could lead to 'possession' and unintended violence, and the casual disregard for the mental and emotional wellbeing of a child is indicative of the times, wth children being classed as chattels. It is an interesting take on the supernatural and O'Neill seems to have dished out something akin to a psychological and paranormal thriller. Loved it!
O'Neill writes like some of the authors who have been his source of inspiration, such as Robert Louis Stevenson. His prose is rich and transports one back to the misty streets of Edinburgh in the 1880's, I could almost feel the foggy chill on my cheeks. How the repressive and punitive measures taken against a little girl for her imagination could lead to such a turn of events is not unbelieveable given the not too distant persecution against unfortunates branded as witches. That the vehemence and fervour of extremist puritans could lead to 'possession' and unintended violence, and the casual disregard for the mental and emotional wellbeing of a child is indicative of the times, wth children being classed as chattels. It is an interesting take on the supernatural and O'Neill seems to have dished out something akin to a psychological and paranormal thriller. Loved it!
July 29, 2018
Sulla carta questo romanzo non era affatto male, anzi, lo avevo comprato praticamente ad occhi chiusi dopo aver letto le prime dieci parole sulla quarta di copertina, perché sembrava avere tanti elementi interessanti: epoca vittoriana, ambientazione in una città nordica e non abusata in letteratura, protagonista orfana,...
Il problema è che l'esecuzione lascia davvero a desiderare: i personaggi sono uno più piatto dell'altro, a parte forse la nostra "eroina" Evelyn, che comunque è poco caratterizzata, ma almeno desta interesse. Lo stile è barbosissimo, facevo davvero fatica a proseguire e fino a pagina 200 lo avrei serenamente mollato, non fosse stato che l'ho letto con un gruppo di lettura. Le ultime 150 non erano male, ma un finale veramente osceno, infarcito di digressioni filosofiche inutili e scritto coi piedi, e il bistrattamento di un mistero potenzialmente interessante mi hanno fatto nuovamente scendere nel giudizio.
Il problema è che l'esecuzione lascia davvero a desiderare: i personaggi sono uno più piatto dell'altro, a parte forse la nostra "eroina" Evelyn, che comunque è poco caratterizzata, ma almeno desta interesse. Lo stile è barbosissimo, facevo davvero fatica a proseguire e fino a pagina 200 lo avrei serenamente mollato, non fosse stato che l'ho letto con un gruppo di lettura. Le ultime 150 non erano male, ma un finale veramente osceno, infarcito di digressioni filosofiche inutili e scritto coi piedi, e il bistrattamento di un mistero potenzialmente interessante mi hanno fatto nuovamente scendere nel giudizio.
November 24, 2010
A devilish good book! At first I thought it would be a victorian whodunnit ( it remind me of " The Dante Club" which I liked also) but soon I became aware it was not. It´s not easy to classify this novel: an dreamlike thriller perhaps??? The final scenes are haunting as a Hyeronymus Bosch´s or Dali´s painting with a Lynch-esque flavour to it. I wonder why this novel wasn´t yet turned into an horror movie as it has the required elements to be a great one.
May 29, 2012
Loved this book. Bought it completely on a whim, having never heard of the book or the author. Ran across it by chance, and purchased it almost entirely on the intriguing cover (different than the current edition, by the way), and the first few paragraphs.
So, the book went on to great success and I was proved ahead of my time, right? Nope. It went on to obscurity, and I've heard no buzz about it or the author since. Most reviewers, other than me, also aren't particularly impressed. So what's the deal? Well, all these other people are simply wrong. The story is fabulously original in that it takes a unique perspective on very fundamental concept and turns it into thought provoking, page turning thriller. I can't really elaborate further without giving anything away, but I like books that give me things to think about beyond just the story, and this one definitely accomplished that.
So, the book went on to great success and I was proved ahead of my time, right? Nope. It went on to obscurity, and I've heard no buzz about it or the author since. Most reviewers, other than me, also aren't particularly impressed. So what's the deal? Well, all these other people are simply wrong. The story is fabulously original in that it takes a unique perspective on very fundamental concept and turns it into thought provoking, page turning thriller. I can't really elaborate further without giving anything away, but I like books that give me things to think about beyond just the story, and this one definitely accomplished that.
June 9, 2018
Dunque, il libro è scritto bene, lo dico perché quando devo prendere in mano certi volumi mi viene addosso un’angosciosa mica voglia… mentre con questo “Leerie” (termine con cui venivano definiti i lampionai) non mi è capitato mai. L’atmosfera è perfetta, rigido il clima e altrettanto le persone, l’incognita sovrannaturale poi fa da ciliegina sulla torta. Ahimè, purtroppo ci sono anche dei difetti non trascurabili: anzitutto le dissertazioni filosofico-teologiche fra il professore e l’ex guardiano del cimitero che quando non assumono una connotazione macabra sono piuttosto noiose. C’è poi il sostituto ispettore Groves, un volenteroso impacciato desideroso di riscatto, ho seguito con entusiasmo le sue peripezie. Malauguratamente i risvolti finali con l’ennesimo demone partorito dalla letteratura hanno rubato il palcoscenico a quella figura originale che tanto mi aveva intrigato, e invece grande assente, il misterioso e suggestivo lampionaio appunto. Ricapitolando, accattivante l’incipit, ottimo lo svolgimento dell’indagine, peccato però per come si sia concluso - il che ha pesantemente condizionato il mio giudizio, in quella che altrimenti sarebbe stata una eccellente “storia paurosa”.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2015
A co-worker loaned me this because she found the presentation of physical vs philosophical interesting and wanted to discuss the ending. I've enjoyed serial killer books so I had no objections.
The writing style is college-age, with big words and convoluted sentences. The characters are interesting but not entirely likeable, so it has a British flavor. No one does unlikeable but interesting like the British. The story is interesting, with enough twists on standard religion to make me call it speculative fiction but not get me overly riled. The pacing is reasonable, until the last thirty pages when the climax is presented in a "24" like split screen among four story lines.
However, it didn't grab my emotions, even at parts where I know that was the intent, like the last 30 pages. The climax was ant-climactic, and the ending a bit too happy, which is an odd thing for me to complain about. I have no desire to re-read it, and I can't even really say I liked it, which is why I gave it 2 stars. There's nothing entirely wrong about the story, but it wasn't entirely right for me, either.
The writing style is college-age, with big words and convoluted sentences. The characters are interesting but not entirely likeable, so it has a British flavor. No one does unlikeable but interesting like the British. The story is interesting, with enough twists on standard religion to make me call it speculative fiction but not get me overly riled. The pacing is reasonable, until the last thirty pages when the climax is presented in a "24" like split screen among four story lines.
However, it didn't grab my emotions, even at parts where I know that was the intent, like the last 30 pages. The climax was ant-climactic, and the ending a bit too happy, which is an odd thing for me to complain about. I have no desire to re-read it, and I can't even really say I liked it, which is why I gave it 2 stars. There's nothing entirely wrong about the story, but it wasn't entirely right for me, either.
October 19, 2007
...or Dante? Explaining that one would spoil it.
This is one book that far, far exceeded my expectations. The copy I read was a mass-market paperback that had been given a library binding. Not fancy. But Anthony O'Neill (an Australian!) wrote a fine, fine Gothic novel (in 2003), set in Edinburgh, 1886. I don't want to spoil too much, but if you're looking for a chilly atmosphere, a spooky story, and lush writing, give it a try.
This is one book that far, far exceeded my expectations. The copy I read was a mass-market paperback that had been given a library binding. Not fancy. But Anthony O'Neill (an Australian!) wrote a fine, fine Gothic novel (in 2003), set in Edinburgh, 1886. I don't want to spoil too much, but if you're looking for a chilly atmosphere, a spooky story, and lush writing, give it a try.
October 4, 2009
What a weird book! A few moments that were interesting but most of it was boring and confusing- a philosophical/theological/psychological oddity. I only kept reading because I could not imagine how it could end. Bought this at a library book sale for 50 cents. Might have been worth about that much.
May 30, 2011
It was hard for me to rate this book because at various points I really dug it and at other various points I almost gave up on it. O'Neill did a great job portraying and developing some of the characters and I particularly enjoyed Inspector Groves in all his blustering glory. But on the other hand, the plot became overly weird and wandered into some rather unexpected territory that I don't think worked. He really did his research on Victorian Edinburgh (always a big plus in my book-I loved the historic photographs underneath the chapter titles) and it was a nice escape from other books of this genre that seem to be almost always set in London. I guess in the end, I would recommend it only to people that I was fairly comfortable with their taste in books to know they'd enjoy it, because I'm not sure most people would.
February 18, 2018
I picked up this book after enjoying a newer novel by Anthony O'Neill: The Dark Side, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Somehow I "get" his characters, they feel real and flawed in realistic ways. So I looked up what else he wrote and stumbled upon The Lamplighter. Since it's set a) in Edinburgh and b) in the Victorian age I had to read it.
The writing is different that in the Dark Side, because it seems adapted to the time in which the novel is set. There are many! words I haven't encountered yet, because I'm not a native english speaker and also O'Neil seems to have used quite a lot of "old timey" and Scottland specific language. But using my eReaders dictionary that was no problem and I actually enjoyed learning new stuff (although I suspect I won't be remembering much of it). The novel feels like a bunch of loose threads getting woven together and then totally change direction. There's a sense of mystery and wonder to the way he tells the story. And I was often on the verge of being pulled in, into pre-enlightenment superstitions for the sake of the book, as well as doubting if that really was, where the story was going and expecting a scientific twist.
The characters although not described in much detail, feel realistic and three-dimensional. Looking back there was a good mix between the thoughts of the characters and their actions, that made them palpable.
There are quite a few philosophic discussions in the book, dealing with the difference between medieval and enlightenment times, woven in between the crime story that takes one to many different places. Having been to Edinburgh certainly helped with my imagination, knowing which streets the characters, and especially Evelyn wandered.
There is no romance (which I was happy about), there's only one female character and three main male characters and one female sidecharacter, but it works, especially in that time. I didn't find it especially horrific or horrific at all, being honest, so I would not categorise it as a thriller. It's a very special crime story somehow, in my opinion.
There are soooo many good quotes, but most of them hint at some things that happen or are in the twists themselves, so I just selected a few that I hope won't spoil anything.
It was a terrible and exquisite thing, to have a heart that was not a muscle but a wound.
Such men, riven with self-doubt, were of course vulnerable to fantastic theories and fabulous missions, and equally at risk of driving deeper into self-destruction.
Blood is like French perfume to the Edinburgh hussy, Carus.
Have you ever stopped to consider how much time even the most unimaginative man each day spends, neither willingly nor unwillingly, in the world of his imagination?
It could well be the case that the last thing a man sees is not that which his eyes settle upon, but that which his imagination furnishes for him. It could be argued quite reasonably, in any case, that this imagination is what really constitutes a man’s soul.
We consciously impose limits on our own thoughts and settle into an expedient system of simplifications and archetypes. We willingly stamp archetypes even upon ourselves, to fall into the world we have constructed out of easy recognitions and the disinclination for complexity. The unconscious, however, remains unsated and frequently rebellious.
“And of the orphanage? What do you think of when I mention it now?”
She considered. “I think of a parcel tightly bound.”
“A parcel? Not a cage?"
“Cages,” Evelyn said, “have air.”
The writing is different that in the Dark Side, because it seems adapted to the time in which the novel is set. There are many! words I haven't encountered yet, because I'm not a native english speaker and also O'Neil seems to have used quite a lot of "old timey" and Scottland specific language. But using my eReaders dictionary that was no problem and I actually enjoyed learning new stuff (although I suspect I won't be remembering much of it). The novel feels like a bunch of loose threads getting woven together and then totally change direction. There's a sense of mystery and wonder to the way he tells the story. And I was often on the verge of being pulled in, into pre-enlightenment superstitions for the sake of the book, as well as doubting if that really was, where the story was going and expecting a scientific twist.
The characters although not described in much detail, feel realistic and three-dimensional. Looking back there was a good mix between the thoughts of the characters and their actions, that made them palpable.
There are quite a few philosophic discussions in the book, dealing with the difference between medieval and enlightenment times, woven in between the crime story that takes one to many different places. Having been to Edinburgh certainly helped with my imagination, knowing which streets the characters, and especially Evelyn wandered.
There is no romance (which I was happy about), there's only one female character and three main male characters and one female sidecharacter, but it works, especially in that time. I didn't find it especially horrific or horrific at all, being honest, so I would not categorise it as a thriller. It's a very special crime story somehow, in my opinion.
There are soooo many good quotes, but most of them hint at some things that happen or are in the twists themselves, so I just selected a few that I hope won't spoil anything.
It was a terrible and exquisite thing, to have a heart that was not a muscle but a wound.
Such men, riven with self-doubt, were of course vulnerable to fantastic theories and fabulous missions, and equally at risk of driving deeper into self-destruction.
Blood is like French perfume to the Edinburgh hussy, Carus.
Have you ever stopped to consider how much time even the most unimaginative man each day spends, neither willingly nor unwillingly, in the world of his imagination?
It could well be the case that the last thing a man sees is not that which his eyes settle upon, but that which his imagination furnishes for him. It could be argued quite reasonably, in any case, that this imagination is what really constitutes a man’s soul.
We consciously impose limits on our own thoughts and settle into an expedient system of simplifications and archetypes. We willingly stamp archetypes even upon ourselves, to fall into the world we have constructed out of easy recognitions and the disinclination for complexity. The unconscious, however, remains unsated and frequently rebellious.
“And of the orphanage? What do you think of when I mention it now?”
She considered. “I think of a parcel tightly bound.”
“A parcel? Not a cage?"
“Cages,” Evelyn said, “have air.”
December 10, 2020
3,5/5 Καλογραμμένο με μπόλικη φαντασία-Ατμοσφαιρικό θρίλερ μυστηρίου(με αρκετές δόσεις χιούμορ). To τέλος δεν μου άρεσε...(διαβάζεται ωραία ακούγοντας : therion-Beloved Antichrist(2018)
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"Σ’ ένα ορφανοτροφείο του Εδιμβούργου, στα 1860, μεγαλώνει ένα πανέξυπνο μικρό κορίτσι, η Έβελιν. Γοητευμένη μ΄ έναν εύθυμο φανοκόρο που κάθε βράδυ ανάβει τις λάμπες έξω στο δρόμο, μαγεύει με τη σειρά της τα άλλα κορίτσια με ιστορίες που γεννάει η πλούσια φαντασία της.
Όταν αψηφά τον αυταρχικό διευθυντή, διώχνεται από το ίδρυμα και πέφτει στα χέρια ενός ύποπτου τύπου που ισχυρίζεται ότι είναι ο χαμένος πατέρας της. Όμως ποιος είναι πραγματικά αυτός ο άνθρωπος και γιατί παίρνει μαζί του την Έβελιν.
Χρόνια αργότερα, σ’ έναν από τους αριστοκρατικότερους δρόμους του Εδιμβούργου ανακαλύπτεται το ακρωτηριασμένο πτώμα ενός καθηγητή του Εκκλησιαστικού Δικαίου. Σύντομα ακολουθούν κι άλλα εγκλήματα, εξίσου φρικιαστικά. Κι όλα αυτά, αφότου η Έβελιν, νεαρή γυναίκα πια, έχει επιστρέψει στην πόλη.
Τι συνδέει τα θύματα; Και τι συμβαίνει με την Έβελιν, που ισχυρίζεται απεγνωσμένα ότι έχει ονειρευτεί λεπτομερώς όλους τους φόνους –αποδίδοντάς τους κάθε φορά σε ένα μυστηριώδη "φανοκόρο";
Επικεφαλής των ερευνών είναι ένας ματαιόδοξος επιθεωρητής της αστυνομίας, ο Κάρους Γκρόουβς, που κυνηγάει απεγνωσμένα μια επιτυχία στη μέτρια ως τώρα καριέρα του. Ανεπίσημα όμως ασχολείται με την υπόθεση κι ο Τόμας Μακνάιτ, ένας αποκαρδιωμένος καθηγητής Λογικής και Μεταφυσικής, με βοηθό ένα νεαρό Ιρλανδό φίλο του, τον Τζόζεφ Κάναβαν. Με όπλα την ορθολογιστική σκέψη, τη διαίσθηση, τη φιλοσοφία και την τύχη, αυτοί οι άντρες αγωνίζονται να διαλευκάνουν τους φόνους και να αποκαλύψουν την πηγή του μαρτυρίου της Έβελιν. Όμως η προσπάθειά τους μοιάζει όλο και περισσότερο με κατάβαση στην ίδια την Κόλαση… "
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"Σ’ ένα ορφανοτροφείο του Εδιμβούργου, στα 1860, μεγαλώνει ένα πανέξυπνο μικρό κορίτσι, η Έβελιν. Γοητευμένη μ΄ έναν εύθυμο φανοκόρο που κάθε βράδυ ανάβει τις λάμπες έξω στο δρόμο, μαγεύει με τη σειρά της τα άλλα κορίτσια με ιστορίες που γεννάει η πλούσια φαντασία της.
Όταν αψηφά τον αυταρχικό διευθυντή, διώχνεται από το ίδρυμα και πέφτει στα χέρια ενός ύποπτου τύπου που ισχυρίζεται ότι είναι ο χαμένος πατέρας της. Όμως ποιος είναι πραγματικά αυτός ο άνθρωπος και γιατί παίρνει μαζί του την Έβελιν.
Χρόνια αργότερα, σ’ έναν από τους αριστοκρατικότερους δρόμους του Εδιμβούργου ανακαλύπτεται το ακρωτηριασμένο πτώμα ενός καθηγητή του Εκκλησιαστικού Δικαίου. Σύντομα ακολουθούν κι άλλα εγκλήματα, εξίσου φρικιαστικά. Κι όλα αυτά, αφότου η Έβελιν, νεαρή γυναίκα πια, έχει επιστρέψει στην πόλη.
Τι συνδέει τα θύματα; Και τι συμβαίνει με την Έβελιν, που ισχυρίζεται απεγνωσμένα ότι έχει ονειρευτεί λεπτομερώς όλους τους φόνους –αποδίδοντάς τους κάθε φορά σε ένα μυστηριώδη "φανοκόρο";
Επικεφαλής των ερευνών είναι ένας ματαιόδοξος επιθεωρητής της αστυνομίας, ο Κάρους Γκρόουβς, που κυνηγάει απεγνωσμένα μια επιτυχία στη μέτρια ως τώρα καριέρα του. Ανεπίσημα όμως ασχολείται με την υπόθεση κι ο Τόμας Μακνάιτ, ένας αποκαρδιωμένος καθηγητής Λογικής και Μεταφυσικής, με βοηθό ένα νεαρό Ιρλανδό φίλο του, τον Τζόζεφ Κάναβαν. Με όπλα την ορθολογιστική σκέψη, τη διαίσθηση, τη φιλοσοφία και την τύχη, αυτοί οι άντρες αγωνίζονται να διαλευκάνουν τους φόνους και να αποκαλύψουν την πηγή του μαρτυρίου της Έβελιν. Όμως η προσπάθειά τους μοιάζει όλο και περισσότερο με κατάβαση στην ίδια την Κόλαση… "
December 15, 2008
Though this story of serial killings in 19th Century Edinburgh begins a bit slowly it certainly picks up the pace and makes for interesting reading. O' Neill does a fine job of describing the atmosphere of the city at that time. I was clearly able to picture the hazy atmosphere at each sunset as the Lamplighters scurried through town illuminating its dark streets. The atmosphere and characterization are very well done, the mystery is intriguing and overall I was well satisfied with this tale of bestial murders in the cobblestoned streets of the city.
January 3, 2013
Well, I read it through to the very end. The book succeeds in taking the reader to another world. However, the world is creepy and disturbing. I think I've read enough about fictional satanic possession to last a lifetime now.
July 31, 2017
Abandoned. Nicely crafted but reeeeeallly sloooooow.
January 3, 2013
Creepy book is creepy. It would make a delicious movie!!
March 11, 2013
"’I always suspected hell would be a place of poorly performed music’, he said."
It is sentences like the above, uttered by one of the characters during a veritable trip down into the maw of hell, undertaken with the view of helping the unusual heroine of the story dispose of the “Trouble Within”, that render this book especially memorable and entertaining. But it is not just sentences like that.
For a start, the Australian writer Anthony O’Neill has come up with an intriguing story of mystery and murder set in 1881 Edinburgh, although the prologue that is going to be unearthed dates back twenty more years. The story starts with the Scottish capital being haunted by a series of seemingly gratuitous murders and one case of a desecration of a dead body. A lighthouse keeper walking his dog, a renowned, yet rather prim and fire-and-brimstone theologian from Edinburgh University, a seedy con-man, they all meet death in the streets of Edinburgh, gruesomely ripped to pieces like old newspapers. Nobody can give a description of the perpetrator, although the last victim was killed on a platform full of passengers; there is some rumour of a “dark force” being at work, and there is a young girl, Evelyn Todd, an avid reader of scientific and philosophical works, who claims to have dreamed of the murders simultaneously to when they were committed.
O’Neill is not only a master of knitting a haunting plot, but also of creating impressive characters: There is Evelyn, the orphan, who hides within herself the memory of something terrible, and who is both irascible and shy; there is Thomas McKnight, a disillusioned university professor, and his meek, good-hearted friend Jospeph Canavan, who are determined to help Evelyn face the terrors of her past, and there is Inspector Groves, the character I liked most: an over-ambitious, jaundiced man who has set his mind on hunting down Evelyn as the person responsible for the killings. The more he works his way into the case, the more this originally sober and unimaginative man is convinced that Evelyn is a sort of witch possessed by a demon and that she has killed the victims by using supernatural forces.
O’Neill throws in a bunch of unforgettable minor characters, that deftly caricature members of professions like university professors, clergymen, or actors. One of my favourites here is the histrionic actor Seth Hogarth, Esq., who is driven to the brink of frenzy by Groves’s frequent mention of the name of the play “Macbeth”, much to the astonishment of the unsuspecting inspector.
Another charm of the book is the author’s wit and knowledge, which he displays in a playful and unobtrusive way. This is not just a crime story, but also a book about the power of imagination, or rather the unconscious, about fact and fiction and about how people envisaged the Devil according to the predominant philosophy of the time. One interesting detail the author points out is that the apple can be seen as both a symbol of the Fall from Grace and of modern science and the renuciation of myth, in that it was an apple that apparently inspired Sir Isaac Newton to draft his theory of gravity. Not only content, but also form bears witness to the author’s talent, since his style of writing is elaborate and redolent of the masters of the 19th century. Apart from that it is full of caustic humour, for instance when Professor Whitty (“by name and nature”) says, upon examaning the body of one of the victims: “’A body in three pieces […] A case, it would appear, in which the body is as much a puzzle as the murder.’”
If, however, you are rather meticulous about genres, be warned, because this novel is very difficult to classify, as you must be prepared to accept a touch of the supernatural, something that does normally not go down well with dyed-in-the-wool fans of detective fiction. I, for my part, have read this novel twice already, because I think it is really a special treat.
It is sentences like the above, uttered by one of the characters during a veritable trip down into the maw of hell, undertaken with the view of helping the unusual heroine of the story dispose of the “Trouble Within”, that render this book especially memorable and entertaining. But it is not just sentences like that.
For a start, the Australian writer Anthony O’Neill has come up with an intriguing story of mystery and murder set in 1881 Edinburgh, although the prologue that is going to be unearthed dates back twenty more years. The story starts with the Scottish capital being haunted by a series of seemingly gratuitous murders and one case of a desecration of a dead body. A lighthouse keeper walking his dog, a renowned, yet rather prim and fire-and-brimstone theologian from Edinburgh University, a seedy con-man, they all meet death in the streets of Edinburgh, gruesomely ripped to pieces like old newspapers. Nobody can give a description of the perpetrator, although the last victim was killed on a platform full of passengers; there is some rumour of a “dark force” being at work, and there is a young girl, Evelyn Todd, an avid reader of scientific and philosophical works, who claims to have dreamed of the murders simultaneously to when they were committed.
O’Neill is not only a master of knitting a haunting plot, but also of creating impressive characters: There is Evelyn, the orphan, who hides within herself the memory of something terrible, and who is both irascible and shy; there is Thomas McKnight, a disillusioned university professor, and his meek, good-hearted friend Jospeph Canavan, who are determined to help Evelyn face the terrors of her past, and there is Inspector Groves, the character I liked most: an over-ambitious, jaundiced man who has set his mind on hunting down Evelyn as the person responsible for the killings. The more he works his way into the case, the more this originally sober and unimaginative man is convinced that Evelyn is a sort of witch possessed by a demon and that she has killed the victims by using supernatural forces.
O’Neill throws in a bunch of unforgettable minor characters, that deftly caricature members of professions like university professors, clergymen, or actors. One of my favourites here is the histrionic actor Seth Hogarth, Esq., who is driven to the brink of frenzy by Groves’s frequent mention of the name of the play “Macbeth”, much to the astonishment of the unsuspecting inspector.
Another charm of the book is the author’s wit and knowledge, which he displays in a playful and unobtrusive way. This is not just a crime story, but also a book about the power of imagination, or rather the unconscious, about fact and fiction and about how people envisaged the Devil according to the predominant philosophy of the time. One interesting detail the author points out is that the apple can be seen as both a symbol of the Fall from Grace and of modern science and the renuciation of myth, in that it was an apple that apparently inspired Sir Isaac Newton to draft his theory of gravity. Not only content, but also form bears witness to the author’s talent, since his style of writing is elaborate and redolent of the masters of the 19th century. Apart from that it is full of caustic humour, for instance when Professor Whitty (“by name and nature”) says, upon examaning the body of one of the victims: “’A body in three pieces […] A case, it would appear, in which the body is as much a puzzle as the murder.’”
If, however, you are rather meticulous about genres, be warned, because this novel is very difficult to classify, as you must be prepared to accept a touch of the supernatural, something that does normally not go down well with dyed-in-the-wool fans of detective fiction. I, for my part, have read this novel twice already, because I think it is really a special treat.
September 21, 2010
The book starts out peopled with characters on the lower end of the spectrum of what humans, being humans and because they are humans, aspire to. Along with the gruesome murders I'm wondering if this is another current social phenomenon of sensationalized base characters and methods to destroy created to titillate the reading populace of the same bent.
A review indicates that the story's unwinding is more for the "intellectual". I will keep reading for a time.
Well, its now been a over a week since I finished reading this book. I did not mind that the book "slowed", as described by some, due to the shift to the reasoning/intellectualization of two characters. I thought that part as "nuance".
What I don't like is false "philosophy" used in stories that some people inevitably believe as true. I also did not like the "throw-back" to mentality that needs to be left behind-(even though this is an historic novel it is written in our modern age). I can say this, it is age old misogyny-why are we bringing this up again and reinforcing it it the people's minds?
That jerk of a detective and the people that harassed the girl-and what woman hasn't had a man or men literally blaming them for things such as "You made me love you." They literally cry because their penis urge is the predominant apparatus of logic. What happens then? Well, the man says he has been bewitched and hate develops. He must destroy the woman/women. And by the way women hat women more than men.
I thought that the perspective of the devil being housed in one human being at a time was inventive.
It was interesting but I would not recommend this book. It makes me wonder what the author wrote in his other book Sheherazade.
A review indicates that the story's unwinding is more for the "intellectual". I will keep reading for a time.
Well, its now been a over a week since I finished reading this book. I did not mind that the book "slowed", as described by some, due to the shift to the reasoning/intellectualization of two characters. I thought that part as "nuance".
What I don't like is false "philosophy" used in stories that some people inevitably believe as true. I also did not like the "throw-back" to mentality that needs to be left behind-(even though this is an historic novel it is written in our modern age). I can say this, it is age old misogyny-why are we bringing this up again and reinforcing it it the people's minds?
That jerk of a detective and the people that harassed the girl-and what woman hasn't had a man or men literally blaming them for things such as "You made me love you." They literally cry because their penis urge is the predominant apparatus of logic. What happens then? Well, the man says he has been bewitched and hate develops. He must destroy the woman/women. And by the way women hat women more than men.
I thought that the perspective of the devil being housed in one human being at a time was inventive.
It was interesting but I would not recommend this book. It makes me wonder what the author wrote in his other book Sheherazade.
November 5, 2012
So I made this deal with myself after 10-10-12 that I’d only read books I found to be “good” (noting that “good” doesn’t mean I’m enjoying them necessarily, but rather that I see some merit in reading them) and so true to this promise I’ve stopped reading Anthony O’Neill’s The Lamplighter. I’ve not adopted a particular rule for how long to give the book to win me over (should I read half of it? only a quarter? how soon do you know that a book is no good?), nor have I yet dealt with the terrible guilt wracking me: maybe the book was poised to radically improve? maybe had I given it another 30 pages it would have won me over? And this, I fear, is the trap that led me to finish “Not Without My Daughter” and it’s kind. A compassionate reader has no place in the world of far too many stories to ever read. I hope with practice to be cut throat. No more terrible books! I’ll work on some policy recommendations with respect to how long to keep reading and how to deal with the guilt and keep you posted.
I don’t get it. By all accounts I *should* enjoy The Lamplighter. It’s a historical murder mystery set in Gothic Scotland full of mystery and suspense. But I just didn’t care about the characters, found the pace plodding and the tone dull. So there you go; I stopped reading it half way in and I don’t care to say any more about it.
I don’t get it. By all accounts I *should* enjoy The Lamplighter. It’s a historical murder mystery set in Gothic Scotland full of mystery and suspense. But I just didn’t care about the characters, found the pace plodding and the tone dull. So there you go; I stopped reading it half way in and I don’t care to say any more about it.
September 29, 2015
According to the cute little sticker on the spine this is a mystery book. To my way of thinking it seems more of a suspense novel, possibly a ghost story or fantasy.
I like history and am a fervent armchair traveler so the setting (1880’s Edinburgh) appealed to me.
A series of horrific murders, a fragile, disturbed young woman, a dedicated police detective, a young cemetery caretaker and his philosophy professor friend are all interesting in a vague way. Which is to say I didn’t find the characters compellingly real, they seem more shadowy. The background setting also seemed vague, lots of mention of street names but little description of the Victorian city other than as background for the odd actions of the plot.
This book has lots of psychological/philosophical ramblings but, in the end, I wasn’t really clear as to “who done it”. That may have been the author’s intention but I like my endings more clear cut. So for this reason, I’m not sure I’d recommend this book – not really my cupppa tea.
I like history and am a fervent armchair traveler so the setting (1880’s Edinburgh) appealed to me.
A series of horrific murders, a fragile, disturbed young woman, a dedicated police detective, a young cemetery caretaker and his philosophy professor friend are all interesting in a vague way. Which is to say I didn’t find the characters compellingly real, they seem more shadowy. The background setting also seemed vague, lots of mention of street names but little description of the Victorian city other than as background for the odd actions of the plot.
This book has lots of psychological/philosophical ramblings but, in the end, I wasn’t really clear as to “who done it”. That may have been the author’s intention but I like my endings more clear cut. So for this reason, I’m not sure I’d recommend this book – not really my cupppa tea.
July 18, 2016
This novel seemed at first to be an homage to Sherlock Holmes, with the main "inquiring" figure a Scottish professor, and his sidekick a cemetery watcher/gravedigger. They are on the trail of a murderer who is terrorizing the streets of Edinburgh. Turns out it's the devil himself, who has been living in the imagination of the novel's central character, Evelyn Todd. And turns out that the professor and the gravedigger are just figments of Evelyn's imagination who end up battling their way through Evelyn's version of Hell to free the devil to move on to someone else. When the novel started to get all theological and psychological. I'll admit to having lost interest. How can you care about characters who are imaginary even to another character? Couldn't wait to finish.
August 8, 2015
I quite enjoyed this spooky little novel. This isn't your typical murder mystery, and I like how the layers were peeled back little by little. I don't want to give too much away, because part of what made the story so good for me was that it was unexpected. It left me questioning what the world would be like if our innermost feelings could be projected into the real world. What creatures would we manifest, and what powers would they have? What would become of our world if we turned the inside out?
November 8, 2012
I had to withdraw this from our fiction collection and happened to notice that it was set in Edinburgh. Yoink! It went with me on my vacation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Why didn't more people check it out? It has a fetching red cover.
It's a delicate story combining historical fiction, detection, metaphysics, the devil, fear, secret societies, gruesome murder, and religious conspiracy. Something for everyone.
It's a delicate story combining historical fiction, detection, metaphysics, the devil, fear, secret societies, gruesome murder, and religious conspiracy. Something for everyone.
February 23, 2019
Would that I had the time back that I spent reading this book. I thought it was just a weird mystery but then it jumped the shark...
April 3, 2022
This book was awful and the ending was stupid and pissed me off.
Not much of a review.
Total rip-off of Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
Not much of a review.
Total rip-off of Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
May 31, 2017
Noioso
Difficilmente mi ritrovo a sbadigliare mentre sono immersa nella lettura, anche se di libri che non mi prendono, ma con questo è successo spesso.La trama sarebbe anche fantasiosa, ma sembra tutto un lento interrogatorio dell'ispettore Groves alla povera Evelyn, per capire cosa si annida dentro di lei. Dei due personaggi inventati, poi, non viene approfondito nulla, tranne che uno è un filosofo con diverse personalità (che non sa nenanche lui) e, l'altro... (veramente io non ho capito chi è: un angelo custode, un santo, Gesù...). Si riprende a malapena con la discesa negli inferi (brutta copia dell'Inferno dantesco); Lucifero mi è sembrato un po' troppo ("aveva occhi di coccodrillo,orecchie di cinghiale,corna di bue,denti di tigre,orecchini da pirata???,narici da selvaggio,barba da artista dilettante,pelle di toro,fianchi di cervo,zoccoli di capra, ali di pippistrello,artigli d'aquila,coda di scorpione,fisico spropositato da gigante e vesti da faraone???)e che diamine non bastava il solito caprone con coda appuntita?!?
Ma alla fine sto lampionaio (male assoluto=Satana), che fine fa? Sinceramente, non l'ho capito...
Assolutamente non consigliato, almeno che poi non me lo possiate/vogliate spiegare (magari in mp)
Difficilmente mi ritrovo a sbadigliare mentre sono immersa nella lettura, anche se di libri che non mi prendono, ma con questo è successo spesso.La trama sarebbe anche fantasiosa, ma sembra tutto un lento interrogatorio dell'ispettore Groves alla povera Evelyn, per capire cosa si annida dentro di lei. Dei due personaggi inventati, poi, non viene approfondito nulla, tranne che uno è un filosofo con diverse personalità (che non sa nenanche lui) e, l'altro... (veramente io non ho capito chi è: un angelo custode, un santo, Gesù...). Si riprende a malapena con la discesa negli inferi (brutta copia dell'Inferno dantesco); Lucifero mi è sembrato un po' troppo ("aveva occhi di coccodrillo,orecchie di cinghiale,corna di bue,denti di tigre,orecchini da pirata???,narici da selvaggio,barba da artista dilettante,pelle di toro,fianchi di cervo,zoccoli di capra, ali di pippistrello,artigli d'aquila,coda di scorpione,fisico spropositato da gigante e vesti da faraone???)e che diamine non bastava il solito caprone con coda appuntita?!?
Ma alla fine sto lampionaio (male assoluto=Satana), che fine fa? Sinceramente, non l'ho capito...
Assolutamente non consigliato, almeno che poi non me lo possiate/vogliate spiegare (magari in mp)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2018
I can't remember the last gothic (much less neo-gothic) novel I've read, so this was a big departure for me. Attracted by the subjects of historical Edinburgh, the cover-art and the use of a R.L. Stevenson poem, I was hooked. O'Neill is capable of many pretty turns of phrase and excellent atmospheric and evocative word choice: sometimes very musical in his way. The story is not told in chronological sequence, nor does it focus on the same primary character strictly but the novel is short and the general affect pleasant. Much toying with the subject of "evil" from the standpoint of both historical accretions to the form of the devil and the posturing of would-be psychological detectives gets muddled with extensive conceits regarding the subjects, causes and results of "imagination". O'Neill seems to want us to both suspend disbelief and then embrace it based on which character is speaking. The novel ends up being not a marginal success but a noble failure: there was obviously a war of editorial intention in its authorship and publication which makes some things trite more interesting but leaves one with the taste of the slap-dash. I can recommend it, but half-heartedly.
December 15, 2017
Sometimes I use page 100 as a benchmark to read to before I start scanning chapters but I could only get to 60 pages when I scanned first one chapter, then another and finally skipped to the very ending.
I'm a fan of details when they're germane to the plot but blithering on about each and every setting detail which didn't progress the plot in the least was, I felt, a waste of my time. I think a well crafted novella is much more gripping than a 307 page tome. And, yes, I understand the writing was meant to reflect the language and style of the era.
In short, this book bored me.
I'm a fan of details when they're germane to the plot but blithering on about each and every setting detail which didn't progress the plot in the least was, I felt, a waste of my time. I think a well crafted novella is much more gripping than a 307 page tome. And, yes, I understand the writing was meant to reflect the language and style of the era.
In short, this book bored me.
May 8, 2022
The book summary gave this book an intriguing recap which I was anxious to read. The prologue was a bit wordy but again enticed me to want to read more. That was the extent of the enjoyment of this book. 6 chapters in and other than a gruesome death and a disgruntled professor I have no idea who the characters are, how they connect or what is actually happening. The author is so focused on excessive use of fancy words and flowery details the storyline is totally lost. A huge disappointment.
July 27, 2022
I loved the idea of this story and was very keen to read it going by the write up in the back of the book but I found it very hard to follow.
The language was complex and I had to look up so many words for their meaning only to find many weren’t in the dictionary!!
His descriptions of places were hard to imagine and the story was told by different characters. It chopped and changed between characters too much and I struggled to follow it.
Started off well but became a chore to read.
The language was complex and I had to look up so many words for their meaning only to find many weren’t in the dictionary!!
His descriptions of places were hard to imagine and the story was told by different characters. It chopped and changed between characters too much and I struggled to follow it.
Started off well but became a chore to read.
November 3, 2021
Hmm. Yes. Well. Rather well written, but a bit too far into the woowoo for me. Grisly murders taking place in 1886 Edinburgh related to appalling mistreatment of a young orphan girl twenty years previously. Odd cross of psychology and demonology. I liked a good deal of it, just couldn’t quite stay with him all the way through.
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