Canon Discussion Post: The Three Garridebs

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, everyone! Let's have some canon Sherlock Holmes discussion, shall we? What did you all think of The Three Garridebs? As always, I've written up a few of my own random thoughts and questions, which are behind the jump. Please add your own in the comments!

There's no Granada TV adaptation to discuss this week, which is truly a shame. This would have been a great one. We'll see elements of the story in a future episode, but not the best parts. Feel free to commiserate here about our loss.


- The Three Garridebs is forgettable and derivative for 95% of its length. The plot is straight out of The Red-Headed League with another unlikely group of associates promising an undeserved fortune, and the villain is obvious and bland. I've read this story multiple times, but I had forgotten almost all of the details of it once again. I say almost all, of course, because how could anyone completely forget the case where Watson takes a bullet and Holmes panics over him?

- Any ideas about what Holmes' proposed knighthood was for? Were the several days in bed related to that whole story?

- It amuses me that substandard Brit-picking in the advertisement by the displaced American ends up being the reason Holmes cracks the case. As an American frequently attempting to fake Brit-speak, I sympathize sympathise.

- Is this the first time Watson's been seriously hurt (or appeared so, at any rate) in the line of duty with Holmes? Holmes' behavior and Watson's reaction to it make it seem like that may be the case. What about the opposite? Holmes has faked illness, and we've seen him get a variety of minor injuries, but did anything more serious ever happen to him with Watson around?

- If the worst had come to pass, would Holmes really have killed Evans for killing Watson? What would have happened then? Prison, the gallows? A lie about self-defense? Alternately, what would have happened if Holmes had been shot (grazed or seriously) instead? Or if both of them were wounded, because Killer Evans does shoot twice at them? The AU potential for this story is off the charts.

- Writing this in 1924, after forty-three years of friendship, Watson says this is the one and only time Holmes ever showed real loyalty and love toward him. Can that possibly be true? In all their lives, just the one time? If it is not true, why would he say that? Maybe some intimacies are best left off the page.

Comment away, and join us next week for The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax!

Comments

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

It's funny - when you made your initial post and said there wasn't a Granada adaptation for this one, I was puzzled. No, I thought, I definitely remember watching it when it was first broadcast. Then I looked it up and found the story had been inserted into The Mazarin Stone. I'd completely forgotten ^^" I do remember how (selfishly) disappointed I was that Jeremy Brett was too ill for this one, so we weren't going to get that lovely moment between Holmes and Watson. (I'd been looking forward to seeing this particular adventure onscreen.) But I thought Charles Gray and Edward Hardwicke worked well together, and it was nice to see Watson coming to the fore. I also liked (if I'm not getting it confused with another episode - long time ago ^^") that Mr Garrideb's sisters appear rather than just being an offstage reference.

It's interesting you bring up sympathize/sympathise ^^ Something else I'd forgotten about - this is a relatively recent changeover in British English spelling. I have an early 80s (British) dictionary: "sympathise" is listed as an alternative spelling of "sympathize"; "sympathise" doesn't even get its own entry. Now (I think) that spelling is consistently used. Conan Doyle's stories have the "ize" ending: in 3GAR there's "Our client opened the door for us himself and apologized..." When I'm reading Sherlock fanfiction, I like to play Spot the American Author ^^ But it's tricky. Britons and Americans have been influencing one another's speech for a long time. I'm sure there are Americanisms in my English that have now been accepted as being British. And young British people sound terribly American to me in their choice of vocabulary.

I was thinking too, about what would have happened if Holmes had been shot instead. Watson has of course been in the army, but I wonder would his instincts as a doctor and a friend have come into play first? Would he have gone to Holmes' aid before dealing with Evans? That struck me - Holmes is terrified that Watson is seriously injured but he still acts so sensibly. He makes sure that Evans is incapacitated and disarmed before tending to Watson. He makes sure neither of them is at risk of a further attack.

Watson specifically writes: the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. I wonder if the emphasis there is on depth. Holmes seems to be continually, in small ways, demonstrating affection towards Watson. It's unlikely the good doctor hasn't noticed this. But Holmes also seems to be a self-contained man, who doesn't show much emotion. Watson may have been able to assume in the past that Holmes loved him but at this moment, for the first time, he has definite proof.

[chiapetzukamori.livejournal.com]

I kinda want to put that last paragraph of yours in glitter text, haha. Definitely the emphasis is on 'depth.' I know Watson is loyal to a fault, but I can't imagine an intelligent, self sufficient person going all those years without any show of appreciation or reciprocation from Holmes. Even Watson would have eventually had enough and left. But as we see Holmes continuously contradicting Watson's descriptions of him in the stories, I think he did in fact show his appreciation of Watson. But since here Holmes is actually panicking, this is the most extreme example and Watson was taken aback by it.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I'm rather sad that I don't know the HTML code for glitter text ^__^

I think Conan Doyle may be laying it on a bit thick with "cold mask". Holmes shows concern for his clients, affection towards Watson, he has an endearing sense of humour, he shows mercy towards wrongdoers when he thinks they deserve it, he shows compassion and sympathy sometimes towards wrongdoers. He's a nice man, just a little detached - as he has to be for his work.

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree that Holmes is actually much sweeter and kinder than he is often described. Watson has a way of making him sound so harsh and cold, but when reading, Holmes' natural warmth is (almost always) evident. I wonder then why Watson went to such lengths to describe him that way. Does it make for a more thrilling character to drive these narratives? A somewhat reticent but decent friend is less exciting than a cold-blooded calculating machine.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I suppose the main problem is that ACD's characterisation is not always consistent ^^ But you've answered your own question: Watson probably emphasises Holmes' otherness to make him seem a more exotic hero for the stories. When you look at it, the truth is rather mundane - Holmes isn't really a superman; he's a highly intelligent, contentedly unsociable man, who works hard to develop his skills.

Sunday, 25 August 2013

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User thisprettywren referenced to your post from Sunday, 25 August 2013 (http://holmesian-news.livejournal.com/309406.html) saying: [...] by (Holmes, Watson | PG | ACD) + Misc Canon Discussion Post: The Three Garridebs [...]