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The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper

by James Carnac

3.3 of 5 stars 3.30 · rating details · 442 ratings · 92 reviews

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 suspe ...more

Paperback , 432 pages

Published October 11th 2012 by Corgi (first published January 1st 2012)

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Community Reviews

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Apr 18, 2012 Sharon Bolton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’ve long been fascinated by Jack the Ripper, and in preparation for writing Now You See Me, read widely around the Whitechapel Murders of 1888. Consequently, a book claiming to be a first-person, period account of the “Autumn of Terror” was always going to be appealing.
The memoir which comprises the main part of this book claims to have been recently discovered in the effects of Sydney George Hulme Beaman (writer, illustrator and creator of Larry the Lamb) and to have been written in the 1920s I’ve long been fascinated by Jack the Ripper, and in preparation for writing Now You See Me, read widely around the Whitechapel Murders of 1888. Consequently, a book claiming to be a first-person, period account of the “Autumn of Terror” was always going to be appealing.
The memoir which comprises the main part of this book claims to have been recently discovered in the effects of Sydney George Hulme Beaman (writer, illustrator and creator of Larry the Lamb) and to have been written in the 1920s by Jack the Ripper himself.
The author calls himself James Willoughby Carnac, and the 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.

Well, we who love all things ripper-related are invariably excited about the prospect of new information!

A few chapters in, I knew I was going to be disappointed. The memoir adds nothing to the existing stock of ripper knowledge, the period detail appeared little more than careful historical research, the tone of the writing simply didn’t convince as that of a psychopathic killer and there were a couple of important but too-convenient coincidences.

Significantly, no historical record of a James Willoughby Carnac ever existing can be found and this seems a major problem for anyone claiming the memoir is real. If Carnac died in the 1920s, as is claimed, there must be some record of his life. Conveniently, he had no brothers or sisters, never married and was the last of his family line. The book suggests Carnac might have been a pseudonym but this makes no sense to me. Why would Jack, at the close of this life and confident he’d escaped retribution, go to all the trouble of writing his memoir only to conceal his identity in the end?

Ironically, though, the author’s biggest mistake and the one to ultimately convince me that this work is fake was the quality of the writing. Its penmanship is close to perfect, a skill that cannot be achieved, even by highly educated people, without years of practice. This memoir was written by a professional writer and I simply cannot believe that Jack the Ripper, in addition to everything else claimed about him, was one of those.

The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper may, or may not, be a piece of period writing, one of the earliest known ripper-hoaxes; if it is, then it can confidently stake its claim for a place in Ripper-lore. What it does not do, as far as I’m concerned, is solve the mystery.
...more

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Sep 20, 2013 Marvin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

The entire appeal of The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is this: Is it real or is it Memorex...er...fiction? This work was purported to be discovered in 2008 amongst the possessions of S.G. Hulme-Beaman, a prolific writer of children tales who died in 1932. The manuscript is authored by James Carnac who professes to be the real Jack The Ripper. Conveniently there is no evidence that Jack Carnac ever existed. It may be a pseudonym for the actual Jack. The book's two commentators, Alan Hicken a The entire appeal of The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is this: Is it real or is it Memorex...er...fiction? This work was purported to be discovered in 2008 amongst the possessions of S.G. Hulme-Beaman, a prolific writer of children tales who died in 1932. The manuscript is authored by James Carnac who professes to be the real Jack The Ripper. Conveniently there is no evidence that Jack Carnac ever existed. It may be a pseudonym for the actual Jack. The book's two commentators, Alan Hicken and Ripperologist Paul Begg leads you to believe there are two possibilities. Either it is an early work of Ripper fiction by Hulme-Beaman, the mysterious Carnac or someone else... or it is the actual autobiography of the infamous serial killer. I suggest a third option. It is a modern hoax not unlike the Hitler Diary hoax of the 1970s. The clues are there based on the fact that it reads more like a modern interpretation of serial killer psychology than an early 20th century memoir. Begg states that Carnac brings up facts that were unknown at the time it was allegedly written. Maybe so. It is more likely these two issues exist because it is a contemporary work written by a contemporary mindset. The one thing that would settle the issue of date is missing: an lab examination of the manuscript by a neutral party, mainly to determine paper and ink age. In other words, the method that bought down the Hitler Diary Hoax. Of course, my suspicions are entirely my suspicions and nothing else. But it would be exciting to see the lab rats determine that it is indeed a manuscript of the 20s. If it really is a 1920s example of Ripper fiction or Jack's actual confession, that would be really exciting.

Unfortunately, that is all that makes it exciting. Contemporary or not, The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is not very good fiction. Much of this can be blamed on Jack himself. JR, as he is often referred to in the book, is rather boring. He is full of himself, whether he is contemplating cutting his uncle's throat, experiencing his first infatuation, or actually doing his dastardly deeds. JR is quite rightly portrayed as a psychopath and we get some interesting soliloquies on the nature of morality that we might expect from a madman. These are the most interesting things in the novel. Yet the actions and conflicts of JR never come to life for this reader. Tack on a rather pat ending that does seem very 1920s and you have a story that probably would not interest most publishing companies unless a gimmick (is it real or...) was added.

Over all, it is not a bad work. Just not that good. Read it for the novelty aspect if you must. That at least kept me going. But I can sleep soundly knowing that the real Jack the Ripper remains a haunting and still legendary mystery. ...more

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Mar 03, 2015 Ghadah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 60-books-2015 , favorites

Well, this is my first time reading an autobiography, which I believe explains why I felt this book was extremely different from anything I've ever read before.
I don't know if it's wrong to admit this, but I was really drawn to the author's way of thinking. He tackled many aspects of himself in regards of psychology and it was really eye-opening and mind-blowing.
Many theories came out after the official publication of Carnac's autobiography, and some of which went against the fact of him being ...more

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Jan 08, 2014 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography , true-crime

This is the "autobiography" of James Carnac. A man claiming to be Jack the Ripper. Never does the book claim to be the definitive work of Jack the Ripper.(Despite the slightly misleading title) If you have a interest in Jack the Ripper, you should find this book entertaining enough to read. In my personal opinion, this man is NOT Jack the Ripper. My biggest disappointment with this work was that the original discoverer of this literature, edited out the parts he considered "gruesome" or "offensi ...more

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Sep 03, 2013 Lynne rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads-and-netgalley

Final Verdict: Avoid this book. If you want facts read a book by someone who has conducted research, or if you want fiction about Jack the Ripper, read something else.

As someone who has made my life’s work to study criminals, I have always been fascinated by Jack the Ripper. While I would not consider myself a true Ripperologist, I still read a lot about the famous Whitechapel murders. So when I saw a book about Jack the Ripper on Netgalley, I could not pass. It was with reserved excitement that Final Verdict: Avoid this book. If you want facts read a book by someone who has conducted research, or if you want fiction about Jack the Ripper, read something else.

As someone who has made my life’s work to study criminals, I have always been fascinated by Jack the Ripper. While I would not consider myself a true Ripperologist, I still read a lot about the famous Whitechapel murders. So when I saw a book about Jack the Ripper on Netgalley, I could not pass. It was with reserved excitement that I began the book.

*Note: I requested this book because I thought it was a fictional account, however it is being presented as if this manuscript was really found. From what I can find, it seems to be classified as non-fiction. That being said, I read it as if it was fiction, and am extremely skeptical of its “origins.”

Unfortunately, I cannot give much more of a summary of this book than that it is the life of Jack the Ripper. “Jack” wrote out his memoires many years after the famous murders and sent the pages to be published after his death. There is a little bit at the beginning to build the back-story about these papers having been passed from different people before someone believed the story enough to try and get it published.

I am not going to lie, this was painful for me to get through, and I really wanted to put it down pretty much the whole way through. With some shame, I will admit, that I really only skimmed the last 50 or so pages–the parts after the manuscript that are supposed to be the historical checking of the story (really just a re-hash of the ‘memoir’ with lots of family histories). Parts of this book really didn’t work for me with my understanding of criminal psychology, and some of the experts’ testimonies really bothered me. The main thing that upset me was a bit claiming that offender profiling hadn’t been ‘invented’ when this was ‘written’. Yet, profiling has been around in some form since the Romans, and it was attempted with Jack the Ripper (source David Canter, 2010).

The story itself is verbose and horribly paced. It is not until about the 28th page that we make it to the part written by James Carnac, the man claiming to be Jack the Ripper (or J.R. for short). The various letters and comments before that were boring when are trite if it is fiction, or boring if it is really a found manuscript. When Carnac starts writing, it is a long ramble musing about his impact as Jack the Ripper and the misconceptions, but also about what those who knew him would think to know it was him. However, what threw me the most while reading was that it was the recounting of an old man, so I knew going into the ‘memoir’ that he survived a long time after the murders. I will come back to this point later. Overall, Carnac just didn’t fit with my personal view of who Jack was, and I never grew to care about any part of Carnac’s story.

I will admit, one of the parts I was looking forward to was the actual murder spree. I was looking forward to reading about his feelings and emotions during this part, and I was completely disappointed. There was almost nothing more than a dry recounting of what happened, and even then without most of the details. The emotions in this part were almost completely missing; there is no talk of excitement or release after the murders, nothing really emotional at all. I was hoping for some sort of compulsion, but it was mostly about a need to see blood that then he never seems to notice during the killings. This may be in part due to the fact that the first man to read the ‘manuscript’ supposedly took out some disagreeable part, but really if this is fiction it fell flat.

The most disappointing thing for me was the part after the murders. To my understanding, serial killers don’t just stop killing, they will keep killing until they are caught, killed or incapacitated. However, Carnac is never caught or killed, but stops killing. It could be argued that he is incapacitated, but I would argue that he could easily have killed in his state. However, the most jarring part was that his urge to kill just seemed to fade. This just doesn’t match with what forensic psychology says, and based on the absolute frenzy that was his last crime scene, this would not be the case.

Overall, I was bored and never connected to any part of the story. I feel that this has to be fiction, and was bored that it perpetuated old theories about Jack the Ripper and serial killers (that he had some medical knowledge, and that he came from a family of killers). I honestly could not wait to finish the book and clear it off my e-reader (which it caused to freeze several times…).

This review was originally posted: http://francesandlynne.wordpress.com/...
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Jan 03, 2014 Hannah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Whether it's real or not, I really enjoyed reading this book. If it is a real confession, it's fascinating and it is very believable. Personally I'm pretty convinced by it, although of course it can't be proved and there are questions raised, as pointed out in the analysis. I have very little doubt that part three is fiction; it just falls into place too nicely. He mentions a lot of things which seem to have a purpose later on, like the fear of being burned alive. If I were him, I certainly woul ...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012 , audible

Best Audible selection EVER. Thank goodness I found it there. Super hard to find otherwise! I loved this book. I don't care if James Carnac was the real ripper or not -- I was fascinated by his story.

Ridiculously engrossing. I was all the more impressed with the length they went to in the appendices to hash out the logistics and facts of the events to evaluate whether or not James Carnac could have realistically been Jack the Ripper.

Beautifully sociopathic when appropriate, wholly explanatory. A ...more

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Jul 25, 2014 Ozana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime , e-book , mystery , stand-alone , non-fiction , 2014 , time-wheel-2014 , adult , books-to-movies , horror , urban-legend

There are many books written about Jack The Ripper, nick name of arhetype serial killer, cruel murderer. His true identity was never discovered, he was never caught or seen. He became urban legend, his name sinonim for serial killers throuoghout the history and unfortunatly, today.
This is non-fictional book, biography type even auto bio. It is said that this is diary found by real Ripper Jack, but like supposed Hitlers diaries I am rather certain that is not real. Not cold enough, descriptive e ...more

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Mar 08, 2015 Anthony Gonzales rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jack the Ripper Terrorized the Whitechapel county of London in the summer/fall of 1888. People assumed that the killer was a maniac and lacked all sympathy and empathy. The evidence that is presented in this book brings light to the possibility that the Ripper was a calculated and sympathetic individual in society. The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is the documentation of the life of James Carnac.
The diary starts in the beginning of Carnac's life where he describes the murder suicide of his p Jack the Ripper Terrorized the Whitechapel county of London in the summer/fall of 1888. People assumed that the killer was a maniac and lacked all sympathy and empathy. The evidence that is presented in this book brings light to the possibility that the Ripper was a calculated and sympathetic individual in society. The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is the documentation of the life of James Carnac.
The diary starts in the beginning of Carnac's life where he describes the murder suicide of his parents where his dad had an affair with a servant, then killed her while performing an at home abortion. Later, while intoxicated, he went insane killed his wife and himself in the same room. After living with his uncle, he began to find a love for knives and a desire for blood. Carnac fell to his desire and attempted to kill his uncle but ran off to London. While in London, Carnac began to hear voices and started his killing spree. On the final murder he was ran over by a buggy and had his leg amputated. He then lived his life near by with the help of a landlady, where he ends the book with him planning to kill her at his age of 63.
This book brings to the table an entirely different account of who the Ripper was. Carnac presented to the Ripper case a suspect that had every detail about the case in an account that was released before the official details were released to the public. The other part of Carnac’s story that puts him as the prime subject is that his is the first account in history to give an explanation for the end of the killing spree.
The book was written in an easy to read manner that flowed from page to page, although at times irrelevant tangents about the surrounding events were included they help to give a sort of realism to the book. Carnac wrote in an extremely vivid style where you felt as though you had transported yourself back to 1888 and were in the room as he took the life from the eyes of his victims. The book hooks you in from the beginning and leads you to the conclusion that Carnac was the killer with all the pieces of evidence that fit together like a puzzle.
The entire book centers itself on trying to convince the reader that the Ripper was not a lunatic. This push to reveal evidence that contradicts common ethics creates a split in the readers mind while they read, because ethically we know that these murders were terrible but logically Carnac makes you sympathetic.
I would recommend this book to those that are not easily startled by the intense imagery of gruesome murders and enjoy being encapsulated in another persons push to reveal the truth. From cover to cover this book gave information directly from the killer himself. ...more

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Sep 14, 2014 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story turned out to be better than what I was expecting. I wound up reading the entire book in one day. So for that alone the book gets high marks. I'm not a Ripperologist but I have read plenty of books on the subject of Jack the Ripper. Approximately 8 to 9 books in all and out of them this was the most intriguing of the stories. If this manuscript is true, which I do not believe it to be so, then certainly it would be a major component in finally solving who Jack was and why he did what This story turned out to be better than what I was expecting. I wound up reading the entire book in one day. So for that alone the book gets high marks. I'm not a Ripperologist but I have read plenty of books on the subject of Jack the Ripper. Approximately 8 to 9 books in all and out of them this was the most intriguing of the stories. If this manuscript is true, which I do not believe it to be so, then certainly it would be a major component in finally solving who Jack was and why he did what he did. I have a few faults with the story however and I would love to know if anyone else who read the book feels the same about. For instance, to me the story didn't read like early 20th century writing. That may just be me but the language and structure didn't seem accurate for the time. Another thing that bothered me, if anyone is familiar with the murders, was how no new information came about from the story in regards to details about the killings. Certainly the murderer would have something new to tell us that has not been published or recorded by investigators already. However, not one new or interesting fact about any of the killings surfaced from the story. Why also hasn't the paper and ink in which the story was typed on been analyzed for accurate dating. For all we know the story could have been typed up yesterday. The one interesting point of the story for me was the explanation as to why the murders stopped. I will not divulge this tid bit of info for those of you who have not read the story yet. I did find the reason for the murders ceasing to be interesting and in a strange way plausible. But with that even being said unfortunately this book needs to be moved from the nonfiction section over to fiction. I wish the case could finally be closed but this book does not do that. However, the book is well worth reading and who knows anything is possible. This is what makes Ripper literature so much fun, its a thriller wrapped up in a mystery. ...more

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Feb 19, 2015 Leanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book!
I have been fascinated with the Ripper case for a very long time. I have always held a theory that Jack the Ripper may have been a woman. This book however says otherwise.
The back story is fascinating. It would make sense and if it was true I wish that the person who had found it had not taken out the parts describing the actual murders before publishing it. While it may have been appalling it would have been very valuable to the research of trying to find out what goes on in ...more

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Dec 28, 2014 Jeshika Paperdoll rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I went into this book with the intention to read it with an open mind, however I ended up reading it as I would a historical fiction, believing there are some facts buried beneath the obvious fictional narrative. This book follows the life of James Carnac, or Jack the Ripper as he wishes the reader to believe, and is separated into three parts - his childhood/adolescence, his Jack the Ripper days, and his old age. Parts one and two were interesting and possibly believable to a certain extent. Pa ...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Luis Fernández rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

Not a great book for me. Just the autobiography of someone claiming to be JR. You can believe it or not, that's up to everyone and the epilogue from a famous ripperist is not clearing things up very much either.

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Jan 03, 2014 Chiara Deathsy rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was a present. I wouldn't have bought it myself, since my passion for the Ripper Case thought me not to follow the excitement about the presumable "biographies" or confessions of the Ripper that periodically appear.

I also don't like to read Ripper Fiction. And still, it would have been better for the publisher to sell this book as such, I would have enjoyed it more.

There are absolutely NO indications that this book was written by the Ripper, or even by someone who had a good knowledge This book was a present. I wouldn't have bought it myself, since my passion for the Ripper Case thought me not to follow the excitement about the presumable "biographies" or confessions of the Ripper that periodically appear.

I also don't like to read Ripper Fiction. And still, it would have been better for the publisher to sell this book as such, I would have enjoyed it more.

There are absolutely NO indications that this book was written by the Ripper, or even by someone who had a good knowledge of the case itself. The person writing does not display any of the known behaviours which would be typical for a Serial Killer (and even if you can find enough believable theories that the murders were not even connected but operated by different people, I still hold to the opinion that JtR was a "modern" Serial Killer). Furthermore, an "autobiographic confession" of a narcissistic Serial Killer should be rich in details of the murders, but the author of the book prefers to write pages and pages about the thoughts, fantasies and moral settings of the killer than, as we would of course expect, give us a thorough description of the mutilations inflicted on the victims.

I thought at first that it would have been as controversial as the Mevrick Diary, which I also don't believe to be authentic but still contains some discussable details. The reason for my naïve attitude towards the book was the introduction and appendix, written by Paul Begg, one of the top authorities among Ripperologists.

What this book really is? It is a very interesting work of fiction by an author who, in a time where Criminal Profiling was just being born, tried to put himself in the shoes of the most horrible killer known at that time.

And if it would have been sold like that, it would deserve 4 stars. ...more

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Mar 18, 2014 David rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography , crime , history , mysteries , non-fiction

The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper: In His Own Words, The Confession of the World's Most Infamous Killer by James Carnac (Sourcebooks 2013) (364.1523) purports to be the actual diary of the Ripper himself which was serendipitously discovered in a box of papers belonging to a third party. Is it real? Could it be? I don't think so. It sounds like a late twentieth century American tongue rather than the language of choice of a late nineteenth / early twentieth century Brit. My instincts tell me i ...more

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Mar 19, 2014 Lupee rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was alright ... I mean I was expecting more out it something to make me believe it actually was him who wrote the book but it lacked too many thing it was dull it leaves you with the sense of is this real or not ? I have always been a reader of crime books and Jack the Ripper has always caught my attention but this was defiantly a let down. If your into crime books or just JR and the white chapel murders this book does nothing to satisfy your thirst to learn more. I suggest to skip thi ...more

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May 06, 2015 Sam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography , books-about-books , historical , historical-fiction , horror , crime

This is a rather difficult one to review, do I review it as a work of fiction or of fact? As the jury is generally out on which this really is I'm going to endeavor to treat it as both and see how it goes. This books is written by a few separate people, the explanatory notes by Hulme Beaman who is a friend of James Carnac the author of a majority of the book and subject of the autobiography. There is also an analysis of the text by Paul Begg which looks at the potential authenticity of the work. ...more

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Apr 16, 2015 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaway-books

The appeal of this book for me was the notion that this just might be a true account of what drove Jack the Ripper to commit his murders. No amount of searching the internet would conclusively state it was fact or fiction. Therefore, I based my review on the book as though it were fiction.

There is a dry, dark tone to the writing from the very beginning. A nonchalant attitude from the author infused itself into the words, coming across as arrogance in some passages of the novel. When the author b ...more

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Feb 20, 2014 Cheyenne Bennetts rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper", by James Carnac

The title says it all. In this book, James Willoughby Carnac claims to be the world's most famous killer, Jack the Ripper. He writes about his life, a interesting motive as to why he becomes the ripper and ended it.

Pros: Accuracy: He describes the murders with chilling accuracy, and has all of the geography down.
Wording: The way he wrote it intrigues me, because a fake biography would contain modern words. This biography contains words ...more

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Dec 28, 2013 Janne Varvára rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biographies-memoirs , crime , history , mystery

My boyfriend discovered this book, which I had, for some reason, never heard of. This book claims to be the autobiography of Jack the Ripper, and whether that's true or not, it's definitely exciting.
First of all, this book is masterfully narrated. It's one of those rare audio recordings where the performance of the narrator compliments the wry humor in the text perfectly.
The writing is also very good. It grips you with its vivid pictures and macabre wit. But, as the writer claims that this is h ...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013 , adventure , biography , fiction , mystery-murder-crime , z-book

I received The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper through a Goodreads Giveaway. Of the several books I requested consideration, this was one I was most excited to read. While I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a Ripperologist (having read only one Ripper book prior to this one), I have watched many films and documentaries about the horrific series of murders and mutilations. And, while watching them, consulted the online Ripper case sites when I had questions. So I am not unfamiliar with the I received The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper through a Goodreads Giveaway. Of the several books I requested consideration, this was one I was most excited to read. While I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a Ripperologist (having read only one Ripper book prior to this one), I have watched many films and documentaries about the horrific series of murders and mutilations. And, while watching them, consulted the online Ripper case sites when I had questions. So I am not unfamiliar with the Whitechapel murders and had frequently seen the mortuary and crime scene photos included in this book.

The manuscript, which comprises the majority of this book, came to light when the family of British radio personality S.G. Hulme Beaman's family donated his collection of memorabilia to the Montacute TV Radio Toy Museum. In reviewing the papers in the collection, museum curator Alan Hicken came across a manuscript claiming to be written by none other than the Ripper himself. But is it? Let's leave that question for later.

According to information included with the manuscript, Beaman was executor of the will of the late James Carnac, the supposed Ripper. Instructions with the manuscript were that it was to be taken to a specific Literary Agency for consideration of publication. Beaman did not follow those instructions. Rather, he read the manuscript ... and was horrified ... and kept it.

When I asked to be considered to receive a giveaway of this book, my belief was that it was fiction. I was surprised when the suggestion made was it was a legitimate autobiography. Even the U.S. Library of Congress classifies the book in its numbering range for biographies and autobiographies. So was it fiction or not? In my reading, I believed the answer to that would hinge with the treatment of the grapes.

I did not enjoy the book, for the most part. Carnac talks about how he chose each victim, slitting her throat and then what he was cautious about as he was going home. No more exciting than someone opening a neighbor's mail. What I did like was Ripperologist Paul Begg's analysis of his thoughts of whether or not this is legitimately an autobiography. He said .. well, for that answer, you will need to read the book. For myself, let's just say I agreed with Begg and, for me, it hinged on the grapes, as I suspected it would. So whether or not it's worth it to read the manuscript portion unless you are someone who wants to devour all things Ripper, I cannot say. If I'd not made a commitment to myself to write a review, I would not have finished it out of sheer boredom. But the analysis by Begg is a well conceived, well written analysis and I enjoyed it immensley. ...more

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Sep 17, 2013 Dolores rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3 1/2 stars. This book claims to be the autobiography of Jack the Ripper, in his own words. It was apparently written some time in the late 1920s when his murder spree was some forty years behind him. The manuscript came to light in 2007 as part of a lot of memorabilia from S. G. Hulme Beaman, a well known British artist and creator of children's plays. I'm not really buying this book as nonfiction. I don't know why--but it just doesn't feel like a real account. As fiction, this is sometimes a p ...more

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Oct 06, 2013 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history , mystery , goodreads-booktrib-readitfirst , true-crime

This book is supposedly written by Jack the Ripper himself. Ultimately, it is up to the reader to decide if they believe that or not. What I can say is, if it is true, then he wasn't much of a writer. Several times throughout the book, the author draws attention to the fact that he is an old man and not much of a writer. Believe me, it is obvious that he isn't a writer. That aside, the information in the second part of the book was interesting and it is the first book (it was written in the earl ...more

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Nov 04, 2013 Amy Sturgis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century , british-history , historical-fiction , whitechapel

The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is a maddeningly fascinating work. It was reportedly discovered in 2008 in the possessions left to his heirs by S.G. Hulme-Beaman, a children's author and illustrator best known as the creator of the Toytown stories and their characters (including Larry the Lamb) who died in 1932. The manuscript is attributed to "James Carnac," who professes to be the real Jack The Ripper writing about his gruesome exploits 40 years after the fact. The book is made up of four The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is a maddeningly fascinating work. It was reportedly discovered in 2008 in the possessions left to his heirs by S.G. Hulme-Beaman, a children's author and illustrator best known as the creator of the Toytown stories and their characters (including Larry the Lamb) who died in 1932. The manuscript is attributed to "James Carnac," who professes to be the real Jack The Ripper writing about his gruesome exploits 40 years after the fact. The book is made up of four parts: 1) Introductory notes apparently made by S.G. Hulme-Beaman, which explain how he came upon the manuscript while acting as executor of Carnac's estate, but failed to follow Carnac's directions to send the manuscript to a publishing house due to its disturbing and distasteful subject matter; 2) the first two sections of the narrative, which relate the story of Carnac's young life (including his father's murder of his mother and subsequent suicide) and Whitechapel years (including the Ripper slayings); 3) the third section of the narrative, produced on a different typewriter than the first two sections and written in a different, more "fictional" voice, bringing Carnac's story to an all-too-neat end; and 4) commentary by Alan Hicken and respected Ripperologist Paul Begg.

What is this book, exactly? Several possibilities exist. It might represent Hulme-Beaman's attempt at a "true crime"-inspired novel, but this seems unlikely due to both the man's workload and his personality. It might be a novel by another author that came into the possession of Hulme-Beaman. (There is no record that James Carnac ever existed.) It might be a genuine autobiography of Jack the Ripper, and either the author's name is actually a pseudonym or somehow the historical James Carnac managed to live and die without creating a paper trail. Or perhaps it is a modern-day hoax purporting to be a manuscript from the late 1920s.

I went into this with the intention of reading it much like The Lodger (1913), an early twentieth-century novel by Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes, a woman who lived through the Autumn of Terror and evoked it well in her story. As such a work of fiction, The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper is effective. Carnac's fascination with blood, his knowledge of his father's act of murder/suicide, his curiosity about his French ancestors' roles as executioners, and his own strange (and resisted) compulsion to kill his kind uncle set the stage well for the horrors to come.

The descriptions of his behavior as Jack the Ripper offer the most interest. Unlike most works and speculations of the time, which attributed to the Ripper complicated motives (religious fanaticism, a personal vendetta against women, a desire to undermine the police force and law in general), Carnac comes across much in the way we understand modern psychopaths today. He killed because he liked killing, and he got away with his crimes because he was smart enough to choose his victims carefully. His dark, wry sense of humor is both startling and convincing. What is more, the end of the Ripper's murderous spree has a believable justification: Carnac was badly injured in an accident with a carriage (while crossing the street to get to a paper detailing his latest crime), losing both his leg and his mobility.

What I find most fascinating about the book is how it follows and deviates from known facts about the murders. Carnac admits that he had kept scrapbooks of media coverage of the crimes, and the similarity between some of his narrative and contemporary newspaper accounts can be explained by the fact that, after forty years, he returned to his clippings to remind himself of particulars. That said, he also deviates in some critical ways from widely-reported details -- and, in one case, provides a detail only known to have been reported in one account published in New York -- which certainly creates the effect of firsthand knowledge.

The odd ending, with its vastly different tone -- and, seemingly, purpose -- is also a mystery unto itself.

It's interesting to speculate on the real nature of this work. I am not suggesting that I was persuaded that Carnac existed or that he was the Ripper, but I was impressed by the psychological insight of the text and the historical mysteries it provides. ...more

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Aug 24, 2013 My Book Addiction and More MBA rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: true-crime

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JACK THE RIPPER: IN HIS OWN WORDS,THE CONFESSIONS OF THE WORLD'S MOST INFAMOUS KILLER by James Carnac is an intriguing Non-Fiction/True Crime. The world has always wondered who is Jack the Ripper,the most famous killer in London. He mutilated five women in the Whitechapel neighborhood in 1888 London. This is a memoir form a 1920 suspect: James Willoughby Carnac, he claims to be the famous Jack the Ripper. He does know many things about the murder never told to the public. Wr ...more

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Jul 26, 2013 Gail Kavanagh rated it 2 of 5 stars

There is no shortage of books purporting to have been ‘discovered’ in a secret hiding place, rather than written by a contemporary author. It’s a popular conceit in the literary world, and sometimes it succeeds for a while. But The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper has a twist. The manuscript, it is claimed, was found among the possessions of a real person, the late S.G. Hulme-Beaman, who created Toytown and Larry the Lamb.

According to the preface, Hulme-Beaman’s niece, Mrs. Jean Caldwell, called There is no shortage of books purporting to have been ‘discovered’ in a secret hiding place, rather than written by a contemporary author. It’s a popular conceit in the literary world, and sometimes it succeeds for a while. But The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper has a twist. The manuscript, it is claimed, was found among the possessions of a real person, the late S.G. Hulme-Beaman, who created Toytown and Larry the Lamb.

According to the preface, Hulme-Beaman’s niece, Mrs. Jean Caldwell, called Alan Hicken, of the Montacute TV, Radio and Toy Museum in Somerset, and asked him if he would like a collection of memorabilia belonging to her uncle. As Larry the Lamb was a popular radio character for children, Hicken enthusiastically accepted. Among the items, he found an unpublished manuscript, The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper.

The author of the ms. claimed to be one James Carnac, the son of a doctor who was briefly a medical student in his turn, and who, in the book, claimed to be the man killed and dismembered several women in London’s Whitehall district in the 1880s. Part One of the book is about Carnac’s early life, while Part Two covers the period of the murders. Part Three appears to be Carnac’s last years before his death.

After reading the manuscript and becoming convinced it was genuine, Hicken passed it on to crime historian and ‘ripperologist’ Paul Begg. His lengthy analysis also appears in the book, as well as a prologue by him, in which he states that, at the very least, this manuscript can’t be viewed as legal evidence, as it is not signed by witnesses.

I’m not convinced it is anything but a piece of fiction. It was likely written by Hulme-Beaman himself, who like J.K. Rowling, probably just wanted to do something different after writing for children. So the only question is - is it any good? And the answer to that is no. If you are looking for shock and horror, there are any number of books that will give you blood curdling descriptions of the crimes. This one won’t. It is claimed the manuscript was ‘edited’ by the executor of Hulme-Beaman’s will, which is very handy if you don’t want to into detail that might be proved wrong. As well, it is badly written, and here the author falls back on that old excuse that goes something like “I’m a serial killer, not a writer.” Ho hum.

Then there is the fact that James Carnac never existed at the time and place he mentions in the manuscript, nor is there any record of his parents, his landladies or anyone else connected to him (except the victims). Possibly he changed all the names - but why would he, if this is a confession only meant to be read after his death?

So, on this occasion, the ‘discovery’ might actually be real, but what was discovered is still clearly a work of fiction. If you want to make the world think someone long dead wrote your manuscript, you are going to have to a hell of a lot more convincing than this.

...more

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Apr 21, 2015 Brenda Ayala rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

This was totally entertaining. I had my qualms about it being nonfiction, and I still do. I think this is an ingenious piece of fiction that is very well-written and well done. The voice of the narrator was superb. An old man, in the twilight of his life, writes what his despicable acts were as a young man. And as that young man, he was known (indirectly) as Jack the Ripper. The story meandered a bit at times, which I loved in its accuracy. I've never met an elderly person who didn't meander whe This was totally entertaining. I had my qualms about it being nonfiction, and I still do. I think this is an ingenious piece of fiction that is very well-written and well done. The voice of the narrator was superb. An old man, in the twilight of his life, writes what his despicable acts were as a young man. And as that young man, he was known (indirectly) as Jack the Ripper. The story meandered a bit at times, which I loved in its accuracy. I've never met an elderly person who didn't meander when telling a story. Who didn't give me a ridiculously long set-up of events in order to tell me the actual thing they wanted to tell me.

And Jack (James Carnac) did precisely this. I found myself getting very antsy while reading Part 1 because I wanted to get to the murders themselves. However, Part 1 lays the groundwork beautifully for the rest of the novel--what triggered the impulses, why he chose the black coat, the knife. It gave a valid reason for why he had the impulses--at least a reason that he could use as a defense if he wanted to, although I don't mean in a court of law. Just defending his actions to me as the reader.

Part 2 was the beef of the novel. It was where the murders occurred, which the author did not go into detail about. I rather would have enjoyed if they had interwoven photos or details of the crimes within the pages, but I realize that not everyone has as grotesque interests as I. Although I'll argue that someone who doesn't wouldn't pick up this novel in the first place.

Part 3 is where the real genius is. I don't really want to reveal anything for those who don't want the surprise spoiled, but I do want to gush about it so I'll do this: (view spoiler) So, so good. The reign of Jack the Ripper has ended, finally and forever.

(I received this in a First Reads giveaway.)["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more

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Nov 09, 2013 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013 , non-fiction , biography

3.5 stars. Imagine if we had a written confession from one of the world's most infamous murderers of all time, Jack the Ripper. This is what this book claims to be. This manuscript was found a couple years ago and seems like it could potentially be from the real Jack the Ripper according to many of the people. I'm not sure how I really feel about whether or not this is a real confession but this book was certainly a fascinating read to say the very least!

I usually do not like reading scary books ...more

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Jul 09, 2015 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

This review was taken straight off of my blog: areadersdiary1.blogspot.com

We all know who Jack the Ripper is. But we don't know the man behind him. In this so called "autobiography" James Carnac gives us his confession. Could this possibly be the man behind this infamous killer? I honestly think he could be. He has extensive knowledge of the murders, the whereabouts in London, and wrote this entire manuscript almost 40 years later. In the beginning, we find out that his father had an in-house me ...more

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Oct 04, 2013 Kristi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads , england

Before I begin this review I must state that I am in no way a "Ripperologost." I know the basics of the unsolved murders which terrorized London, but that is the extent of my knowledge. I went into this book intrigued that it may have been the Ripper himself telling the tale. I found the entire story difficult to believe; I think this is a complete work of fiction. There was way too much at work to explain the "why" aspect: murderous father, intrigue in knives and blood, family lineage, voices i ...more

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