The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
This memoir was recently discovered and appears to have been written in the 1920s by somone who asserts that he was Jack the Ripper.
This person is James Carnac, this memoir written shortly before his death is an account of his entire life, including a few short months in 1888 when he became the murderer known to posterity as Jack the Ripper.
This book introduces a new suspect for the infamous murders in Whitechapel in 1888. There is information in this book that does not appear to be derived from contemporary newspapers or any other publications and the descriptions of Tottenham in the 1870s, the visits to performances of Jekyll and Hyde, the intricate geography of Whitechapel in 1888 are written with pin-point accuracy. There is also a credible motive given for James becoming the murderer Jack and also a reason for the end of the murders. Given the fact that the author also appear to have knowledge about aspects of the case not in the public arena at the time it could be that this actually is the autobiography of Jack the Ripper.
Ultimately it is up to the reader to decide if they believe the mystery has been solved at last but even if they end up deciding the account to be a work of fiction it would still be one of the very earliest imaginings of the Ripper case, written in the early years of the twentieth century, a fascinating piece of period writing and a worthy addition to the Ripper canon.
Whatever side they come down on there is no question that this book will be a source of much debate.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Is the memoir purporting to be the confessions of the notorious serial killer actually that, or just a hoax? Most readers will be naturally skeptical of this account (slated to be published on the 125th anniversary of the crimes) from former medical student and soi-disant murderer James Willoughby Carnac especially given the literary tone of much of "the Ripper's" recollections: "The windows were in absolute darkness, but the brick-work seemed to glisten, not only with the rain beating upon it but with a kind of inherent phosphorescence...." Carnac traces his path to infamy from his childhood, when he's traumatized by the murder of his mother by his father, who then turns the fatal knife on himself. He discusses his compulsion to kill, attributing it to his ancestral line of French executioners. The discoverer of the manuscript bizarrely, a writer of plays for children who came into possession of the document in 2008 states that he "removed and destroyed certain portions" because of their "revolting" details, which most will conclude refer to the Ripper's horrific mutilations; if this is true, the manuscript was robbed of precisely those facts that only the real killer would have known. In an appendix, Ripper expert Paul Begg does a good job of addressing and countering problems raised by the account, but in the end, it could be taken for simply a clever work of historical fiction.
Customer Reviews
The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper
An interesting read, in my opinion, complete fiction, slips up on some facts but,on the whole, a gripping book at times.
Predictable finish, but still worth the read.
Amazing!
I am far from a massive reader but this kept me gripped throughout. I enjoyed it all the way through