All Forms of Art

The sound was practically nonexistent, just a slight and indistinctive background noise at the end of my mind was producing an indecipherable buzzing. My eyelids were heavy and made me fall into a sort of melancholic numbness, occasionally interrupted by a floating sensation. There was nothing around me, except the smooth and rhythmic breathing of someone sleeping next to me. My body seemed to have no weight, through the dream shadows, that slightly mix with my consciousness, while it gently abandoned me, to carry me to that other world, made up of bizarre realities that storm my mind. Slowly, the world was becoming different, it was made of new things, things that I didn't even know, frightening yet marvelous, priceless things: change and discovery.

Since the beginning, Darwin's theory was attacked by his contemporary fellows, but this book tried to take this to a whole other level, building on a story which, supposedly, shows us the naturalist's darker side. Darnton made a bold choice by giving us this unique vision of the man who changed the way we see the world. Throughout the book, the story is being told under 3 different points of view, each with their own mysteries. We accompany the H.M.S. Beagle's trip, with the young Charles Darwin on board, aswell as through his daughter Bessie's journals, his older years, and finally the journey of two modern investigators and their discoveries. All this is interwoven in a very curious and effective manner. The narrative could perhaps become dense or tedious at some points, so this "voice changing" in the book is certainly a welcome addition and tends to help the reader keep his attention and interest. In my opinion, the author managed to balance bo...