Discussion Post: A Study in Scarlet

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Happy Sunday and welcome back to Sherlock60! What did you all think of A Study in Scarlet? As the novel-length introduction to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, there's lots to talk about. As always, I've written up a few of my random thoughts and questions for the story. Please add your own!

- So this is how it all begins, how lives and partnerships come together and legends are made. It seems as if Holmes was almost waiting for Watson, and he takes to the doctor immediately. Watson certainly needs a friend, a home, a place to belong after his long death-defying battle with injury and illness. He finds all of that in Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes. For his part, Holmes, ever the magician on his perpetual stage, finds a loyal and enthusiastic audience, and he seems grateful for it, watching over the doctor, making sure he gets rest when he seems tired, talking to him when he seems upset, and playing his favorite music as payment for suffering through Holmes' atonal caterwauling on the violin while he thinks.

- Personally, I have somewhat favored the novels we've read over the short stories for the extended involvement in the cases and the deeper depictions of the relationship between Holmes and Watson. That continues here with the all-important meeting and the budding of their friendship as well as the ever-present investigation and explanation, although we are unexpectedly derailed in the middle by the long, bleak interlude telling the story of John and Lucy Ferrier and their failed savior but eventual avenger, Jefferson Hope.

- What do you make of that strange second section, The Country of the Saints? It is blackly beautiful in a way, as harsh and unforgiving as the barren land it describes. It also is unlike anything else we have read, a direct third person narrative fully unrelated to Holmes or Watson, full of information and detail neither of them could have had. Even Jefferson Hope wouldn't have known the fine details of the original discovery of John and Lucy lost in the desert by the Mormon caravan. So who wrote it? Where did it come from? What did you think about the depiction of the Mormon religion? Or for that matter, the interior landscape of America? As foreboding as its name may be, even Death Valley is not nearly as lifeless as STUD would have you believe.

- Drebber and Stangerson were devoted to the religious system that served them so well, giving them eleven wives between them, yet at some point they defect and leave Utah entirely. We had been told previously in no uncertain terms that there was no hope of leaving the fold, yet that is exactly what they do (and John and Lucy do not). What happened? How did they manage it? Was there retribution? And what became of their wives?

- Doesn't it seem awfully convenient that Jefferson Hope dies so immediately from his aneurism, sparing everyone the problem of how to deal with his murderous yet righteous actions? Vigilantism, however justified, cannot be allowed in a civilized society bound by law, can it? If he hadn't died on his own, how would you have treated Hope and his crimes? He hunted Drebber and Stangerson for twenty years. Was there any way they could have ever made up for what they did to the Ferriers? Can there be any statute of limitations on crimes of the heart?

A Study in Scarlet: The Best of a Bad Lot

[numberthescars.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Study in Scarlet

Title: The Best of a Bad Lot

Author: numberthescars

Rating: G
Author's Notes:"Gregson and Lestrade will be wild about his death," Holmes remarked, as we chatted it over next evening. "Where will their grand advertisement be now?" 

We left the courtroom together. Young Gregson's face was creased in a disgruntled expression. I understood his disappointment: even after twenty years on the force, a murder investigation of this magnitude was a welcome opportunity. 

"What now?" he asked, when we paused.

I clapped him on the shoulder. 

"To the pub," said I. "Where all good cases go to rest."

A Study in Scarlet: Reminiscences

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Study in Scarlet
Title: Reminiscences
Author: thesmallhobbit
Rating: PG
Two of the characters look back to the events told in this story.

Looking back I still remember our first meeting, little knowing how much of an effect one man would have on my life.  Much has happened in the intervening years; I still write to Holmes periodically and he tells me of his bees and the occasional adventure of his.  And Lestrade and I will lie together and reminisce on past times.

And:

I had little time for Holmes and his ways, preferring the more traditional policing methods.  Over the years I was to come to change my mind and appreciate the contribution he could make.  Above all else I have to thank him for introducing me to the man who was sharing his flat; the one who would change my life forever.

A Study In Scarlet, x2: Lucky Chance and Untrue Statement

[methylviolet10b]

Author: methylviolet10b
Rating: PG
Character(s): Sherlock Holmes, Doctor John Watson
Summary: Holmes relates what he knew immediately about John Watson, and what he had no idea of until much later; Watson reflects on the sheer untruth of a passing speculation.
Warnings: Minor spoilers for STUD.
Word Count: 60 times two, one each for Holmes and Watson, with a quote from STUD in italics that does not factor into the word count.
Author's Notes: 60 words of my own inspired by one of the canon stories, times two. I had hoped to write a 60 for each chapter, but RL was just too busy this week. So I settled for two, one from Holmes, and one from Watson.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

STUD -- A Study in Scarlet

Lucky Chance:
I knew at once that he was a military doctor, still suffering from his wounds; and a moment’s observation told me he had been in Afghanistan. I did not investigate further, more interested in his suitability than his history.

In fact, I only learned how nearly I never had the chance to meet him when I read his first manuscript.

Untrue Statement:
"You don't know Sherlock Holmes yet," he said; "perhaps you would not care for him as a constant companion."

In a lifetime of experiences spent amongst people at war, in every degree of sickness and health, and all levels of those fighting for and against the law, that idle comment stands as the most erroneous statement I ever heard. I have spent more of my life with Holmes than anyone else, and I care very much for him, indeed.