Monica Edinger's Blog, page 131

Rereading Holmes

As an adult rereading Holmes with a more critical, demanding eye, however, I find the stories thin, unexciting, sometimes confusing, and almost always quickly forgotten. The characters are still deathless, the atmosphere nicely judged and subtly stoked, and Conan Doyle's writing isn't half so clumsy or overwrought as many of his peers'. But, as with Faulks's Bond pastiche, not much seems to happen in Sherlock Holmes tales.

I've been thinking about taking a stab at rereading Holmes, but a

Illness at Night

This cockroach-like existence is cumulatively intolerable even though on any given night it is perfectly manageable. "Cockroach" is of course an allusion to Kafka's Metamorphosis, in which the protagonist wakes up one morning to discover that he has been transformed into an insect. The point of the story is as much the responses and incomprehension of his family as it is the account of his own sensations, and it is hard to resist the thought that even the best-meaning and most generously...

Gleeful Tidings of Joy

Happy Christmas!

No Rabbits Were Hurt in the Writing of this Post

In the new series, Peter Rabbit will remain the central character in a cast that will return to what Alli calls the "bolder palette" of Potter's early drawings. The likes of Tom Kitten will retain their mischievous personalities but the storylines will be new and "appropriate" for the next

"Peter Rabbit's father being caught by the farmer and being baked into a pie is not going to be our first episode. We'll be skipping over some chapters," said Alli.

You can read all about the...

Reflecting on the Noughties

Nope, not the Naughties, but the Noughties as in noughts (e.g. zeroes), the 2000s.  Got it?  Wanting to comment on Betsy Bird's post about the last ten years I went looking for a moniker and found the Noughties.  Not terribly popular, especially not among zero-using Americans, but it feels less cumbersome than other indicators (even if it got me thinking of Enid Blyton's Noddy).

So  anyway, Betsy does a stellar job looking back over these past ten years.  I just want to consider a few of her...

Terry Pratchett on Rising Apes and Falling Angels

The Guardian Book Club's most recent title was Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals.  Jokes and rules (mostly of the magical sort) were considered by Professor John Mullan. Pratchett weighed in and the readers did too.  And then there is this:

[image error]

Cindy in Midlife

"I never," she once said frankly to the prime minister, "expected any of this to last. It was too sudden, you see, too sudden and too simple. Pumpkin: coach. Mice: horses. Rat: coachman. Lizards: footmen. Rags: ballgown."

Hilary Mantel's short story "Cinderella in Autumn" is a wistful holiday delight.  Read it here.

The Translated Me

This was the first convention that I 've been to since I got my Iphone and I travelled a trifle wild employing the camera for twirping intentions. For those not following me on chirrup what is incorrect with you? ( only kidding ) – here are those photos. By no intends a good overview of what I maked, but a couple of things withal.

Don't tell my agent or editor or the others who think I can actually write, but evidently that is from a blog post of mine Sort of.  Actually it is, as discoverer a

Now Playing: The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Episode Seven

Baby Max said, "Lollipop."

I'm beginning to think Baby Max could give Sunny Baudelaire a linguistic lesson or two. Read Shannon Hale's witty contribution to the saga here.

Awaiting An Alice

Seems more Tim Burton than Lewis Carroll, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I reserve judgment until I've seen the whole thing.