I just finished reading:
The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte published in 1993. (Beware of spoilers in the link).
I chose this novel because it is the basis for The Ninth Gate (1999) by Roman Polanski and starring Johnny Depp, Lena Olin, Frank Langella and Emmanuelle Seigner.
The Ninth Gate has always been one of those movies that stuck with me, and I was pretty happy to sit down and finally read its origin. Like almost all novels with a movie based on it, the two are pretty different.
First off, the book has two main plot lines, instead of only one; an unknown, hand written chapter from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, and a separate plot with a book called Of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows.
Our main protagonist Lucas Corso, or Dean Corso in the movie (Depp), a book mercenary in the world of rare antique books, is hired to authenticate the Dumas chapter while also checking up on the Nine Doors. This book, written by Aristide Torchia in 1666 was reputed to be able to summon the Devil. The church burned him and his book in 1667, although three copies survived. Corso's job is to figure out which copy is real and which are expensive forgeries.
A sinister figure stalks Corso as he travels around Spain, Portugal and France, attacking him and trying to steal his bag of books. He is aided by a mysterious young woman, who shows up when she wants to and even helps him fight off the mysterious attacker.
The two plot lines are intimately entwined, up until the end, where as is normal, we get our resolutions. There were times where I was a bit lost trying to make sense of what was going on, and this is not by accident. The Club Dumas is very well written, and nothing is left to chance, but I appreciate the two plot lines being resolving separately. This really helps keep things in perspective, and provides much needed clarity.
Now in the movie, the Three Musketeers plot is removed completely. Certain elements from that plot line are folded into the Nine Doors plot instead, in order to make the full narrative make sense. I think it was a smart move to remove the Dumas part as it is nice but takes a lot of space in pure explanations, something the movie couldn't have handled. If someone wanted to make a TV show based on the novel, the Dumas plot should absolutely be included.
The movie follows the Nine Doors plot pretty faithfully, going to far as to use the engravings created for the novel with only two minor changes to fit into the movie. As movie adaptations go, it is pretty good.
So, do I recommend this book? Yes, I think so. I'm a bit biased as I really like the movie, but I do think the book is well worth reading. It is charming if at times a bit goofy. I don't feel cheated by the end at all, but I would understand if someone else felt that way. Overall I found it interesting and a pretty nice read. I learned a great deal about Alexandre Dumas as a bonus.
That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!
