Jonathan's Webstream

Jonathan read and liked Tony's review of The Egyptologist: A Novel:

"A mild recommendation. An interesting scenario told in a brilliant format, with a disappointing ending. The dust jacket (as shown here on Goodreads), boasts of an unpredictable ending, but I (not the brightest or readers) saw it coming for at least half the book. This is a story of two men. The first is an Australian detective hired to find the lost, bastard, child of an English philanderer. The second is the Egyptologist, Ralph M. Trilipush, who is leaving his professorship at Harvard to find the tomb of an apocryphal king. Most of the story takes place just after the first world war. I loved the method of Phillips' narrative, letters and journal entries. And, because I listened to it on CD, was overwhelmed by the brilliant narrators hired to portray the different accents and characters (that might be enough to justify listening to it). I spent a lot of time piecing together the different story lines and gaps in my mind as the story moved along. There is a lot of commentary (from the Egyptologist) on the subject of the "self-made-man". No, not someone who makes their own fortune, but rather the man, who without any positive influence from parent or those he comes in contact with, makes himself into something worth admiration. I'll let you decipher, if you dare read it, Phillips' end conclusion on the matter. But I have to admit, it got me thinking. With all of that said, I had unraveled the mystery sometime around the midpoint, and therefore felt like I was slogging through mud for the rest of the novel. Phillips' editors didn't do him any favors in not cutting the length as they should have. The dark and sadist ending might have been enough to save the book if it hadn't dragged on so long. A fun read, and it isn't a total waste of time (again loved the device of the letters and journal entries, and the brilliant narration of the audio version), but only if you're willing to slog through an easily solved mystery. (Although mild, there is some sexual innuendo in the book.)"