Discussion Post: The Adventure of the Creeping Man

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Hello, all! How did everyone find The Adventure of the Creeping Man? It's a bit of an odd one, isn't it? We definitely have some questions to ponder, but first, I'd like to apologize for my timing with these posts (and tags, commenting, etc.) -- I'm still getting used to modding, and I have been flying by the seat of my pants a bit. Pair that with some IRL issues and things really go off the rails. I'm going to set up a more concrete schedule for myself so everything will be more predictable and reliable. I am very sorry about this, and I promise I'll do better for you all. That aside, on to The Creeping Man!

- Could this story be considered science fiction? It borders the concept at least, which is strange territory for Sherlock Holmes. Holmes treads very rational ground as a rule, but this premise of essentially a were-monkey strains credulity indeed. Is science fiction desirable for a detective story, or is it better to stick to the plausible world? Would going even further into science fiction be better, throwing Holmes and Watson into all-new, bizarre-even-for-them territory?

- Holmes expresses a very grim, social-Darwinist view at the end of the story, lamenting the prolonging of "worthless lives" and the "survival of the least fit". Is this a step too far for Holmes or does it still make sense for his character? He is a cold fish on a good day, but this is a dark place even for him. And does the position even make sense? Doesn't it almost make an argument against health care entirely, perhaps saved only for a select set of worthy people? Who decides the worthy? Holmes himself? Seems like a very strange position for a man whose best friend is a dedicated physician.

- Not an important point or an actual question, but this is the second week in a row we've had a villain get his throat bitten out by an enormous dog. It's a bit of a funny trope to see twice in such a short span of time, a quirk of our alphabetical schedule. At any rate, Doctor Watson must be getting better at caring for these kinds of wounds with all the experience he's had.

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I agree, Holmes in a true science fiction scenario could be fascinating (thank you Spock). I suspect he would continue to work by his premise that having eliminated all the other options what is left has to be correct (sorry, badly paraphrased) and therefore he would accept that ghosts are real (or at least in the particular universe that he found himself in).