What I'm Reading Wednesday

[thisbluespirit]

(Gosh, bi-monthly. Look at me. :-D)

What I've Just Finished Reading

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, which a friend gave me for Christmas. This was the book that looked liked the easiest going off my to read when spoons pile, and it was. It was a recent Sherlock Holmes 'missing adventure' type novel and ticked all the boxes and was fun.

I then happened upon three more actual Sherlock Holmes books in a charity shop soon after and got them, so I've been re-reading for the first time in years The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles, all of which were perfectly readable, yay. (I feel v proud of myself). Interestingly, with the actual books it is very easy to hear Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock, which helps, but not so much with the 'new' one. (Anthony Horowitz was imagining Jeremy Brett, he said. I wouldn't have supposed it would make much difference which classic Holmes model you used but maybe it does.)

I also read and took notes from Barnstaple's Vanished Lace Industry by Peter Christie & Deborah Gahan. Obviously, this was a very specific local history book for family history purposes, so not likely to be of general interest, but it was useful (and not as dull as the title sounds). It did, however, reinforce my feeling from reading the North Devon Journal entries that Barnstaple is very possibly not a real place, although I don't know what that says about me or my Granny's relatives. It could explain a lot...


What I'm Reading Now

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (I got to the bit where Holmes reappeared, as you do; priceless), and in NF note-taking the very light and readable Eavesdropping on Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adkins. I would recommend it to all Regency Romance authors as it included a short section on naming and how most people didn't have middle names. (I know I'm mean about names, but the "What's your middle name?" question is a particularly head!deskworthy point every time it occurs.)


What I'm Reading Next

I don't know, meme! I'm only on the first few pages of "The Empty House", honestly. It depends on my mood and my spoons and what I find next in a charity shop or library to distract me from the to be read pile. But I do feel reasonably sure that there will be a next book now, and that's a good feeling. (Tomorrow, the world, people! \o/)


ETA: I'm still taking questions/topics for the Talking Meme *looks around hopefully*

Comments

[justice_turtle]

Ooh, look at you go! :D *snuggles* I'm drawing a complete blank on Talking Meme questions, but I'd actually love to hear more about Barnstaple, its vanished lace industry (did they do knitted, tatted, or bobbin lace?), and why it is or is not a real place. It sounds very entertaining. ^_^

*all the hugs*

[thisbluespirit]

*hugs you back*

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable topic for the meme to me! *makes it so*

[earthspirits]

I LOVE Sherlock Holmes - including cool and unusual variations (my preference is for Holmes & Watson in paranormal adventures). "House of Silk" is one I've read (and own), and I thought it was very good. : )

[thisbluespirit]

I liked it! Although it's been a very long time since I read the originals, and obviously I have been enjoying them more. :-)

[damzel]

I seem to find myself re-reading the Holmes stories every couple of years. Even when I've convinced myself I'm totally done, there's something new to enjoy in there. I really thoroughly enjoyed the House of Silk as well, although the silk/SILC thing was probably a bit too obvious as a plot twist!

[thisbluespirit]

Hee, I rarely spot plot twists like that! (Holmes will do it for me, I don't see why I should do it! ;-D) I haven't re-read them for years - if I'm honest, I found them okay but a little dull and lacking in women when I was a teenager. I appreciate them for what they are a bit more now, though. :-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I read House of Silk because I generally like AH's writing (Foyle's War and all that), but I've not bothered with its sequel as I'm not a huge Holmes fan. Nor have I yet read his Bond novel - I've found most of the 'new' Bond novels generally irritating, TBH. (Sorry, totally random there...)

[thisbluespirit]

I would never have bought it for myself, but it was an enjoyable enough read. The ACD re-reads are proving far more fun than I remembered from when I was a teenager. I don't know whether it's having a Holmes and Watson voice I like in my head, or me just being old enough to appreciate their construction - and not being about 16 and wondering why there weren't more women in them, heh. :-)

And, aw, no, not random - I followed your thread there. And I can't imagine ever trying to read any Bond novels, so I don't blame you! A lot of these 'new' sequels etc. are so disappointing and frustrating anyway, aren't they?

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

LOL I read them for the first time as an adult, and knew there were few women in them - and still wondered why!!

Well Fleming's original novels are models of spare prose. I mean, the sexism and Orientalism are awful - but he was a good writer. I read them with interest from the PoV of a writer not a reader, if that makes sense (as in, what can they tell me about the art of writing). Of the later incarnations of Bond, Raymond Benson's were the least annoying, John Gardner's were increasingly silly and prone to Americanisation, and I didn't even finish the ones by William Boyd, Jeffrey Deaver, or Sebastian Faulks. And I've never read the young Bond books by Charlie Higson. (Though I have read some of Andy Lane's young Holmes series.)

[thisbluespirit]

Of course, and, I mean, with any writer, it just depends on whether you get something out of it that outweighs the bad enough to make it worth it.

Well, that deals with all the would-be Bond writers out there! I can see them all quivering and hiding from you now. ;-D

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

*snorts* Sure, totally quivering!

Absolutely. I knew, going in, that the Fleming's Bond books were a hotbed of misogyny and Orientalism, so I decided to concentrate on learning what I could from him from a writer's PoV, rather than reading them for the story. I could never hope to emulate his spare prose style as I'm way too wordy, but it was interesting to see how the narratives are constructed - the beats in the different scenes (action vs quieter/talkier scenes), etc.

[thisbluespirit]

I tell you, quivering and hiding under the bed! ;-p


*hugs you*

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

LOL Okay...

*hugs back* Thanks.

[di-daydreamer.livejournal.com]

I bought and read House of Silk some years ago, and I remember that I liked it quite a lot. The mystery was interesting, and I did like AH's writing rather well. It did have that 'classic Holmes' vibe to it, which I found enjoyable after some episodes of BBC's Sherlock.

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, it did the job very nicely, I thought. All the correct ingredients in place! And then I fell over some very cheap second hand actual ACDs I hadn't read for about twenty years, so I waltzed off with them and am enjoying them too.

[di-daydreamer.livejournal.com]

It had all that makes a Holmes story in my book! You enjoy your second hand ACDs :) It's been a while since I read some ACD, so I say it's time to take my big book of Holmes down from the shelf.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

The House of Silk sounds pretty neat :)

[thisbluespirit]

It was pretty enjoyable. :-)

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure my copy of Jane Austen's England is the same book - if so, it is rather good, isn't it?

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, it is! (To both questions! ;-D) I suppose the title got tweaked for overseas sales, as they do.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Yep, title and cover (mine is a bit more grim - in a disconcertingly folk art sort of way :)

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I've also been Holmesing, and for me he's just died. (Ish.) It's funny reading the books. Little things like Moriarty being little more than a cameo, and Lestrade being one of a whole parade of inspectors. Yet for some reason the TV and movies latched on to both of them like they're in every book!

I wouldn't have supposed it would make much difference which classic Holmes model you used but maybe it does.

If you're imagining Basil Rathbone (as I probably would), it would be set in 1943, and the bad guys would probably turn out to be Nazis. :)

[thisbluespirit]

Well, arch-enemies are hard to resist and it makes more sense for a TV show to use one Inspector as a regular than rotate between all the different ones and Lestrade turns up more than the others, so... :-)

(Don't worry, Holmes will be back!!)

I'm imagining Douglas Wilmer. :-)

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

Yes, Douglas Wilmer certainly makes a lot more sense! I've not seen much of his Holmes, but he did make a great cameo in "The Adventure Of Sherlock Holmes's Smarter Brother" in 1975, and clearly well suited the part. Basil Rathbone was so good though. It's just a shame that his adventures were turned into typical wartime propaganda, so in one film he's where he should be in the 19th century, and then the next he's punching out Nazis. I feel we missed out on a lot of potential. Also I think his version is largely responsible for the bluff old Watson, which is a trope that has come to annoy me rather.

[thisbluespirit]

Aww, I think it's fine to 'hear' whichever Holmes you like in your head when reading, and I haven't seen Basil Rathbone as Holmes (yet), but he was pretty awesome in that 30s film I have seen him in, and v easy to picture him being a great Holmes.

And, after all, punching Nazis is a thing the world still needs sadly. There are purist, classic Holmeses and modern AU Holmeses and Nazi-punching Holmeses - Holmeses for all! And why not?

(I do think Douglas Wilmer is splendid, though, obviously. :-D)

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

That's true. AU/different time zone Holmes can work just as well. And I do recommend the Rathbone Holmes; he does it awfully well. I could hardly claim that he had brilliant writers, though! They did rather knock those films out at the rate of knots back in those days.

I very much recommend "The Adventure Of Sherlock Holmes's Smarter Brother" as well, if you've not seen it. Although it's a Gene Wilder film, it has a real Carry On vibe to it, and most of the cast is British (Leo McKern, Roy Kinnear, Marty Feldman, etc).

[thisbluespirit]

I'm pretty sure at least one of the Rathbone Holmes films is on one of the Ealing Rarities installments I have wishlisted, so I may get to it at some point!

Yes, that one does sound like fun. And a bonus cameo from Douglas Wilmer can't be bad, can it? :-)

[qwentoozla]

The bit where Holmes reappears is so great, haha. I read every Holmes story in succession when I was 10, a time I remember very fondly! I'm sure I've reread some since then, but it's been years now.

[thisbluespirit]

It is the best bit. Holmes is such a drama queen!

[liadt]

I guess it would matter a lot if a writer models their writing on a performance. I watched Peter Cushing (60s BBC in colour - my eyes!) and he was very low key. I like Brett's intense edges but realise it can be a little much.

[thisbluespirit]

He was going foremost from ACD, but, yeah, imaging Jeremy Brett and it was oddly hard to hear Douglas Wilmer's Holmes, except from time to time, whereas starting from ACD you can hear the Holmes and Watson of your choice.

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (I got to the bit where Holmes reappeared, as you do; priceless)

I love that bit, especially in the Jeremy Brett series. They had the whole Dr. Watson fainting bit which I loved.

[thisbluespirit]

Fainting Victorian gents (esp doctors) FTW! :-D