THE CLUB DUMAS

TITLE: THE CLUB DUMAS
AUTHOR: ARTURO PEREZ-REVERTE
Pages: 362
Date: 16008/2008
Grade: 4+
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Lucas Corso makes his living finding and acquiring rare editions of books and manuscripts for wealthy and unscrupulous clients.
When a wealthy bibliophile is found hanged, Corse is asked to investigate the authenticity of an apparently original manuscript of a chapter of Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers.
At the same time, he accepts a commission to find and investigate two copies of an old book, concerning devil worship.
Almost from the start, the two investigations appear connected, and what's more, they take on the characteristics of the famous Dumas story.
As reality and fiction appear to merge, it becomes unclear who is playing what role, and why.
This was a very intriguing and fascinating read, although I wasn't as surprised as I think the author intended me to be.
Two interesting quotes:
"Trained as an apprentice in Leyden (Holland) at the workshop of the "Elzevirs"
"A reader is the total of all he's read, in addition to all the films and television he's seen. To the information supplied by the author he'll always add his own. And that's where the danger lies: an excess of references caused you to create the wrong opponent, or an imaginary opponent. (...)
The information a book provides is an objective given. It may be presented by a malevolent author who wishes to mislead, but it is never false. It is the reader who makes the false reading."