Arthur & George (2005)

Since I find all spiritualism either risible or of only historical interest, Barnes' attention to Doyle's spiritualist fervor transformed my affectionate interest for Doyle into disgust and impatience. But while watching yet another 'Christmas Carol' this holiday--since this is what one does with the in-laws--I realized the weirdness of early twentieth century English spiritualism loosened the syrupy anglophilic nostalgia of the holiday. It wasn't all carols and parlor games, unless you want to work seances and hymns into your Dyker Heights lawn display.

George I had less trouble with: Thanks Barnes for George Edalji, and the generosity and decency of working through race and colonialism and splittings of colonized subjects. The sexlessness of George and his family, however, struck me as a bit Mr. Miyagi-y. ( )

4.5/5
This was a very good, singular book. Now, I've seen many reviews that were disappointed with the ending. I believe that it was a decent one, given the circumstances and the persisting mystery of it all. The author's note helped clear things up, so one would be advised to read that if the conclusion was unsatisfying. As for the whole of the work. It was a fantastic cross section of English life at the time, detailing the lives of two very different men with very different views of the world, which came clearest during their collisions and views of each other. It was fascinating to get a taste of the background of the author of Sherlock Holmes, to see how greatly the character affected the author in reputation as well as in mannerisms. Not to mention the whole mystery of the book, which crept up in a slow unrelenting fashion until the reader's mind was consumed; never realizing the shift from daily life observations and meandering thoughts to detective work and rampant cross-firing of rival opinions. The strings of logic and reasoning were laid out in a smooth and steady manner, and never hindered nor unreasonably sped up the general pace of the story. I would have to say, if people choose not to read this book because they read the reviews detailing the unsatisfactory ending, they are definitely missing out on a most unique mystery, interwoven with life and patterns of thought and a current of analysis that starts with a body and ends with a spirit. ( )

Wonderfully written engrossing story in which Conan Doyle investiagtes a dreadful miscarriage of justice. Great portrait of Shelock Holmes' creator. ( )

I found the first 100 pages or so of this book annoying because of the switching back and forth between the two main characters- Arthur and George. The author writes a few sentences about George, following the title "George" and then a few sentences about Arthur, titling them "Arthur." Although it was interesting and important to delineate the characters' early lives, the continuous switching got to be a little too much.
However, ignoring this, I found the plot very interesting. Arthur is supposed to be the famous author of Sherlock Holmes stories, and George is a British son of an Indian father and Irish mother. He is accused of a crime he did not commit, and he served time. Arthur takes his case and based on his notoriety, a famous author after all, is able to give prominence to the mistake made by the court system.
The author deals very well with the problems that George and his family faced because of their being Indian- not entirely British (this took place in the second half of the 19th century- a period much less enlightened, than ours we like to think)

This is my first experience of reading a book by Julian Barnes, an English author who won the Booker Man in 2011. I obtained this audio free on an offer I ran across on Twitter shortly after Barnes won the Booker. I had no idea what the book was about when I started to listen to it. I was greatly surprised and pleased to learn that it was about Arthur Conan Doyle. I wished I was reading one of his books while listening to this. Arthur & George is a work of fiction based on a lot of true events and is the story of George Edalj and Arthur Conan Doyle and how their lives intersect. George is the oldest child of Charlotte and Shapurji Edalji. His father is Indian and his mother Scottish (really she was English). George is half Indian and his appearance is different than other children. George also grew up with vision impairment and was not allowed to wear glasses because it was believe they would weaken his eyes. George was accused of ‘ripping’ a horse and causing its death. A third of the book is spent on the trial, conviction and imprisonment of George. This is the best part of the book. Julian Barnes explores or suggests that racism may have been a big factor in the conviction of George Edalgi. The reader is also following the life of Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur decides to fight to have the wrongful conviction of George righted.
I enjoyed this book very much. Many reforms to court process came about because of the wrongful conviction of George. It led to the court of appeals. Another story theme is spiritualist and the complacency of the British over their death and eternal destiny. This was interesting but less so than the trial. The ending was somewhat flat but overall it was a very interesting story. The performance by Nigel Anthony was also a 4 to 5 star performance. ( )