The Underground Man
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15
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Average rating4
William John Cavendish Bentinck-Scott was a singularly eccentric man. What sets him apart from other eccentrics is the fact that he had the wealth to indulge his mania to the fullest. Mick Jackson became fascinated by the stories that surrounded his memory--the Duke died in 1879--and began to embroider them with fictional ideas of Jacksons own, and with the tales that local people had passed on to him. Some of the characters names in this book are genuine, as is much of the geography, and indeed some of the most bizarre details. The actual narrative is, however, pure invention, filled not only with the tale of the Duke but also the excitement and discoveries of the age in which he lived, and the mysteries that we may still discover.
This is a curiously moving and often hilarious portrait of the remarkable fifth Duke of Portland, who indulged his fantasies to the fullest and built a vast network of tunnels beneath his estate from which he could secretly escape to the world beyond.
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This is a well studied and gently paced tale of an eccentric old duke on a quest for knowledge. The majority of the story describes his day to day existence which is never anything less than odd, his journal's providing the main evidence though scattered through with amusing anecdotes as told by his staff (I chuckled out loud on the tube when his maid described finding him hanging upside-down from a tree by his trousers!) The duke is preoccupied with the nature of existence; his explorations into science and shamanism offer many interesting perspectives on the dichotomy of body and soul and our place in the ‘grand scheme'. There are certainly plenty of abstractions to think about.
However, I was always hunting the undercurrent of plot tying the whole piece together, which was often too disguised or subtle for my tastes, if not entirely absent. While entertaining, I sometimes found myself wondering exactly where, if anywhere, the story was heading. I felt a little like the duke himself, wandering lost around his own huge estate, looking for evidence of his own existence.
By the final pages I had given up on there being any point to the story at all, when there was a sudden rush of clues and information which led to the twist which, personally, I had already assumed a few chapters previously. I must say it was a highly entertaining denoument, if a little inexplicable. There was no obvious catalyst to the dramatic change in the duke's behaviour. I would have preferred a more gradual build up of information and direction, and a clearer sense of purpose.
However, if you enjoy books for the characterisation and are not too interested in plot, then this is a very engaging and well written piece.
