Bother it all, you had to say the word “annotated” and remind me that I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of The NewAnnotatedSherlock Holmes for ages now. If I’d remembered this before, I could’ve picked up one of those to fill out my Amazon order, instead of binging on comic books like Saga and ***Manhattan Projects Vols. ***1 and 2.
I think I’ll have to do Sherlock as a birthday/Christmas gift to myself, perhaps. Maybe paired with the Granada/Jeremy Brett DVDs.
Meanwhile, I continue to putter along with Musashi, though I’m sure I’ll find some time for the aforementioned TPBs.
Just started Scott Reynolds Nelson’s Steel Drivin’ Man, one historian’s attempt to find out the true story behind the now legendary/semi-mythical railroad builder John Henry. A pick of my book club, and more than a bit dry so far, alas.
Finished Inferno, by Dan Brown. It was okay. The wife found it a little boring regardless of the fact that it is immersed in the same field in which she works, population studies. Our favorite of his remains the first one we read, The Da Vinci Code. We’ve read all his others since, and neither of us has ever understood all the Dan Brown hate. We like him just fine. No doubt all the Brown bashers are making him cry all the way to the bank.
Next up: Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin.
I finished another non-fiction, Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery, by Paul Collins (from NPR). This was reasonably interesting and I would recommend to people who like New York City history. The “true crime” aspect wasn’t too graphic, the focus was more about the social and historical setting of NYC at the end of the 18th century.
For fellow YA readers, the second in a series, this one is Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. I thought the first one was just okay, but this sequel was a big improvement. Magic/fantasy/adventure/romance, and one of things I really like about this series is that it uses a Russian-esque medieval setting. I never know how to recommend books in a series when the individual books are uneven – I enjoyed the second one so much, but could easily see how the first could fail to grab a reader.
Finished One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross while waiting for my car to get fixed. It was interesting, but the actual mystery and solving thereof seemed a bit rushed at the end. If I read anymore Kemmelman books, I need to stay near a dictionary to look up all the Hebrew and Yiddish terms he uses.
I’ve read several of the Rabbi Small books, and I learned a lot about Judaism from them.
I just finished A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, which won the 1961 Hugo Award. It’s a bit weird in places, but I liked it. It was originally published in the 50’s as three novelettes which the author pieced together into a novel. The first one is set 600 years after a nuclear war, at a monastery in Utah where “memorabilia” from the pre-war era is being doggedly preserved, although most of its meaning has become indecipherable.
The first story is more amusing than one would expect in a post-apocalyptic novel, but the next two stories get progressively darker as the centuries pass and mankind begins to repeat the cycle of destruction. All the stories focus on characters at the monastery, and the book has strong Catholic themes about the sanctity of life. There’s a lot of Latin to look up, but Wikipedia has a handy page with translations.
I haven’t been reading much lately. I worked part way through Chess for the Gifted and Busy by Alburt and Lawrence, and I’ve improved my game as a result (though that’s not saying much).
Finally finished Don Quixote. I enjoyed it but doubt I will read it again.
Now I’ve started Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman, since I enjoyed the TV series.
I thought the middle story (the “Renaissance” portion) was the most interesting. I thought the first story was a little silly and the last story didn’t resound with me much (maybe because I’ve never been particularly afraid of nuclear war).
Just wanted to pop in and mention that I really hate the New Annotated Sherlock series. I spent a pretty penny on them sight unseen and now I’m planning on dumping them on Amazon Marketplace as soon as I can be bothered to dig them out again. Physically, they are gorgeous but the footnotes were awful. If you’re into the “Great Game” of pretending that Sherlock was a real person and that all the contradictory info in the books can be endlessly debated and arcanely rationalized, then you will enjoy the annotations. They are also good at pointing out plot holes in the story, but it’s annoying to have every mistake Conan Doyle made footnoted and retconned with “Watson must have been confusing the 8.15 from Paddington with the 8.13 to Waterloo.” If you’re not a Great Gamer, the footnotes are tedious and spoiler-filled and only occasionally informative.
Having read the canon a few times now, I’m not too worried about spoilers. Not that I remember the twist to every single story, as I certainly don’t, but I’m not (and never really was I) so much in it for that, or for trying to outguess Sherlock. (Which is often impossible anyway, as you’re not given key observations until Sherlock is explaining it at the end.) Mostly I read them to go visit with my friends John and Sherlock, to have a pipeful from the Turkish slipper by the hearth–literary comfort food, if you will. I also enjoy going back to their time, and I’d think the annotations might be nice for learning a bit more about that. Am I mistaken? That they treat the Holmes-i-verse as real (with a wink and a nod) doesn’t bother me; rather, I find it charming.
I’m partially setting Musashi down, or at least making room for some other, fluffier things. As mentioned in my earlier post, I picked up The Manhattan Projects Vols. 1 and ***2 ***to pad out an amazon order for one of their “add-on items”. IIRC, I actually heard about this particular comic book series right here in one of these very threads, though I may be mistaken. Just finished Vol. 1 at lunch today. While I generally hate the visual presentation, which tends to make absolutely everyone look as if they have some strange skin disease at the very least, I’m enjoying the “modern-day mad science” aspects of it. Not to mention Einstein as a drinker, Oppenheimer as massively multiply-personalitied, etc. Either this evening or tomorrow I’ll read Saga Vol. 1, as I’ve got a The Incomparable podcast that’s been sitting on my iPhone for months waiting for me to read it so I could listen. (Those boys do not tread lightly around the unspoiled–if they’re discussing it and you want to read/see it, you’d best save the podcast for after.)
I also recently discovered the joy of Comixology, and have been reading my way through the “Batman '66” comics that revisit the Adam West Batman of the 1960s and do a nice job of capturing the campy spirit. I’m still waiting for the Joker to show up, so I can see if he keeps the mustache. This also means I’ll be catching up with some favorites: The Unwritten, Fables, Jack of Fables and Elephantmen are all due a good binge.
LawMonkey, Erdosain, I hope you’ve discovered June Thomson’s Sherlockian pastiches. They’re as good if not better than some of Conan Doyle’s originals. She has his narrative voice and knack for clever plots. Start with The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes.
Actually, it sounds like you would like the New Annotated edition, LawMonkey. I was reading the stories for the very first time and the annotations sucked all the fun out of it for me. Not to mention told me the killer’s name before he had even been introduced as a character!
One thing that probably will disappoint is that only (I’m estimating here) 20-25% of the footnotes are explanations about Victorian culture etc. Most are about reconciling the internal chronology of the stories and explaining away Conan Doyle’s sloppiness with character biographies and continuity errors. Some of these theories are admittedly clever, but just don’t interest me (I’d rather chalk up Watson’s disappearing wife to authorial carelessness than an elaborate conspiracy).
I never liked the Great Game. Holmes is more fun because he’s fictional. Pretending he was real takes some of the magic away. If I wanted true crime, I’d be reading it.
I picked up a new (to me) book by Salman Rushdie: Luka and the Fire of Life. It follows the younger brother of Haroun (from and the Sea of Stories) as he tries to save their father from destruction yet again. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but I’m really enjoying it. Rushdie has a great sense of humor that I sorely miss when I read Indian literature by other authors. (For example, when Luka’s mother’s complaining about his PSP and Wii and other gaming platforms, she announces that she’s “in-console-able.” I love it.)
I thought Watson’s wife came down with a serious case of extraneousness, with the official cause of death listed on the certificate as “impediment to plot”. (IOW, once it was clear that the public was not going to let Doyle kill Holmes off, she served no purpose and got in the way of the classic Holmes/Watson dynamic that readers loved.) But you’re right–the New Annotated is for the at-least casual Holmesian who’s been through the canon a time or two, not for the neophyte. It’s disappointing to hear that there’s not more Victorian culture/history stuff in there, though.
I’ve once again let life get in the way of doing reviews over here (tho not reading - I ALWAYS find time for reading!) so here’s some quick comments on my recent perusals:
I picked up The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde thanks to Barking Dog’s recent review. Apparently a new series, as it’s not set in either the same world as the Tuesday Next books, or the Nursery Crimes; but in a similarly skewed British Isles - here referred to as the Ununited Kingdom.
We meet Jennifer Strange, an indentured foundling who is the current first in command of Kazam - an employment agency for magicians. The actual first in command has gone missing, and since the wizidrical power in the world is slowly drying up, so is their business. A prediction of the death of the Last Dragon at the hands of an unknown Dragonslayer throws Jennifer’s life upside down. With her faithful Quarkbeast (“9/10th velociraptor and kitchen blender and 1/10th Labrador”) at her side, she finds herself entwined in some very Big Magic indeed.
While it’s marketed as a Young Adult book - it’s a fun romp for any age, in my opinion. Fforde’s quirky sense of humor runs rampant thru the novel, but Jennifer is a down to earth heroine who reminds me a bit of Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching (even if Jennifer herself can’t do magic). Worldbuilding is something Fforde excels at (tho as a Yank, I occasionally feel I’m missing some of the in-jokes) and his supporting characters are quite enjoyable. The second in the series *The Song of the Quarkbeast * is due out next month & I’m quite looking forward to it. I listened to the audiobook version (performed wonderfully well by Elizabeth Jasicki) and bought the Kindle version as it is on sale this month - definitely worth the $2.00!
Another audiobook I quite enjoyed recently was Frames, the first in the Valentino mystery series by Loren D. Estleman. I read the third in the series Alive! back in July and really enjoyed it, so thought I’d go back to the beginning. Valentino (named after the film star with some resemblance, apparently) is a UCLA film archivist who’s not averse to going the extra mile to track down rare reels from Hollywood’s early years. He buys a decrepit movie palace (against his better judgement) only to discover what could be a jackpot - the long lost reels of the original version of Erich von Stroheim’s silent masterpiece Greed. Unfortunately, the discovery results in a potential homicide investigation and Valentino, along with his mentor, and a feisty co-ed law student, find themselves in a race against time to help solve the case and save the film from potential destruction. Oh - and did I mention von Stroheim himself makes a otherworldly appearance or two?
I only dabble in the mystery genre - there has to be some other hook to spark my interest - in this case it’s the classic film connection. I’m a minor film buff, and would like to learn more about the Golden Age of Hollywood. Valentino is a well-written character, and the plot stays on the lighter side of the genre - no lives are on the line, and I don’t think a single gun is brandished anywhere in the novel. The supporting characters have their fun quirks, and there’s just a touch of romance along the way. I’m looking forward to reading the middle novel in the series - Alone - fairly soon.
This also means I’ll be catching up with some favorites: The Unwritten, Fables, Jack of Fables and Elephantmen are all due a good binge.