Discussion Post: The Solitary Cyclist

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, everyone! How did you all find The Solitary Cyclist? As always, I have some of my own random thoughts and questions to help get you started. Please add your own!

- "I shall, however, preserve my former rule, and give the preference to those cases which derive their interest not so much from the brutality of the crime as from the ingenuity and dramatic quality of the solution." Actually, I would enjoy seeing the more mundane cases too. Holmes chooses his cases for interest, but especially early on he just needed to work for rent. We only get to see the most dramatic or bizarre incidents from Watson. I wish we could see more into the everyday working life of a consulting detective and his partner.

- I fell down a Wikipedia hole looking into a thought I had from SOLI. I started with wondering about Victorian women and how they bicycled in their dresses. My path: cycling → history of cycling → history of the bicycle → Victorian dress reform → corset controversy → tightlacing. By that point I was hopelessly sucked into Wikipedia's vortex again, learning all about a new random subject for no real reason. Ah, Wikipedia, I love you. (Please forgive my random internet musing. It's been a long week.)

- My hat's off to Holmes for being a perfect gentleman here with Violet Smith. He is kind to her, taking her case while he is busy with another, and protecting her when no one else does. Even Watson thinks her case is not a dangerous one, dismissing the threat posed by Woodley. "..But, except on one occasion, he had not molested our client." Ah, yes, but on that one occasion, he absolutely did molest her! I was surprised Watson was so casual about that.

-- Miss Smith, like Miss Hunter before her, is a bold lady. They're definitely not shrinking... er, Violets. (I'm sorry, you can kill me.)

- "No, she's your widow." Nice Arnold Schwarzenegger kill line, Carruthers!

- Do you think that Carruthers deserved so much credit from Holmes for attempting make amends? His actions to protect her later are fine and good, but he bargained her away as a slave for his own con game!

Comments

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

I was positively surprised by the very positive light shed on Violet Hunter and her cycling activities. It seems obvious from the many references to her health and strength that this revolutionary exercise for women must have been approved by Conan Doyle. Maybe because he was a doctor?

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

He was a very keen cyclist himself, and he and his wife often shared a side-by side tandem for miles of riding around the countryside...

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's sweet! So he could check if she wore pants, and she could check if he'd check out any of the other ladies wearing pants, and... where does this thought lead?

HELLO LADIES.

There. It's already happening.

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

:-D

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

and he had shares in tyre and cycle and lightweight bike wheel engines.

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

This article is probably not so much related to the story, but touches on a few interesting aspects of cycling I hadn't known about before:
http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/lesbians-and-cycling-in-the-1890s/

[wild-huntress.livejournal.com]

From what I've read about corseting back then (admittedly relatively little and a while ago), a corset = like a strong, tight undergarment that compressed the waist etc but within some measure of reason. The fashion of tight-lacing = the considerably more extreme version that was much worse for women's health, but also looked down upon by some Victorian women as a sign of major vanity, an attempt to flaunt one's figure in an overly sexualized way, etc. The way corsets were supposed to be worn by most women may not have been as bad or as extreme as we sometimes think now, supposedly. Not sure how much easier this would have made biking though!

And yes, Violet Smith is great, as is Holmes' conduct towards her. I especially love the scene where Violet reverses course to chase her follower, to the approval of an amazed Watson!