From Hell by Alan Moore Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of From Hell
Book Review: A dark book of life
Summary: 5 Stars
This Byzantine epic of a graphic novel represents everything words can do in concert with pictures. Those familiar with Alan Moore's life and work know that this book led to his experiments with magic and his theories about "idea space," and one can see why. This book itself constructs an idea space around the London of 1888, demonstrating hauntingly the way in which the ideas germinating in that particular space blossomed bloodily into the facts of the twentieth century: the Holocaust, the Vietnam War, the breakdown of pure reason as a working conceptual mode, the collapse of the British Empire. As abstract as that sounds, this book is an agonizingly visceral experience; Moore and Campbell painstakingly and tangibly evoke London life high and low, depicting squalid assignations in dark alleyways and dim rooms, bar talk and conversations in museums, monolithic Queen Victoria and ephemeral, endangered prostitutes. There are cameo appearances by William Morris, the Elephant Man, W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, James Whistler, William Blake and the aforementioned queen. But most significantly the novel is punctuated by five murders ghastly, horrifying and visionary beyond belief, five murders which grant breathtaking access to wholly other realms of thought and existence. There is no reading experience like this book. If you enjoy comics such as "V for Vendetta" or "Watchmen" or "Sandman", you will appreciate this; however, if you love novels such as "Moby Dick" or "Anna Karenina" or "Ulysses", then "From Hell" is for you as well.Book Review: A masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
From Hell is Alan Moore's brilliant fictional interpretation of the Ripper crimes of 1888, told mainly from the perspective of the murderer himself. Moore's meticulously researched work - almost every major event can be attributed to one or more historical sources, some more trustworthy than others, and all listed in the fascinating endnotes - operates within the framework of the theory known as the "Royal Conspiracy", which suggests that Jack the Ripper was actually a deranged physician, Sir William Gull, operating to silence a group of East End prostitutes trying to blackmail the royal family. That's a sensational suggestion, and Moore makes things even more extravagant with his literary interpretation of the crimes as a symbol of the era's sexism and oppression; in the world of From Hell, Gull uses the murders as an opportunity to create an enormous work of ritual magic, with the purpose of keeping womankind enslaved for all eternity.In so short a summary, a premise of that sort sounds like typical comic book fodder - in the worst possible way. But From Hell is no penny-dreadful account of a mad doctor slashing wildly at buxom streetwalkers. Moore refuses to exploit any of his characters: the prostitutes who are to become the Ripper's victims are shown as strong-willed individuals trying to make a living under truly hideous conditions; Gull is a brash, brilliant man, typical of the Victorian upper classes, whose underlying prejudices are grotesquely brought to the surface after he suffers a stroke early in the novel. No character here is a caricature - they're all real people, right down to relatively minor supporting figures like Gull's harried, ambitious coach-driver Netley. And the novel's depiction of Victorian London, aided immeasurably by Eddie Campbell's stark, scratchy black-and-white artwork, is so horrifically authentic and immersive that while reading the book it's hard not to get lost in the world it creates. Moore avoids simple exploitation of the shocking story by populating his utterly convincing world with heartbreakingly believable characters.
What distinguishes this work from most historical fiction is its bold use of fantastic elements to create a work of a much broader scope; they transform it from a mere exercise in historical research into a commentary on the nature of history itself. Gull wants to use his acts of murder to magically shape the course of the following centuries, and sure enough, as he begins killing he also begins to experience increasingly vivid and disturbing visions of the future he is in the process of creating. With this notion - the "architecture of history" - Moore matches form to content; using his powers of historical dot-connecting, he shapes a London full of eerie synchronicities and coincidences, reflecting the Ripper's belief in an overarching shape and symmetry of time.
From Hell's only real weakness is simply the logical conclusion of its main strength - Alan Moore is so dedicated to his vision of London that at times he overindulges his passion for historical pattern-finding, describing his discoveries in long passages that, while consistently fascinating, could occasionally stand some trimming down. Gull's visions begin as fleeting supernatural experiences and vague senses of deja vu, but they rapidly spiral out of control until he is almost completely immersed in them, seeing everywhere the history he has created with his work. From Hell's brilliance is obsessive enough that one must wonder whether its author had a similar experience.
Book Review: A masterwork of historical fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
For those who are able to countenance the explicit depictions of sex, violence, and unspeakable butchery, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's "From Hell" is an exquisite depiction of the squalor and degeneracy of Victorian London. Through its dark drawings it indicts a corrupt society that celebrates its degenerate aristocracy while castigating the poor who merely exist to scratch out an existence with the only means left to them. While drawing on the facts of the Whitechapel murders, Moore constructs a fictional story, exploring the minds and hearts of the killer -- here presumed to be the royal doctor William Gull (a theory largely discounted in real life) -- and the social structure that permitted him to exercise his madness. Moore provides what we do not have, a motive for the murders. Indeed, he offers two motives -- to cover up the sexual indiscretions of Queen Victoria's grandson, and to fulfill a mad vision inspired by Masonic mythology and the architecture and geography of London. The Freemasons are again on hand to cover up the coverup. Moore also takes the largely unknown personages of Inspector Abberline and Mary Kelly, the final victim of the Ripper, and brings them to life. For those who, like me, are oppressed by the inevitability of the gruesome murders and the Moore even subtly suggests an alternative fate for Kelly, one not supported by any evidence in real life, but one that was, to me, supremely satisfactory.Book Review: A masterwork that goes beyond "comic books"
Summary: 5 Stars
After SWAMP THING and WATCHMEN brought fame and fortune to Alan Moore, the man who practically redefined the "comic book" medium and popularized the form for serious literature, he spent the better part of the late 1980s through the mid-1990s attempting to bring more "serious" works of graphic literature into existence. But because the comic book market is still dominated by superheroes, Moore's struggled through an uphill battle to succedully release even one of the various projects he attempted. "Big Numbers" and "Lost Girls" remain tantalizingly incomplete, with only the first few chapters of each being successfully published; and it took more than a decade for all ten books of "From Hell" (plus its appendix, "Dance of the Gull Catchers") to see the light of day.It was worth the wait.
Studied Ripperologists have praised Moore for the obsessive, painstakingly detailed research he undertook into the subject of the Whitechapel murders, unearthing buried facts and exploring most if not all of the various conspiracy theories involving the Royal Family, the Freemasons, Scotland Yard, and just about anyone who was involved with the Victorian aristrocracy of the time. But Moore is first and foremost a storyteller, and "From Hell" earns the title "masterwork" by being more than merely a scholarly journal. It's a taut, horrific, mesmerizing journey into madness that is both a fascinating detective story worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and it's also a haunting, poetic journey reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. But Moore's mastery of the medium of graphic literature -- backed by the superb and appropriately sketchy artistry of Eddie Campbell -- weaves the various threads together into a fabric that conjures up images of the sights, smells, thoughts, and fears of the Victorian Era in a way that makes the reader glad that the world has changed since those days.
It has, rather, devolved into something far worse.
Our fascination with Jack the Ripper, Moore hypothesizes, is a reflection of ourselves, and the society that we have become. (These insights become especially clear during Chapter 10, "The Best Of All Tailors" -- as the Ripper chastises us for allowing ourselves to become numb and soulless, while engaging in one of the most horrifying and bloody murder scenes ever displayed in any graphic medium, anywhere.) But if the polluted, diseased world of Victorian London is not really much worse than our own, then we can at least thank Alan Moore for presenting us with a fascinating tale that gives us a glimpse into it...a view that has never been presented to us in this manner before, with all of its horrors laid bare for us to see. Even more so than "Watchmen," FROM HELL is a shining example of the very finest achievements of graphic literature. This, dear friends, is no comic book.
Book Review: A masterwork.
Summary: 5 Stars
Those who only know of FROM HELL from the 2001 film adaptation will more than likely be shocked to encounter this dense, layered, and sometimes profoundly disturbing piece of source material. Alan Moore, whose writing on such titles as WATCHMEN and TOP 10 is universally lauded, took it upon himself to create the definitive "Jack the Ripper" narrative, skillfully weaving fact, supposition, and outright invention together in one massive tale.Eddie Campbell's artwork is bleak, scratchy, and perfectly mood-setting, working in dark harmony with Moore's writing. Even those who feel they "know" the Ripper story as well as anyone will be surprised at this very different, compulsively readable, take on the murders, and the players (allegedly) involved. So masterful is the synthesis of art and words that by the time one has finished the last page, it's hard to realize this IS fiction, and not the true tale.
The trade paperback edition gathers together the entire, serialized FROM HELL story, and also features extensive annotation from Moore concerning the sources, inspirations, and creative decisions that came to make the final product. Readers will find themselves anxious to read these end notes -- just another layer in a VERY complex, but not confusing, story -- and then hurry on to the next chapter, the next murder, the next revelation. FROM HELL is, by any standard, a masterwork.