My Virtual Reading Room

Reading this (thanks again to wirral_bagpuss ;)
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"Arthur Conan Doyle: A life in letters"; edited by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, & Charles Foley

A delightful book, I would recommend it to anybody who likes Doyle's SH stories. The letters are interspersed with other materials, from Doyle's writings, other people's accounts, etc. A few excerpts:

Doyle about his mother, from his novel "The Stark Munro Letters":

"...She reads when she knits, she reads when she scrubs, she even reads when she feeds her babies. We have a little joke against her, that at an interesting passage she deposited a spoonful of rusk and milk into my little sister's ear-hole, the child having turned her head at the critical instant...."

Doyle in an 1894 interview:

"We talk so much about art that we tend to forget what this art was ever invented for. It was to amuse mankind--to help the sick and the dull and the weary. If Scott and Dickens have done this for millions, they have done well by their art."

And here's the beginning of chapter 1:

"Arthur Conan Doyle's literary turn of mind showed itself early. In 1864, not yet five years old, he took up a pencil to craft a thirty-six-word story involving a Bengal tiger and a hunter armed with 'knife, gun and pistle.' Recalling the story later, he said he had 'remarked to my mother with precocious wisdom that it was easy to get people into scrapes, but not so easy to get them out again.'"

Bending the Willow UPDATE: The new edition of BENDING THE WILLOW will be available from the end of June, and we're now accepting orders. Email us at ashtree@ash-tree.bc.ca if you'd like more information.

I've got the TV SH book! (this is the cover of the 1994 edition, and I got the 1986 one, but still :)  Thank you so very much to ldymcbeth for the book recommendation!




The book is a true gem; I must share with you this poem, written by E.V. Knox (editor of Punch) in 1939, after watching the Rathbone and Bruce in HOUN:

'The stately Holmes of England, how beautiful he stood
Long, long ago in Baker Street--and still in Hollywood
He keeps the ancient flair for clues, the firm incisive chin,
The deerstalker, the dressing-gown, the shag, the violin.

But Watson, Doctor Watson! How altered, how betrayed
The fleet of foot, the warrior once, the faster than Lestrade!
What imbecile production, what madness of the moon
Has screened my glorious Watson as well nigh a buffoon?

Is this the face that went with Holmes on half a hundred trips
Through nights of rain, by gig, by train, are these the eyes, the lips?
These goggling eyes, these stammering lips, can these reveal the mind
How strong to tread where duty led, his practice cast  behind?

His not to reason why nor doubt the great detective's plan--
The butt, maybe, of repartee yet still the perfect man,
Brave as the British lion is brave, brave as the buffalo,
What do they know of England who do not Watson know?

We have not many Sherlocks to sift the right from wrong
When evil stalks amongst us and craft and crime are strong,
Let not the Watsons fail us, the men of bull-dog mould,
Where still beneath the tight frock-coat beats on the heart of gold.

Watson, who dared the Demon Hound nor asked for fame nor fee,
Thou should'st be living at this hour. England hath need of thee!'
Thus did I muse and muse aloud while wondering at the flick
Till people near me turned and said, 'Shut up, you make us sick!'

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P.S. Love the literary allusions...:)

I've seen this book at Barnes&Noble bookstore the other week...it's a really interesting format.  It contains "newspaper clippings", Watson's "case notes," and other evidence pertaining to 5 of their cases.
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7 Days Meme copied from holmes221b

The 7 days meme:

day one • a song
day two • a picture
day three • a book/ebook/fanfic
day four • a site
day five • a youtube clip
day six • a quote
day seven • whatever tickles your fancy

Well, anyone who knows me knows I'm reading all the time...so it's very, very difficult for me to pick just one book/ebook/fanfic. So with your gracious permission, I'm going to pick one of each :)

Book:

"Adventures In Two Worlds" by A. J. Cronin.  An excellent book and one I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with an interest in writing or medicine.  An electronic copy may be found here: www.archive.org/stream/adventuresintwow011750mbp/adventuresintwow011750mbp_djvu.txt

I must warn you, however, that it does contain a fair number of typos, so reader beware :)

Ebook:

"The Complete Father Brown" by G.K. Chesterton.  Wonderful psychological mystery stories; one of my favourites along with Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/Complete_Father_Brown/index.html

Fanfic:

It is difficult to choose one among so many...but since I have to choose just one, I'll have to day KCS's and PGF's Vows Made in Storms, as that one was the one that really drew me into the SH fandom :)

www.fanfiction.net/s/4090135/1/

With thanks to elaby

THIS IS PRICELESS!

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/706/706-h/706-h.htm

Read the first story so far ("The Ides of March"); will have to read more as time allows...

elaby was quite right; I love the characters' relationship and interaction, and there is a lot of Holmes in Raffles...the plots aren't terribly exciting, but the other things make up for it ;)

Cat