Canon Discussion Post: The Reigate Squires

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

It's canon discussion time, everybody! What did you all think of The Reigate Squires (or Squire, or Puzzle, depending on your version)? As always, I've written up a few of my own random thoughts and comments, which are behind the jump. Add your own in the comments!



- The end of this case is particularly bizarre. Who on earth is Annie Morrison? Even Holmes doesn't know the relationships between the actors involved here. Not that it much matters to him. The crime is solved, even if the details are foggy.

- It's entirely off-topic, but hilariously, both times we've read this story, I've described the move to disarm Alec Cunningham by Inspector Forrester in my notes as a "judo chop". That discovery made me laugh, anyway.

- Holmes is extremely famous already in his career, garnering international acclaim for his role in the Netherland-Sumatra Company affair. I expected his semi-obscurity to last longer, honestly. But he's making a name for himself everywhere now. I wonder what Watson thinks of all of this? Is it strange to be the friend/assistant of the world's most famous detective? Does he get used to the kings and jewels and awards and such?

- We should all be as lucky as Holmes to have a friend as loyal as Watson. He's sublime here, rushing to Holmes' bedside when he is sick, watching out for him during his convalescence, and doing whatever Holmes needs when they're on the case, from accepting embarrassment and blame for him to buy him time to saving his life when two people try to kill him. And through all of that, he only blames himself ("Oh, what an ass I have been!") for not figuring out Holmes' schemes earlier. Sometimes I think I am in love with John Watson through Sherlock Holmes' eyes.

Comment away, and join us next week for A Scandal in Bohemia along with its Granada adaptation!

Comments

[debriswoman]

Holmes seems to get a great deal of pleasure from wrong-footing Watson in this tale; despite the debt he owes him for Lyons. The Cunninghams seem to be a lovely pair, not entirely sure how they would have explained away a strangled Holmes on the floor... and I am glad I am not the only one puzzled by Annie Morrison.

Confirms Holmes' reasons for wariness about the countryside, though.

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

I think being very famous and being well-known among certain circles as a sleuth back then were two different things, and they were different to being famous today. Back then it was relatively difficult to find out about a person's looks, with photography in its first stages and comparatively little transfer/circulation of images. Well, comparatively. I'm not deeply enough into the history of photography to estimate how long it took to take an image, based on which year each story takes place in, but I guess Holmes had a lot more control about photos of himself being taken, just as well as stories being spread. If there were as many delicate matters involved as we're often told via Watsontype, then I'm quite sure his fame didn't spread universally, but only in those inner circles. This largely excluding the public, as well as its criminal portion, I guess it left Holmes with enough privacy to keep going the way he was used to.

To be honest, I also always wonder why Watson doesn't get Holmes's games. *lol* But he's an awfully nice man, mostly. He's rather unique in that, and I'd like to see a movie adaptation capturing that.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User thisprettywren referenced to your post from Sunday, 7 October 2012 (http://holmesian-news.livejournal.com/240925.html) saying: [...] | Hudson, Holmes, Mycroft | G | BBC, Cabin Pressure) + Misc Discussion Post: The Reigate Squires [...]

[azriona.livejournal.com]

Late to the party this week and last - I literally finished this story about an hour ago. What I found most interesting in reading Reigate Squires as well as Second Stain on top of each other is that the mysteries both seem to center around letters. In the Second Stain, it's the letter the unknown king/ruler/whoever writes that goes missing; in Reigate Squires, it's the letter that William is clutching when he dies.

(There's letters involved in next week's story, Scandal in Bohemia, as well, but they're not quite so central to the mystery, at least not as much as the photograph.)

So now I'm wondering - is this just a coincidental plot device? Or do letters feature in many of the stories, and thus it's not so notable? As this is my first read-through, and we're not very far in, I'm hesitant to say one way or another, so I'm curious what those who have read more of the stories (and possibly kept notes, hint hint) would say.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Letters do feature in other stories, some as important plot points, others as more of an incidental. I wonder whether it's more noticeable because all communication was by letter or telegram, whereas now there is a greater use of other forms of communication. By which I mean that for the original reader there was nothing exceptional in the use of a letter.

[azriona.livejournal.com]

I think that makes sense - I wasn't sure if I was reading into it too much or not!