Bruce Beckham's Blog - Posts Tagged "sherlock-holmes"
Sherlock
I'm reading 'The Complete Sherlock Holmes' at the moment. I love it. So many short stories I had never heard of.
I've been investigating the reviews on Amazon, and I wonder if Conan Doyle appreciated to what extent he had captured the 'soap' quality that continually draws an audience back - in this case to that little 'bubble' in Baker Street?
As one reviewer puts it: "I am tempted to compare this book to coming home on a frosty evening to a comfortable chair infront of a roaring log fire."
Certainly, the plots are unfathomable, and Holmes' reasoning beyond comprehension - so I guess it's the 'comfy chair' that does it for me.
I also wonder if Conan Doyle was on a bet to use the word 'singular' a thousand times in print!
I've been investigating the reviews on Amazon, and I wonder if Conan Doyle appreciated to what extent he had captured the 'soap' quality that continually draws an audience back - in this case to that little 'bubble' in Baker Street?
As one reviewer puts it: "I am tempted to compare this book to coming home on a frosty evening to a comfortable chair infront of a roaring log fire."
Certainly, the plots are unfathomable, and Holmes' reasoning beyond comprehension - so I guess it's the 'comfy chair' that does it for me.
I also wonder if Conan Doyle was on a bet to use the word 'singular' a thousand times in print!
Kindle pros and cons
Quite a lot of people contact me to say they don’t own (or don’t even want to own) a Kindle, or similar.
Mostly this is because they love the sensory experience of real books, and the pride and pleasure of being surrounded by their personal collection.
I’m in accord.
Plus, you don’t have to switch off real books for take-off and landing.
My daytime reading is always a printed book.
However, there are some pros of the Kindle.
As an author, you can reach anyone, pretty much anywhere in the world, instantly. The breaking of the stranglehold held by publishers has struck a great blow for freedom and enterprise.
More prosaically, you can read in the dark without disturbing your partner, and in the bath without fear of falling asleep.
And, finally (though this is not intended to be an exhaustive list), there is the built-in dictionary.
Touch a word and up comes the meaning.
I’m reading Sherlock Holmes at the moment. Not only was Conan Doyle writing in the idiom of his time, but also he clearly possessed a vocabulary the size of a planet. Every few pages a word comes up that I just don’t know.
Last night it was barouche: “a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers”.
Fact and fiction in one fell swoop!
Mostly this is because they love the sensory experience of real books, and the pride and pleasure of being surrounded by their personal collection.
I’m in accord.
Plus, you don’t have to switch off real books for take-off and landing.
My daytime reading is always a printed book.
However, there are some pros of the Kindle.
As an author, you can reach anyone, pretty much anywhere in the world, instantly. The breaking of the stranglehold held by publishers has struck a great blow for freedom and enterprise.
More prosaically, you can read in the dark without disturbing your partner, and in the bath without fear of falling asleep.
And, finally (though this is not intended to be an exhaustive list), there is the built-in dictionary.
Touch a word and up comes the meaning.
I’m reading Sherlock Holmes at the moment. Not only was Conan Doyle writing in the idiom of his time, but also he clearly possessed a vocabulary the size of a planet. Every few pages a word comes up that I just don’t know.
Last night it was barouche: “a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers”.
Fact and fiction in one fell swoop!
