Baker Street and Beyond Message Board

Greetings fellow Sherlockians! I didn't even know that LibraryThing had groups until yesterday, but when I saw that there wasn't a specific group for us, I felt something must be done about it. I'm also a fan of the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King and that connection also brings in Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L. Sayers (she did write a short story where a young Peter consults Holmes on the important matter of a lost kitten as well).

And now, a question for you... I recently bought Nicholas Meyer's The Seven-Percent Solution on the strength of it being a fairly well-known pastiche, but haven't read it yet. Was it worth the buy?

It's been years since I read The Seven-Percent Solution, but I remember enjoying it a great deal. One of the better pastiches.

(I see that the touchstone "engine" describes the author as John H. Watson! Presumably that's because of the way Nicholas Meyer described his authorship on the cover. Bit of a pity that the Editor himself doesn't get the same credit on the actual canon.)

I don't think I read the Sayers story with young Peter and Sherlock Holmes. Sounds like it's worth looking up! Where did it appear?

Wow, I wonder if I still have my old Bootmakers* newsletters kicking around somewhere. It would be awesome to catalogue them on LT!

*the Toronto, Canada chapter of Sherlockians/Holmesians

I believe the short story appears in a little known volume called Sayers on Holmes.

On a related note, I finally found a library with Edward Petherbridge as LPW. I watched Clouds of Witness with Ian Carmichael, but no more after that. He's too far removed from my mental picture of LPW, though the actor playing Bunter wasn't bad.

Has anyone read Thrones, Dominations or A Presumption of Death by Paton Walsh? I'm eager for more Wimsey/Vane, but not sure to trust another author with them.

Netflix also has the Edward Petherbridge series, in case anyone's interested.

I read Thrones, Dominations and have a copy of A Presumption of Death from the library right now, sitting on a dresser, as yet unread.

Paton Walsh simply isn't Sayers. Seeing Lord Peter and Harriet Vane again was a pleasure, though not one I'd pay much for.

I believe the short story appears in a little known volume called Sayers on Holmes.

It does, indeed. In fact, the existence of that volume in my library and your mention of it here combined to lead me to this group, thanks to the "My Books" feature on the "Talk" page. (These people will stop at nothing to get me to join groups!)

I have read Thrones, Dominations, and cannot recommend it. Paton Walsh drew on Sayers' notes, but was simply unable to replicate her voice.

Yep, I really enjoyed The Seven-Percent Solution when I read it, quite a few years ago.
Has anybody ever read the essays Christopher Morley wrote on Sherlock Holmes? Brilliant!
Some of the pastiches are good, some others less.
Waiting4morning, I like the Mary Russell series as well.
:-)))

I believe the short story appears in a little known volume called Sayers on Holmes.

It does, indeed. In fact, the existence of that volume in my library and your mention of it here combined to lead me to this group, thanks to the "My Books" feature on the "Talk" page. (These people will stop at nothing to get me to join groups!)

Well, that makes 2 of us - same for me! There's only 5 of us with Sayers on Holmes and 3 are here.

I'm a Mary Russell fan myself, though Lord Peter really has my heart these days.

I totally agree, waiting4morning. I have never liked Ian Carmichael as LPW or as Bertie Wooster from the P.G. Wodehouse books. He is far too OTT, brings no subtlety to the roles. He is also too chunky for LPW, who I imagine as quite slim and bony.

Never heard of the Mary Russell books, must try them. I have started a Laurie King, but didn't get into it. Can't remember why...

Speaking of actors in well-known literary roles, I am happy that modern screen versions of Sherlock Holmes portray Dr Watson as a normal human being, rather than a fat blithering idiot. I've always thought he was supposed to be reasonably intelligent, so that the reader can identify with his bafflement, not so we can sneer at his obtuseness (obtusity? obtusitiousness?). What do others think about Dr Watson?

I agree with you, akenned5. Dr. Watson has always been portrayed as a clumsy rather idiotic fellow, quite different from the books. Even in the books, though, he sometimes appears as not extremely bright, we must admit that!

Even in the books, though, he sometimes appears as not extremely bright, we must admit that!

And rather blinkered by his naivete, I think.

Even so, there's something appealing about Watson - his loyalty, his bravery, his acknowledgment of his limitations - even when those are used by Holmes to his own advantage - Hound of the Baskervilles comes to mind. To some extent he's supposed to represent the every-Englishman, and that I can respect.

Oh, there is no doubt about that, parelle.
He is certainly the kind of friend anybody would wish to have, his loyalty unquestionable and, at times, moving.

My last name is Watson, and I must admit that my major motivation for pursuing a Ph.D. is the prospect of someday becoming Dr. Watson. I have had this plan since childhood, when I first realized that I would never be able to pull off an MD.

OK, Dr. Watson!! :-))

Alas, I haven't quite gotten there yet!

I am sure you will, soon enough. :-))

LOL. Well, it's a laudable goal.

Watson is lovable, yes; and minorly analogous to Rex Stout's Fred Durkin, as described.

As far as I recal, The Seven-Percent Solution was quite good, for that sort of thing.

What a wonderful ambition! That is the best motive for doing a PhD I have ever heard ;-> Yes, the comments about Watson's naivete are true. Good guy, quite sexist and racist, not super sharp but average and ordinary.

I am happy to announce that I am reading Sherlock Holmes for THE VERY FIRST TIME, and I'm loving it. How could I have waited so long, you ask? Alas, I don't have a reasonable excuse, except that other books got in the way. Someday, I may enter the "beyond" phase like the rest of you, but for now, I'm happily trodding along Baker street.

well, then, kbalma...HAPPY READING!! I know you will enjoy it more and more and more as you go on with your reading. :-))

kbalma,

Which one are you reading ? Just curious.

Everyone,

Greetings, fellow Baker Street irregulars. Just for information, a customer of our family business runs a rather impressive web site A Study in Sherlock - you could do worse than have a look.

Returning to David Stuart Davies, who I mentioned as writer of Sherlock Holmes The Last Act on another thread. the book I have is The Shadows of Sherlock Holmes, a short story collection featuring the works of Conan Doyle`s contemporaries - some well-known, some all but forgotten. There`s a rather poor Holmes parody, The Stolen Cigar Case by Brett Harte, but much good stuff as well, including an early Sexton Blake.

....continued from prev message.

I`ve just finished The Shadows of...

It was every bit as good as expected !

I notice the introduction mentions two Conan Doyle books I`ve not come across - Memories and Adventures and Through the Magic Door. Divies also mentions the memoirs of Eugene Francois Vidocq - a real-life criminal who became head of the French Surete.

Anyone come across these ? Are they worth a read ?

Hello, just stumbled across this group and found three of my four favorite mystery authors mentioned here! I have to find a copy of Sayers on Holmes! Had no idea such a thing existed. As a rule I do not like the additions to an authors canon, such as Thrones and Dominations, or the horrible ones of Nero Wolfe, whose title I can't remember. However, I love what Laurie King is doing with Sherlock Holmes. As far as I am concerned, she has taken him from myth and made him a real man (the one I always suspected was there, but could only speculate about).

I have not finished, but am much enjoying, the Shadows of Sherlock Holmes, as recommended by Nick. Worthwhile.

Funny you should mention me ! I`ve bought a couple of other interesting titles lately - The further Adventures of sherlock Holmes, ed Richard Lancelyn Green, a collection of Holmes stories written by writers who were not Conan Doyle during the post-Reichenbach period - apparently numerous writers were roped in to fill the gap left by Sir Arthur during this period. That`s a modern Penguin.

I also picked up a very grimy and disreputable-looking copy of The Man who was sherlock holmes by Michael and Mollie Hardwick (1964). I`ve not had a chance to look at it properly yet though.

Mm... the first sounds very good. Back to Sexton Blake (I was lying on the couch reading the Blake tale, recuperating from yesterday's holiday).... Incidentally, it's one of my favorites, thus far.

Speaking of Shadows of Sherlock Holmes, still: I just noticed, in going back over a wishlist, Wordsworth's American edition of the book, printed under the more misleading and generic title The Best of Sherlock Holmes. Amazon has it for $4.99, lest anyone is interested. Though I ordered mine from further afield, I only paid a dollar more, and got a much better cover, which I've enjoyed every time I picked up the book. But I was fortunate.

The collection is quite a nice one; well-chosen, varied. A couple of the stories - three out of nineteen - I've read before. This includes one of Poe's, one by E.W. Hornung - long may Raffles live! - and one by Clarence Rook, 'The Stir Outside the Cafe Royale'. My memory of reading Chekov is sketchy, but I may have come across his, 'The Swedish Match', before. The feeling and flavor, despite the mix of American and British tales, is far and away the most rustic and foreign I've read. Other stories give glimpses of Loveday Brooke, that rare being, an upper-class lady detective, imagined at the time, not in latter years (another, perhaps less elevated, stars in 'The Stir Outside the Cafe Royale'); three tales by associates of Doyle, one by his friend Grant Allen which is clever and charming, and two by his brother-in-law E.W. Hornung, one with Raffles, and one without; and much else. I'm getting tired and I've not finished yet, but hope to make more sensible comments soon. In essence, while two or three of the stories I've read have been less than impressive, most are excellent and a good supplement for any true lover of Holmes and his period.

I daresay 'Baker St. and Beyond' was concieved as mainly running forward in time, but I'm happy to see it spreading, instead, sideways: through more avenues that are contemporary.

I've not read Vidocq's memoirs, but I think Jacques Futrelle's detective in The Mystery of the Yellow Room was based on him.

While I have a couple of other Loveday Brooke stories anthologized, I think I'll have to add C. L. Pirkis to a small pile, including Ernest Bramah and Guy Boothby, of authors I must now acquire on their own.

Eurydice, you make me want to run and look for the book, be it on Amazon, Abebooks or elsewhere. Thanks for the precious input!
:-))

And talking of ladies detectives, have you ever read Lady Molly of Scotland Yard by Baroness Orczy? Pretty cool.

You're most welcome! I did hope it would have that effect - though thanks are due to Nick for putting me onto it, and finding a good cheap copy! :) Lady Molly was mentioned in here - though the Baroness Orczy story features Skin o'My Tooth, instead. I don't think I've ever read any, but I'd love to. Will follow that up, as well. :)

For those that want a quick look at Lady Molly :-

http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602751h.html

Thanks, bluetyson! Will do.

Hi, just joined this group after reading the Sherlock Holmes collection this summer. I had need of an easy read in a waiting room and Hound of the Baskervilles was a free book on my new phone. Little did I know that it would lead me to read the entire collection, the rest of which was read from wikisource.org, also on the Treo. Not my ideal reading medium, but you go with what you have. (Carol)

I think some of you might be interested that BBC7 is broadcasting The Return of Sherlock Holmes in a series of 7 daily installments starting Monday (September 22). You can listen for up to a week afterwards online here if you don't catch it live.

>37 christiguc: I'm listening to the episode entitled The Norwood Builder. One of the voice-actors is Peter Sallis, the guy who did the voice of Wallace in the 'Wallace and Gromit' series and movie. As I listen, I can't help but wonder if he is going to start asking for cheese and crackers ;P

I've always heard criticism of the deerstalker cap as never being mentioned in any of the stories. However, the authors of The Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Sherlock Holmes write about it thus:

Clearly the hat appealed to Conan Doyle, for a year after it first appeared in Paget's drawings, in "The Adventure of Silver Blaze," the author described Holmes's face, "framed in his ear-flapped traveling cap"--his closest reference to a deerstalker.

I assume this point must have been made by others, and I just had never heard it before, right?