Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

OMG those credits! Doctor Who should have had those credits FOREVER.

Capaldi is living up to my every hope for him as the Doctor. His delivery, his timing, his enthusiasm, his ability to pull off insane lines with gravitas, his ability to flip from emotion to emotion believably, and it looks like he can gear up to some serious anger and grief. I'm looking forward to that. Matt Smith could do goofy, but his Oncoming Storm never achieved more than the Oncoming Strop. (To this day, I blame his lack of classical training. Eccleston and Tennant had Shakespearean training; Smith did not - and the Doctor is a very Shakespearean character.

The ads kept throwing me off; I need to see the episode again, unbroken. But I liked it, and I'm intrigued by the ending, and Capaldi's great.

First of two posts today.

In honor of my first event with Watson's Tin Box tomorrow, a comment/reaction post to The Problem of Thor Bridge, the first of the canonical stories to mention the tin dispatch box tantalizingly full of unwritten stories. For a while there, every single pastiche I read claimed to have been discovered in that tin box; a prologue about how said box came into the author's hands was as expected (and had as blatantly a "stand up and put your hand on your heart" tone) as singing the National Anthem before a sports event.

We open with Holmes being so stroppy that the Sherlock interpretation of him makes sense. (As much as I enjoy Sherlock, Holmes -- unlike his modern counterpart -- is not "a dick all the time.") However, the reader can deduce he likes his eggs soft boiled, as he, in a roundabout Victorian manner, is bitching that the cook was reading "a love romance" (surely this is redundant, Holmes?) and must have lost track of time, because their breakfast includes two hard boiled eggs, which Holmes promptly commands Watson to eat.

Soon, however, Holmes is back to his more courtly self, and proving for the hundredth time that he's not the misogynist Watson insists he is. Just from the newspaper accounts he's on the side of the late Mrs. Gibson, aware that she was trapped in a house with a violent man and a "very attractive governess," and his first question to Gibson is an attempt to get the man to confess to being in love with Miss Dunbar. When Gibson denies it, Holmes promptly throws him out; when Gibson admits it, Holmes snaps that it's dishonorable to mess with the staff, as they are "in a sense under your protection" and the conversation goes downhill from there. Watson reports that Holmes was formidable, sneering, and stern, before making it patently clear that he was taking the case only for the sake of Miss Dunbar. He's too Victorian to outright say "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" but in these days of Occupy there's a certain modern ring to "Some of you rich men have to be taught that all the world cannot be bribed into condoning your offenses."

The real misogynist is Gibson. His nattering was probably meant to be irritating then; nowadays, it's stomach-turning to know that women in his wife's position had no legal recourse. His oblivion just gets worse every time he opens his gob, going from justifying his horrible treatment to whining that his wife was jealous of his obvious emotional infidelity and how could she when he kept his zipper shut? Dunbar, at least, shows that she has belatedly grasped that hanging around making Mrs. Gibson miserable was a bad move. (It's been a while since I've seen the Granada version; I don't remember if she admits there that she was a source of unhappiness and should have left. I do remember being pissed off that in Granada, Dunbar was essentially teaching the children to be ashamed of their own mother and the heritage she brought them.)

I also remember that in Granada, Watson actually reacted to Holmes' attempt to damage and drown his revolver. Oddly, in canon Watson doesn't seem to care one way or the other, just as canon!Watson doesn't chronicle his reaction to a lot of things, such as the bet in Blue Carbuncle. (I can see more of why BBC!Watson puts up with so much with so little reaction.)

As for the Doyle Cliche Count, we have:

Two exotic people: An American senator and a Brazilian wife
One fabulous fortune: "the greatest gold-mining magnate in the world"

We don't have the motivation of sheer greed or stupidity, which is nice -- Holmes even makes his case off of the one damning bit of evidence that would require seriously stupidity had it meant what the police thought it had. (And there really is a case here. There's an actual mystery and Holmes actually solves it. These two elements can be surprisingly rare in a Holmes mystery.)

Also, under the heading of "the more things change, the more they stay the same," we have the line "And these Americans are readier with pistols than our folk are." 100 years ago, and we were already considered the universally armed pistol-packing yahoos of the civilized world. Even though, technically, no Americans so much as touched a weapon of any sort in this story. *sigh*

I need to do this tonight or it won't get done at all - I'm about to head into the real nonsense. (I'm probably going to be offline entirely May 16-21; that week looks like this: May 16-17, night class after work. May 18, running around house sealing up computer, mail slot, TV. May 19-20, floor refinishing of 2/3 of main floor. May 19, sleep on couch and use housemate's bathroom because own bedroom will be cut off. May 20, clean up after refinishing. May 21-22, set up shelves and attempt to start going through piles of books in living room... winnowing down, so that what *used* to fit in 10 bookshelves can fit in 5.)

So, one story to keep me in the swing:

( The Crooked Man )

sjarl marker

And to keep this from being a content-free post, I am starting to wonder how many folks are lurking and how many are scrolling past on the Saturday Sherlock posts. Because I'm zooming ahead myself in the schedule - I just read 3 Students before I got online - and because it's a lot of typing, I just want to know if I'm providing interest to the readership (at which point I'll continue on the schedule already posted) or just typing into the void (at which point I'll spend the time looking for Sherlock porn being more productive).

[Poll #1730484]

The remaining cats are starting to go back to normal behavior, finally. Kaylee was taken off and came back shaved; DB was taken off and never came back. It's made the kittens skittish and unwilling to be touched - until yesterday, when Gytha rolled over and let me tickle her belly, then climbed in my lap when I had my afternoon read* purring madly. And Mulder has started to sleep on me again.

*As a bit of "me time" ever since the time change I've been coming home and reading a Holmes story/chapter a day as a bit of quiet time before I get on with the rest of the night's work.

Also, I notice that there are less than half the clumps in the clumping litter than there used to be, and M has to refill the little water bowl upstairs every other day instead of twice a day. DB was sicker than we thought for a longer time than we thought. But he still had enough left in him to demand petting and to purr for it...


Anyway! Stories.

( Read more... )

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( Read more... )


Exotic people/locales count: .5 for mention of gypsies (who have nothing to do with Silver Blaze)

Oppressive/abusive villain count: 2 Sir George in Beryl and then Rucastle of Copper is a prime example of the species

Venial victim count: 0 I count "venial victims" as people who know that they've been given an offer too good to be true but take it anyway for greed of the reward. Mr. Holder wasn't trying to get riches for himself in Beryl, profoundly stupid as his actions were. Violet (I just typed that with an extra n!) Hunter knew that she was being flim-flammed, had no alternative options, and took what steps she could to protect herself (thus proving to be one of the smartest "victims" in the canon). And Brown of Blaze simply took advantage of an accidental opportunity.

Sherlock actually solves something count: 3. He may have been too late to actually catch the criminal in Beryl or aid one of the women in Beeches, but he figures it all out. Even if Beryl was the kind of crime that Encyclopedia Brown could have figured out at the dinner table. (I loved the Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid, not least because his sidekick - and bodyguard - was named Sally. Who occasionally solves the crimes herself.) And a competent detective could have followed all the clues he did in Blaze... but the point of the stories is that there's only one really competent detective in town.

Misogynist Holmes?:
In Beryl, even though the woman is arguably the villain, the supposedly woman-hating Holmes casts her betrayal not as the fickleness of her gender, but due to a loving woman being seduced by a terrible man. "There are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all over loves" is a simple statement of fact - look at all the stories of girls running from their families to be with the men they love, fictional or factual. It could be argued that it was a terrible thing for Holmes to leave Mary with Sir George when he reclaimed the stones, but would she have come? Did she know yet what Sir George really was? Certainly Holmes doesn't sound gloating when he says that she will end up paying for her sins.

In Beeches, although Holmes starts out snitting that his skills are "degenerating into an agency for ... giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools," he rapidly switches tracks into not only taking Miss Hunter seriously, but actively getting all fraternal and worried about her. "No sister of mine..." This is the only time he's going to be that wrapped up in a female client, so it's no real wonder the romantic Watson is hoping that Holmes will take his interest further. Despite the fact that Holmes must be privately thinking "Sister. I said SISTER! Pervert." when Watson is doubtless nudging him off screen. The supposed woman-hater goes from calling the case "my zero point" to "the most interesting which ahs come my way for some months" - and then caps it with an extremely concerned reminder that he will be at Violet's beck and call "any time day or night." That's more than he offered Miss Stoner in Speckled Band, and he knew she was being physically abused. Add in calling Violet "quite exceptional" and... well, you can see why Watson got all hopeful that Holmes would fall in love at last!


Fanciful Sherlockisms: 0, although there is that long speech about the evils of the countryside in Copper Beeches, followed by... a visit to the country to see horses which doesn't bother him at all. I don't consider his "Haven't I met you, Mrs. Straker?" moment to be fanciful because he was using it to directly gather data.


Watson's Wits: Variable. In Beeches Holmes has to remind him that the child's behavior is a clue to the parents' attitudes. However, in Blaze, Holmes calls one of Watson's points "excellent" and "important" and outright asks "if you can give me any light, I shall be infinitely obliged." And it's Watson who saves them time by finding the hoofprints doubling back.


Next week: The Cardboard Box, The Yellow Face, The Stock-Broker's Clerk (Cardboard is from a different collection, but the stories were written in this order.)

( The Five Orange Pips )


( The Man With the Twisted Lip )


( The Blue Carbuncle )


Count of Exotic Locales, Dark Recluses, and Strange Cults:
One each for Orange Pips - I count America as exotic for the purposes of the Strand audience, "uncle" is a recluse and the KKK is being treated like a cult. Carbuncle scores a point for mentioning China.

Sherlock doesn't actually *solve* anything: Orange Pips. Stories like that are going to come faster, says the woman who's been reading head. (Gloria Scott is a particular nadir; he makes one deduction. Which is wrong.)

(Not) Mysogyny watch:
5OP: "I have been beaten four times - three times by men and once by a woman." Much can be read into this - that the loss to Irene is more painful because of her gender seems to be a common interpretation - but I don't see a lot of horror of femininity rolling out of what is a basic statement of fact.

MTL: "I was wondering what I should say to this dear little woman tonight when she meets me." Would a man who loathed women call one "dear," much less worry that much about her feelings, which he twice mentions? I think not. Holmes also mentions with approval Mrs. St. Clair's quick eye in finding details and her bravery in rushing into the opium den. And finally, when she directly challenges Holmes to tell her his opinion without sparing her feelings... he tries to spare them anyway. (Modern Sherlock, on the other hand, would have just blurted whatever was in his head.)

The line "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner" can cut either way. If you read it as Holmes saying it seriously, then it's another blow to the misogyny theory. But it's also possible to read it as him trying to humor a woman who has put a lot of weight onto the newly-delivered letter.

Nothing is particularly said either way in Blue Carbuncle.

Oddly Poetic Holmes: They're all in Carbuncle this week:
- "Has [the goose] returned to life and flapped off through the kitchen window?"
- "They are the devil's pet baits... every facet may stand for a bloody deed."
- "It laid an egg after it was dead."

New category: Useful Watson. Because he's starting to get his druthers as a true colleague of Holmes':
5OP: Watson (presumably because of his taste in seafaring tales) recognized that all the orange pips came from someone travelling by boat

MTL - Holmes laying out the facts saying "maybe you may see a spark where all is dark to me."
- Watson pointing out that the body would not be wearing a coat alone

BC: Admittedly, here's a blow on the other side: Watson is the butt of the standard "you know my methods" and "You fail... to reason from what you see" lines.

Next up: March 26: The Speckled Band (link to Stanford U version), The Engineer's Thumb, The Noble Bachelor

What made it doubly interesting is that my Dover Thrift copy of Sign of Four (So4) is bound with Study in Scarlet (SiS) so I could do some immediate comparison of the infamous continuity glitches:

"I was struck in the shoulder by a Jezail bullet" (SiS, p2)
"...sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it" (So4, p95)

"Sherlock Holmes: his limits. Knowledge of literature, nil. Knowledge of philosophy, nil... Knowledge of politics, feeble." (Sis, p10)
"He spoke on a quick succession of subjects - on miracle plays, on medieval pottery,... on the Buddhism of Ceylon... handling each subject as though he had made a special study of it." (So4, p150)
"Let me recommend this book... Reade's Martyrdom of Man." (So4, p103)
"Goethe is always pithy" (S04, p126)
(redpanda13 has pointed out that the limits list was made very early in Watson's acquaintance with Holmes, and Holmes may have been jerking him around.)

Or Watson could be that unobservant, ( considering the internal glitches )

Perhaps this is to be expected of someone who routinely gets flustered and says things like "I told her one moving anecdote as to how a musket looked into my tent... and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it" and "overheard me caution him against the great danger of taking more than two drops of castoroil, while I recommended strychnine in large doses."

Maybe he didn't get sent home from the army because he got shot, y'know?

On the other hand, Sherlock's not so bright either, not when he keeps mentioning the "many" cases of his that Watson has published -- all of one at this point, which Holmes claimed was too romantic ("much the same effect as if you worked a love-story... into the 5th proposition of Euclid") and then turned around and himself says ( stuff like this )

Sign introduces the infamous 7% solution, and I notice that my annotated copy was very anxious to sidetrack by pointing out that at the time cocaine was legal, and then wandering off into a discussion of how likely it would be to be injected and if Holmes was actually taking a reduced dose. Certainly the straighforward Watson seems to be willing to eat his own stomach lining out in an ulcer over "many months" resenting the drug habit until he gets his courage up through his own Watson's Little Helper ("the Beaune [burgundy] which I had taken with my lunch".)

( We learn much about Watson; his nerves, his love life, and the reminder that he was a man of his time (read: dismissive and racist) )

So4 is also a little bit like that joke about Hamlet being nothing but cliches strung together - ( it's certainly a kickline of famous Holmesian moments )

And then there's the Holmes and Women issue. Watson's main issue in complaining of misogyny appears to be that Holmes "did not observe" if Mary was beautiful; in Holmes' defense, he's right that getting involved leads to biased judgment and that charm and looks have nothing to do with personal character. (Besides, Holmes is observant enough to realize that Watson's practically panting at first look at her, IMO.) Holmes insists throughout that it's not that he dislikes women, he dislikes "whatever is emotional [because it] is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things." He neither tries to split the newly formed couple apart (as Holmes does in the Ritchie movie) nor insults her. Instead, the supposed misogynist compliments Mary as "one of the most charming young ladies I ever met" and even higher, calls her "a decided genius."

Next Saturday is entirely devoted to the Team Wench Privateer Feast, our biggest fundraiser for the year. So I'll see the rest of the Saturday Sherlockians in two weeks, when we discuss The Red-headed League, A Case of Identity, & The Boscombe Valley Mystery.

To add a point of clarification on the previous poll (as I can't change the post now without mucking up the poll) the really easy way out - dump paper and get from library if you ever want to reread - isn't an option. I checked the availability in the county system along with the availability on ebooks.

While I'm not doing what I ought to be doing today, or at least not giving it full concentration thinking about books, I've had an idea about Saturday Sherlock. Or at least Hound of the Baskervilles when I/we get there... in May... not that I'm really jumping the gun here...

Anyway - although anyone playing the home game has been reading along at the clip of 3 chapters a week, I thought because it's a given everyone doing this has a computer and because the downloads are free, when we hit Hound we shift to reading directly from the Stanford U pdf edition. It's going to extend the reading time a bit, BUT I think it's totally worth it because SU's version is an exact duplicate of how it was originally printed - including all the cliffhangers.

I think it would be a ton of fun to read it exactly as it had been first presented, including not peeking ahead. (Bonus points in comments for people either reading for the first time or pretending to read for the first time and speculating.)

When we get there I'll mention it on meta_holmes and holmesian_news, because this would be a really cool group project, Y/Y?

At long last, the return to Our Heroes as we wrap up Study in Scarlet! What I find most interesting about this book is the rather hilarious description of Holmes as quiet and tidy, considering how he's going to be described later

Rather than read only a single chapter of Sign of the Four, which is next, I'm going to jump ahead chronologically to A Scandal in Bohemia. And I'm going to pimp Stanford University.

For a couple of years, S.U. had a reading project where they wanted to give people the feeling of what it was like to read classic serial publications as actual serials. So you could sign up and get Hard Times and some Sherlock Holmes delivered to you weekly in little newsprint booklets. (My life feeling as out of control then as now, I saved them all up to read later. *sigh*)

All of these booklets are up online as readable/downloadable .pdf files. I highly recommend them because I just flat out like the way they're presented - using the same typeface and illustrations as the original Strand Magazine, plus with neat little notes at the end explaining some things. (I particularly like that these are endnotes and not footnotes/annotations scattered throughout the text distracting you from the actual story.

A Scandal in Bohemia can be downloaded here.

Lots of Mormons this week. Fortunately next week, we return to Dr. Watson.

(Also and unrelated - check meta_holmes tonight for a post called "Mummy Issues." I've been thinking about it ever since the Baker St. Supper Club post about Mrs. Hudson, but won't be back online until evening.)