Conan Doyle on Dr Watson

(crossposted to jwatsonmd )

(from "The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", compiled by Peter Haining--thanks again to wirral_bagpuss for pointing out the book!)

"...I have often been asked whether I had myself the qualities which I depicted, or whether I was merely the Watson that I look. Of course I am well aware that it is one thing to grapple with a practical problem and quite another thing when you are allowed to solve it under your own conditions. At the same time a man cannot spin a character out of his own inner consciousness and make it really lifelike unless he has some possibilities of that character within him--which is a dangerous admission for one who has drawn so many villains as I."
**
The Critic and the Snake

(crossposted to diogenese_club )

(from "The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", compiled by Peter Haining)

I thought everyone might enjoy this excerpt from an article written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Truth about Sherlock Holmes":

"...the impression that Holmes was a real person of flesh and blood may have been intensified by his frequent appearance upon the stage. [He mentions writing a play called 'Speckled  Band', based on the short story.]....[The play] was a considerable success.

We had a fine boa to play the title role, a snake which was the pride of my heart, so one can imagine my disgust when I saw that the critic of the Daily Telegraph ended his disparaging review by the words: 'The crisis of the play was produced by the appearance of a palpably artificial serpent.' I was inclined to offer him a goodly sum if he would undertake to go to bed with it. We had several snakes at different times, but they were all inclined either to hang down from the hole in the wall like inanimate bell pulls, or else to turn back through the hole and get even with the stage carpenter, who pinched their tails in order to make them more lively. Finally we used artificial snakes, and everyone, including the stage carpenter, agreed that it was more satisfactory."

Reposted from vasily_sergeev 
**

Щебечут птицы гимн весне!

( Several more: )

Lost Things

OH, I could let the world go by,
Its loud new wonders and its wars,
But how will I give up the sky
When winter dusk is set with stars?
And I could let the cities go,
Their changing customs and their creeds,—
But oh, the summer rains that blow
In silver on the jewel-weeds!

Sara Teasdale

http://www.poemhunter.com/