The Wrong Box
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(Series Copy)
All-purpose Editor: DAVID TROTTER
The Oxford Well loved Fiction series introduces or reintroduces bestselling works of British and American fiction that have helped define new styles and genres, and that continue to resonate in the prototypical, controversial, groundbreaking, and sometimes notorious fiction of which classics are made. Perfect with critical introductions, the Oxford Well loved Fiction series is a personal library that lies at the heart of British and American well loved culture.
The Incorrect Box (1889) is one of Stevenson’s weirdest works. Written with his stepson Lloyd Osborne, it is a masterpiece of black comedy, turning on flawed identity, the disappearance of a corpse, and several makeshift coffins. V.S. Pritchett described it as “a farce that slips down the throat with the tiny point of an oyster,” and, according to E.F. Benson, it is “perhaps the most superb show in the language.” In this intriguing work, the Finsbury family tree has long been involved in a Tontine–a scheme in which subscribers invest money in a fund which them falls to the last survivor. Now there are only two aged uncles between Morris and John Finsbury and their chance. A railway manufacturing accident appears to dispose of one, and then the farce starts. In this eccentric and brilliantly plotted tale, the authors not only extended the boundaries of excellent taste, but also satirized the well loved Railway Novel genre, perplexing many Victorian readers.
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This was a fantastic read! I couldn’t wait to get to the end. It has reasonably the tangled plot and gave laughs along the way to boot. I didn’t know who would end up where, but when the characters ongoing bumping into each additional in weird and twisted ways it was that much more appealing. Who would have thought that Robert Louis Stevenson had it in him? I never heard of this book until I bought my Kindle and it was the first thing I read. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to be entertained.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This is one of the most amusing tales I have ever happened across. I was led to the book by the movie. The two are very different. Each is highly enjoyable and very amusing.
But, if I had to choose only one, I would choose the movie. The book is so convoluted that by the end, I was to some extent confused. The movie simplifies a lot of the complexities, leaving cleaner plot lines and providing greater laughs.
To each his own; you may not agree with me. I suggest you delight in both the book and the movie, and make up your mind for yourself.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Nothing to do on a Friday night or snowbound in front of the fireplace? Dread not! Your entertainment has arrived. This novel showcases Robert Louis Stevenson’s penchant for what today is called “dark comedy.” It might be described as tongue-in-cheek reportage of a flurry of characters who find ingenious ways of fobbing off onto others a box containing a corpse, though not the corpse of the man who was thought to be the corpse, who really is not even dead! It gets intricate, you see. The best thing about the book–additional than its hilarious plot and ironic tone–is the way Stevenson picks through the mind of each character in search of something rational. Like the novel *A Simple Plot*, so much of the text comprises interior dialogue that it would be hard to turn this into a movie, but it was done once (in the 1960s) and is due, I reflect, for a re-make. Owen Wilson would be a natural for this one!
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Although I haven’t read any of Robert Louis Stevenson’s books beyond the huge ones (Treasure Island, Weird Case of Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, New Arabian Nights), I thought I was at least familiar with the rest of his work. But when Washington Post columnist Michael Dirda wrote about this book in one of his essays, I not only knew I’d never heard of it, I knew I had to read it. The tale is the kind of slapstick black comedy one can scarcely credit being around in the 19th-century. It concerns two elderly brothers who take place to be the final remaining members of a tontine (this is a kind of private long-term lottery in which funds are anted into a common pool, and the last living member of the “players” claims the entire sum). Each of these ancient men has a younger male relative who has an eye on claiming the prize at the expense of his cousin. The plot more or less defies simple summarizing, but it involves flawed identity, the transportation and hiding of a corpse, and all manner of jiggery-pokery by all involved. The farcical antics are rendered in delightfully sprightly prose that remains completely entertaining more than a century later.
Note: There is rumor has it that some contraversy regarding the exact scenery of Stevenson’s authorship of this work. It is co-credited to his stepson Lloyd Osborne (they colloborated on at least three additional works), and some speculate that it is entirely Osborne’s work since its style and tone are reasonably different from most of Stevenson’s work. Whatever the case, it’s a fun read. There is also a 1966 film version starring Michael Caine, which at present is only available to American audiences on VHS or Region 2 DVD.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
I’ts fantastic to see this priceless small book so affordably back in print. I’m not sure that it’s ever had a huge American following, but for some years the Times of London had to limit its writers to only one allusion to the novel per issue. (My review title was an oft-repeated line.) The colloration of Stevenson and stepson Lloyd Osborne, it’s a seamless integration of comic light adventure, mystery, novel of manners and high-handed farce, all in some of the purest English prose you’ll ever read. It’s one of persons books you end up rereading at least twice, reading aloud to anyone who’ll listen, and giving at Christmas – in fleeting, a classic. (The film version cited on this page has a perfect cast but cuts and alters the plot pretty terribly – and this is simply one of persons books, like most of Dickens and Fitzgerald, that has to be read to be really appreciated.) I’m not familiar with the publisher, but this may be one of persons fleeting-run affairs that should be got while it’s there.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5