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Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes
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Start Reading- Publisher:
- Laurie R. King
- Released:
- Feb 12, 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781301051458
- Format:
- Book
Description
From time to time, people have asked me to comment on Sherlock Holmes, in ways other than what the novels provide. This collection of eight documents have all been published before, occasionally in slightly different versions. Some of them are straight nonfiction; others participate wholeheartedly in "The Game," that wildly imaginative edifice of Sherlockian schlorship built upon the solemn declaration that Holmes and Watson were absolutely real, that Conan Doyle was but their literary agent, and that the stories are absolutely factual--if only we lesser mortals can figure out the apparent flaws and omissions.
This collection includes the following essays:
Dr. Watson's War Wound, which was delivered as a guest lecture to the annual Baker Street Irregulars, where I solemnly played the game--complete with footnotes!
The Sabine Baring-Gould and Sherlock Holmes essay was published in the UK journal of the Sabine Baring_Gould Appreciation Society (which turned out to be a bit rude to Sabine's grandson who plagarized his grandfather's memoirs).
A Holmes Chronology is an explanation of why "my" Sherlock Holmes isn't an aged geezer whenb Mary Russell walks over him on the Sussex Downs in 1915.
Sherlock Holmes on Beekeeping, from the long lost volume by Holmes on his research into bees.
Art in the Blood was commmissioned by Penquin for their website as an introduction to Arthur Conal Doyle.
. . . and three more. Textrual, Higher, Radical, and Midrashic Sherlockian Criticism: and introduction to The Grand Game, Introduction to The Hound of the Baskervilles, and LRK on ACD.
Book Actions
Start ReadingBook Information
Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes
Description
From time to time, people have asked me to comment on Sherlock Holmes, in ways other than what the novels provide. This collection of eight documents have all been published before, occasionally in slightly different versions. Some of them are straight nonfiction; others participate wholeheartedly in "The Game," that wildly imaginative edifice of Sherlockian schlorship built upon the solemn declaration that Holmes and Watson were absolutely real, that Conan Doyle was but their literary agent, and that the stories are absolutely factual--if only we lesser mortals can figure out the apparent flaws and omissions.
This collection includes the following essays:
Dr. Watson's War Wound, which was delivered as a guest lecture to the annual Baker Street Irregulars, where I solemnly played the game--complete with footnotes!
The Sabine Baring-Gould and Sherlock Holmes essay was published in the UK journal of the Sabine Baring_Gould Appreciation Society (which turned out to be a bit rude to Sabine's grandson who plagarized his grandfather's memoirs).
A Holmes Chronology is an explanation of why "my" Sherlock Holmes isn't an aged geezer whenb Mary Russell walks over him on the Sussex Downs in 1915.
Sherlock Holmes on Beekeeping, from the long lost volume by Holmes on his research into bees.
Art in the Blood was commmissioned by Penquin for their website as an introduction to Arthur Conal Doyle.
. . . and three more. Textrual, Higher, Radical, and Midrashic Sherlockian Criticism: and introduction to The Grand Game, Introduction to The Hound of the Baskervilles, and LRK on ACD.
- Publisher:
- Laurie R. King
- Released:
- Feb 12, 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781301051458
- Format:
- Book
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Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes - Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King's
Sherlock Holmes
Laurie R. King’s Sherlock Holmes
Laurie R. King
Copyright Laurie R. King 2013
Published at Smashwords
Table of Contents
An introduction to Laurie R. King’s Sherlock Holmes
I. Dr. Watson’s War Wound
II. Sabine Baring-Gould and Sherlock Holmes
III. A Holmes Chronology
IV. Sherlock Holmes on the Art of Beekeeping
V. Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms.
VI. Textual, Higher, Radical, and Midrashic Sherlockian Criticism
VII. Introduction to The Hound of the Baskervilles
VIII. LRK on ACD
About the Author
Laurie R. King is a third generation Californian with a background in theology, whose first crime novel (1993′s A Grave Talent) won the Edgar and Creasey awards. Her yearly novels range from police procedurals and stand-alones to a historical series about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.) Her books have won the Edgar, Creasey, Wolfe, Lambda, and Macavity awards, and appear regularly on the New York Times bestseller list. Find out more at LaurieRKing.com.
Books by Laurie R. King
The Russell Books:
Garment of Shadows (2012) ISBN: 978-0-553-80799-8
Pirate King (2011) ISBN: 9780553807981
Beekeeping for Beginners (2011) E-novella
The God of the Hive (2010) ISBN: 9780553805543
The Language of Bees (2009) ISBN: 9780553804546
Locked Rooms (2005) ISBN:9780553386387
The Game (2004) ISBN:9780553386370
Justice Hall (2002) ISBN: 9780553381719
O Jerusalem (1999) ISBN: 9780553383249
The Moor (1998) ISBN: 9780312427399
A Letter of Mary (1997) ISBN: 9780312427382
A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995) ISBN: 9780312427375
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (1994) ISBN: 978-0-312-42736-8
The Stuyvesant & Grey Books:
Touchstone (2008)ISBN: 9780553803556
The Bones of Paris (Sept 2013) 9780345531766
Stand-alone novels:
Califia’s Daughters (2004) ISBN: 9780553586671
Keeping Watch (2003) ISBN: 9780553382525
Folly (2001) ISBN: 9780553381511
A Darker Place (1999) ISBN: 9780553578249
The Martinelli Books:
The Art of Detection (2006) ISBN: 9780553588330
Night Work (2000) ISBN: 9780553578256
With Child (1996) ISBN: 9780553574586
To Play the Fool (1995) ISBN: 9780553574555
A Grave Talent (1993) ISBN: 9780553573992
An introduction to Laurie R. King’s
Sherlock Holmes
I was thirty-five years old before I came to know Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and then only indirectly, through my ongoing relationship with one Mary Russell. I admit that at first, I did not really take the man very seriously, and admired him more as a noble counterpart for the young lady than as a character in his own right.
As time went by, however, I became increasingly interested in the man and his times. I began to explore more fully the ways in which a man like him (Could any man be like Holmes?) would react to the stunning changes that took place in British society during the first two decades of the twentieth century. I began to suspect that Arthur Conan Doyle, brilliant though he was, had shortchanged his character by keeping him safely in the past and denying him a post-War England.
From time to time, people have asked me to comment on Sherlock Holmes, in ways other than the novels provide. The present collection finds eight of those documents, all of which have been published before, occasionally in slightly different versions. Some of them are straight nonfiction; others participate wholeheartedly in The Game,
that wildly imaginative edifice of Sherlockian scholarship built upon the solemn declaration that Holmes and Watson were absolutely real, that Conan Doyle was but their literary agent, and that the stories are absolutely factual—if only we lesser mortals can figure out the apparent flaws and omissions. The Game requires a degree of mental contortion that makes a Chinese Gymnastics show look like a collection of doddering arthritics. Many find The Game amusing, challenging, and competitive: others stare in bewilderment.
One piece of Sherlockiana not included here is the actual Holmes pastiche that came about when my editor suggested a story that combined my two series characters of Kate Martinelli, modern cop, and Mary Russell, amateur sleuth of the 1920s. That particular contortion was beyond me, but I did manage to discover (in The Art of Detection) a hitherto-unknown Holmes adventure that took place in San Francisco, which turned out to be suitably outrageous.
This collection includes the following essays:
Dr. Watson’s War Wound was delivered as a guest lecture to the annual Baker Street Irregulars meeting in January, 2007, two years before I was inducted into their august ranks. This annual lecture varies wildly with the speaker, from a psychiatric analysis of Holmes himself to gossip about television productions of the stories.
I decided that, for the occasion, I should solemnly play The Game, complete with footnotes. It is without a doubt the most formal paper I have delivered publically for many years, and I was incredibly relieved when the audience neither fell asleep nor stormed the podium in horror. A portion of the lecture appeared in The Grand Game vol. 2, eds. Klinger and King (New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 2012). The lecture itself appeared in the Baker Street Journal, 57, no 1 (Spring 2007).
Sabine Baring-Gould and Sherlock Holmes came about when The Moor was published in the UK and the journal of the Sabine Baring-Gould Appreciation Society, politely amused at my effrontery, invited me to contribute an article. My essay turned out to be a touch rude towards Sabine’s grandson, W. S. Baring-Gould, author of Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: a life of the world’s first consulting detective, since I point out that W.S. largely plagiarized his grandfather’s memoirs. Still, compared to what I put old Sabine through in the novel, I don’t know that the grandson had reason to complain.
A Holmes Chronology is just that: an explanation why my
Sherlock Holmes isn’t an aged geezer when Mary Russell walks over him on the Sussex Downs in 1915. It is another example of The Game, and you will be pleased to know that my proposed chronology is not without controversy in Sherlockian circles.
Sherlock Holmes on Beekeeping was a gorgeous little booklet published by Heifer International as a fund-raiser in conjunction with the publication of The Language of Bees, a volume in the Russell memoirs that contains excerpts from the long-lost volume by
Reviews
I had a great difficulty in finding the previous installments, so I started with the only one that was available at the time, The Game. I enjoyed it very much, plain and simple. I will not bore you with plot details. However, I must stress that the setting of the story - India during the turbulent period of the 1920's- was a major plus. It made for an exotic read. The descriptions were vivid and rich. In fact, they were so detailed that they ended up becoming seriously tedious after a point, especially when I wanted the story to move forward. I don't need to know every single detail of decoration or dresses or plants. This was a major fault, in my opinion. A fault that continued all through the book. It was too wordy, too descriptive, and even the dialogue itself was tiring at times, although faithful to the era depicted.
Mary Russell is a very interesting character. She is clever and kind, but not obnoxious, and patient enough to deal with her genius of a husband. She is a worthy companion to Sherlock who - I am glad to say- retains his familiar characteristics. Laurie R. King created a version of Sherlock Holmes that the lifelong reader of Arthur Conan Doyle can connect with. She didn't try to make Mary appear ''smarter'' than him, nor did she make a dogmatic, all-knowing Holmes. She created a worthy couple, equal in intelligence and respect, and that was refreshing. The mystery itself was innovative, although a bit predictable, blending Kipling's Kim in the narration, and finding an equal balance between a world full of superstitions and concepts written in stone and the people who desire their freedom.
The Mary Russell series is nothing earth-shuttering or Booker Prize-worthy, but it is a quality light read with two superb characters. Thankfully, I've found the other books since I bought this one, and I intend to follow the couple's adventures.
P.S. Hey, Elementary ''writers'', pay attention! This is how you create a female companion without making Sherlock appear an idiot!
I'm not even going to mention Bindra. Please, O Author. Less Cute Local Color Sidekick with Mysterious Ties to the Plot and more PLOT. My own personal thought, perhaps based on a superficial reading of the book, was that had the maharaja not been dangerously violent and insane, his plan to lure the Russians into his territory and then close them off for the Brits to massacre was a GOOD plan, for the British, and it's bloody unlikely even in those days that the law would have acted so quickly. Why not sensibly wait until the plot to help Britain has been accomplished and then catch the man being nutters? While I don't deny that I'm jaded when it comes to today's politicians, the mahajara's end plot seemed a terribly flimsy premise to hang a novel on. And why does he keep Kim? Because Kim is Kim. And what does he do with Kim? Oh, nothing much, just keeps him in a cell.
The novel needed about 200 more pages of plot and plausibility. I know King loves to set up lovingly detailed, vibrantly described, thoroughly researched set pieces of the places Russell and Holmes visit, but I could have sacrificed some of that in this particular novel. I was disappointed. And Mycroft's illness? Barely mentioned. Not even necessary for the plot. I wanted more character development, as per the other Russell novels, and less gratuitous lesbian couples et. al. I may not buy this one, and I own all the others.
It felt sometimes like Russell's authorial voice was so dense it was getting in the way of my seeing what was really happening- like she was so focused on her own thoughts that I couldn't see, say, Holmes' real expression at her hair or Mycroft's actual state of health. The believability was just slipping. I hope this all means King is setting us up for a real killer of a next book, in which Mycroft's health matters and Holmes gets to do more than 'not react' to whatever wild stunt Russell has set up next.
I would now like to note a few common features to ALL the Russell books:
A) Russell will, at some point, be required to Prove She is Not Just a Gurl by performing some astonishing and unexpected violent action against the Male Who Questions Her Fitness, usually involving throwing a knife which strategically grazes the man's hair/beard/moustache/whatever. Russell is now 24, and while I found this behavior acceptable in, say, O Jerusalem, when she is young and in an unfamiliar, highly tense situation where a lot is hanging on her abilty to successfully impersonate a man and protect her companions, now it just seems immature. I know a long discussion of feminism would be a bit dull in the middle of the action, but there must be a better way. "Smart enough to know when only violence is the answer" charms the first few times (okay, so it always charms when Holmes does it, but Holmes just charms) but it begins, now, to pall.
B) No matter where she is, Russell will acquire Perfectly Tailored clothing perfectly suited to her needs, always including at least one evening dress which is unsual/striking enough to arouse comment in other female onlookers. I wish I had Russell's ability to conjure couture from thin air. I admit I enjoy this feature, as I love clothing and can deal with it being lovingly described for pages, but it does begin to strike me as silly when she ends up with a perfect set of outfits AND fitting shoes in the middle of India, secret intelligence agency connections or no.
C) There was a C. At one point, there was a C. I no longer remember it.
I do have a question RE: Sexuality in King's Russell novels. It seems to me that Mary Russell is with increasing frequency being drawn into situations where she is in close contact with a powerful man of remarkable physical features to whom she is attracted, or at least whose attractiveness she mentions frequently enough that one could easily assume she is attracted to him. In The Game, especially, Russell at one point towards the end specifically mentions that she looked into (Intelligence Head Guy- I forget his name's) "beautiful" face and thought only of her husband. This seems, after many mentions of the man's intelligence, to be almost a victory for Russell over a sort of temptation, or at least a subconscious attempt to reassure herself that she is, in fact, able to overcome the charms of men. Could she be tempted towards dalliance despite her almost aggressively stated "sex and sexual attraction are minor points" stance of Monstrous Regiment (which is quite similar to Holmes' own)?
She is married to a much older man. Holmes' own reactions to other men who show their interest in Russell, even when she is in the guise of a single woman, therefore removing any moral or ethical mark from the mens' characters, are strongly negative and almost violent- uncharacteristically so, I should say, if the man is confident of his wife. Russell also often comments on Holmes' reticence and undemonstrativeness, generally when he is in fact being demonstrative- perhaps there is some kind of tension there, she feels neglected at times, or he fears she does? Their blissful home-scenes belie this sort of reading- the marriage seems stablest when she and Holmes are home together being domestic, or both working on separate projects in the same house- but perhaps that's the point- investigations put quite a strain on the marriage relationship. However, if they are both under so great an amount of strain, it isn't being conveyed well in the latest novel, to the point that Russell's incredible anxiety about leaving Holmes in the hands of his captors, a throwback to events in O Jerusalem, seems inappropriately emotional for the moment. I just wonder about Russell's instances of attraction to other men and her frequent mentions of this attraction. What is the author trying to convey here, if anything?
Holmes are off to India to find a missing spy/agent. The book
took me about two months to get into, but once I got past the
10th chapter or so, the pace picked up. Russell and Holmes
are up to their usual tricks and disguises. The setting is interesting, but I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the others in the series. I found that the books are greatly enriched by knowing what happened in previous books, which is why I was determined to get through this book, but it was a bit of a trial.
Having really enjoyed the last in this series after a long break I wondered whether this would be as much fun to read. It was. Russell and Holmes go to India searching for a lost British spy, who in a neat fiction tie in, is Kipling's Kim when he's all grown up. Good holiday reading.