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#sherlockhomes
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Ke633
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So excited to finally open my #autumncomfortswap box!! Thank you so much to @JessieKB I love all of it! Socks, hot chocolate, fall coasters, fall tea, books, chocolates, and a sweet note! How fun! And from someone close by! ☺️ thank you for everything. And thank you

Ke633 Cont… thank you @thebacklistbook for hosting our swap! 1mo
JessieKB YAY!!!! I am so glad you loved it🧡🍂📚I definitely enjoyed shopping. Happy fall reading!!!! 1mo
18 likes2 comments
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Cuilin
The final problem | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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#NoPlaceLikeHolmes

Considering it was a short story that kills off our hero it was an exciting read.

IndoorDame Based on the writing leading up to this, I don‘t think there was an active intention to bring him back. But the ending does seem pointedly ambiguous, so maybe Doyle was leaving the door open to change his mind and resurrect him later if he was struck with inspiration for more stories. 2mo
Librarybelle My thoughts exactly, @IndoorDame . This was my first time reading this story, and I was amazed at how it could lead to a return. 2mo
See All 11 Comments
Cuilin @Librarybelle @indoordame it‘s interesting that Watson is writing this two years after the “fall”. 2mo
CogsOfEncouragement This is a reread for me, & I‘ve read how SH is “resurrected”. I‘ve also seen a twist on how SH survived in a movie. It does almost seem like Doyle left the possibility there. Especially the way Watson tells us how he used the skill of observation that he learned, & told us about the foot prints he saw, etc. The more I think about it, the more I think Doyle may have realized he just really needed a break but might like to write more at some point. 2mo
dabbe Doyle did want to be taken seriously as a writer (with the exception of the fairies' writings perhaps), but he made his money with Sherlock. Perhaps one doesn't ever want to totally give away a good thing--especially when it relates to one's wealth--so, you might leave a little caveat--just in case. 2mo
kelli7990 I wasn‘t expecting it. I was wondering why the story sounded so final like the author just wanted to be done with it. 2mo
Cuilin @kelli7990 yes it was sudden. I believe it took him eight years to release a new story 😲 2mo
Bookwomble @CogsOfEncouragement @kelli7990 @dabbe Doyle said his Holmes stories were hack work & kept him from his historical novels, such as The White Company, so killing Holmes was a way of ending that distraction. His wife took sides with publishers & public, eventually persuading him to bring Holmes back in that obscure tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles! This was written as a reminiscence, so Holmes remained canonically dead at that point. 2mo
Bookwomble Also, Doyle got death threats for killing off Holmes, so bat-shit fan boys are not a strictly modern phenomenon! 2mo
dabbe @Bookwomble And the public had to wait nine years for HOUND to come out and three more for Holmes to really be back! 😱 2mo
29 likes11 comments
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kspenmoll
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Look what I found at the library! 🕵🏻‍♀️🔎
#NoPlaceLikeHolmes

dabbe A SH pastiche by these authors? #stacked!!! 🤩🤩🤩 2mo
kspenmoll @dabbe Yes! Apparently the editors invited writers who to write short stories inspired by SH. A #libraryfind 2mo
51 likes3 stack adds2 comments
review
Bookwomble
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes | John Dickson Carr, Adrian Conan Doyle
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Pickpick

All the stories have a suitable Holmesian atmosphere, the first two of the twelve being somewhat ridiculous, but then they tend to get better with each one. There's a degree of trope-dumping to be expected of a pastiche, and some recycling/redressing of plots, but Doyle Snr. did that himself.
No telling of the Giant Rat of Sumatra case, the most evocative title for me of all the Untold Tales, but otherwise a pretty strong offering. 4🔎
👇

Bookwomble Edith von Lammerain is a powerful Irene Adler stand-in, though of a darker strain, and not one to evoke any of Holmes's admiration.
If you've read and enjoyed the Canon, these are a good addition.
(edited) 4mo
37 likes1 stack add1 comment
quote
Bookwomble
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes | John Dickson Carr, Adrian Conan Doyle
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"I find recorded in my notebook that it was on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 16th of November, 1887, when the attention of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was first drawn to the singular affair of the man who hated clocks."

- The Adventure of the Seven Clocks

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

ShyBookOwl Fun! 4mo
34 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Bookwomble
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes | John Dickson Carr, Adrian Conan Doyle
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📔 The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes? ✅ Check!
🔖 Sherlock Holmes bookmark? ✅ Check!
🧦 Sherlock Holmes socks? ✅ Check!
🔎 The game's afoot! 😁

Having read the full Canon last year, I'd decided I would read my TBR Holmes pastiche books, and as we're halfway through the year it's time I got started!
This one is almost canonical as it was co/written by Doyle Jr. (some dispute between him and Carr as to who wrote what).

TrishB Love the book mark matching ❤️ 4mo
Bookwomble @TrishB It's gratifying when it's possible 😊 4mo
LeahBergen What @TrishB said! 👍 4mo
40 likes5 comments
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dabbe
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Librarybelle This one was very limited action from Holmes…it‘s like he was a secondary character in this telling. Because, it really is just him telling Watson of this episode in a friend‘s life for which he just happened to solve the cipher that led to a reveal. I mentioned this last week, but I think you can tell Conan Doyle is getting a little tired of Holmes. The method this time: Holmes telling a story of which he is tangentially involved. 4mo
Cuilin @Librarybelle the only action we get from Holmes is his party trick!! I know this about you because …. Oh and now we know he based his whole career on it. 😆 (edited) 4mo
Librarybelle @Cuilin 😂 Yes we do! 4mo
See All 9 Comments
IndoorDame Maybe that‘s why he‘s been reluctant to tell Watson how he got his start. My question is what made him change his mind now. 4mo
Cuilin @IndoorDame right or why is Doyle telling us this about Sherlock? Is he ready to fling him over the falls? 4mo
dabbe @Cuilin It's only a few stories away. I definitely had the feel that Doyle was tired of SH and ready to move on ... to the fairies perhaps? 🤩 4mo
Cuilin @dabbe OMG the fairies 🧚 🧚🧚 I forgot all about that. 4mo
CogsOfEncouragement Enjoyable short story. Not what we might think of for a SH tale, but I still like it. 4mo
kelli7990 I enjoyed this story. 4mo
36 likes9 comments
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dabbe
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Librarybelle I‘m surprised he took the advice of someone! 4mo
Cuilin Yes, it fell a little flat for me. While the story of the mutiny and escaping transportation was exciting it really didn‘t have anything to do with Holmes detective skills. 4mo
IndoorDame It wasn‘t very flashy or impressive. But it seemed natural to me that even someone like Sherlock would be more receptive to praise from a rich powerful older man back when he was college aged and even more socially isolated. 4mo
See All 8 Comments
dabbe @IndoorDame And isolated and introverted he was/is! (edited) 4mo
dabbe @Cuilin Me, too. But maybe that's why Holmes likes to start out analyzing his clients--it's what led to his profession. 4mo
dabbe @Librarybelle Maybe because then he was still young and (perhaps) readily influenced? 4mo
Librarybelle @dabbe Maybe??? That sounds logical! 4mo
CogsOfEncouragement When he says he's going to tell Watson how, I did expect that he had ended up in the middle of some mystery. But that is maybe because that is the set up for most ameteur sleuth stories. LOL This explanation actually made a lot of sense to me. Adults notice strengths of young people and make these sorts of comments all the time. It tracked for me. 4mo
31 likes8 comments
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dabbe
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Librarybelle At one point I counted the quotations within the quotations…whew! Honestly, at one point I kind of forgot I was reading a Holmes story. He‘s barely involved. It‘s a twisted story, in that someone from the past is seeking revenge, monetary gains, and/or acknowledgement that he is still alive and can tell the secret. 4mo
Cuilin Oh this was so convoluted. The story within the story within the story. Oh my! 4mo
IndoorDame The writing style was a lot of work. I‘m not sure it completely doesn‘t work for me, but I think of SH as a read-for-fun kind of thing, so it didn‘t work for me in this piece. 4mo
See All 7 Comments
dabbe I found it rather difficult to follow at times, too. I had to keep going back, trying to remember, “Oh, right ... it's Holmes talking to Watson using Trevor's voice talking to his son ...“ 🤪 4mo
CogsOfEncouragement Yes, I was laughing at the quotation marks too. Anyone read Frankenstein? LOL. Anyone listened to their teen daughter lately - or tried to explain to their mom (the grandma) about their teen daughter's (the granddaughter) social life lately? Just me. Okay. LOL 4mo
dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement I thought of FRANKENSTEIN the whole time I was reading it, though I believe it was only one frame story, not two. And for a short story to have two--that's where all those quotation marks go crazy! 😂 4mo
CogsOfEncouragement @dabbe I read it about ten years ago, but I remember setting it down to tell my husband that I was reading a story, within a story, within a story. lol 4mo
31 likes7 comments
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dabbe
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Librarybelle I thought the cipher was more ingenious in that there was a code, albeit a simple code, to identity the message. It‘s my guess that the British at this time still considered Australia to be a bit wild—though it was no longer the place the British sent their convicts (I did a quick search and saw it ended about 25-30 years before the publication of this story), I‘m sure they had visions of unlawfulness. 4mo
Cuilin @Librarybelle good research. @Dabbe Unfortunately there was an idea that it was a place full of “convicts” and therefore wild. You could be sent for anything from grand larceny to petty theft. 1 in 7 were women. (edited) 4mo
IndoorDame I think the wild myth has persisted. I don‘t think the fact that Australia started as a penal colony is still the first thing that comes to mind for most people, but I know lots of people who if you say Australia immediately think ‘an incredible amount of deadly wildlife‘ - and that‘s mostly what they know about the place, still just cliches. 4mo
dabbe @Librarybelle Excellent research. This would fit perfectly then because the mutiny took place 20-30 years earlier than the publication date. 4mo
dabbe @IndoorDame Or they think of it as the “land down under.“ #menatwork 🤩 (edited) 4mo
29 likes5 comments