Set in 1840’s London,
‘The Pleasures of Men’ tells the tale of orphaned nineteen year old Catherine
Sorgeiul after she is taken in by her uncle. Uncle lives in genteel poverty
amidst books and anthropological artifacts. Encouraged to not think about the
tragedies of her past that led her to be institutionalized for a time, but
given nothing to do that interests her, she becomes obsessed with the Man of
Crows, a serial killer who is targeting young women. To try and get a handle on
how he thinks, she begins to write about the victims without realizing that she
is drawing bad intentions to herself. Soon she finds herself unable to trust
anyone.
The atmosphere is wonderfully created- the heat of the city
in summer, the claustrophobic life Catherine lives, the fear, and the
uncertainty as to what is real and what isn’t – and made me feel like I was
there. It was murky and shadowy, as I imagine Catherine’s mind must have been. As
more and more peculiar discoveries are made that don’t seem to fit together
quite right, the mystery deepens instead of being solved.
However, the story changes point of view and point in time
frequently, from Catherine to the several girls who are murdered to, finally,
the murderer. This made it very hard to follow. Most of the characters were
poorly developed; perhaps it was to allow us to see that Catherine wasn’t
really interested in them and just saw their surface, but it made it hard for
me to care about them. Catherine herself, despite her situation, was hard to
care for. The story seemed to lack a clear focus, and in the end it left me
disappointed.
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