May 2023 Group Read (non-spoiler thread): The Nine Tailors

[Randy]

Hi, all.

Sorry for the delay on creating this.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Randy wrote: "Hi, all.

Sorry for the delay on creating this."

actually, you're right on time so no apologies needed!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I'm looking forward to talking with you all about this novel. I've only just started but please, feel free to share your thoughts as you go along.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Today is dedicated to reading this book so hopefully I'll have something to say about it by tomorrow!!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

As much as I enjoy mysteries from the golden age, it's not unusual (as in the case of this book) to have to wait some time to get to the actual crime. Here it doesn't happen until like page 88; Wimsey gets called in on page 91. I will say though that Sayers did a fine job with her descriptions of the village and the people who live there.

[Christine]

I've read this some 40+ years ago and still remember being impressed with the different bell ringing types.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Christine wrote: "I've read this some 40+ years ago and still remember being impressed with the different bell ringing types."

I think that there was a Midsomer Murders episode that had bell ringing as a backdrop to the crime. Of course, that was back when the show was still good, with John Nettles as the original Barnaby.

[CBRetriever]

Nancy wrote: "Christine wrote: "I've read this some 40+ years ago and still remember being impressed with the different bell ringing types."

I think that there was a Midsomer Murders episode that had bell ringi..."

yes there was: Series 5 Episode 3

The bell-ringers of Midsomer Wellow celebrate their win of £30,000 on a horse race and are hopeful of winning the annual striking competition. When a grudge from the past later starts to resurface, an unknown killer soon begins to target the bell-ringers, one by one. Greg Tutt is found shot through the heart in the belfry, the next victim is the bride (Lyndsey Marshal) at her wedding, and the third bell ringer is found drowned in a creek. Barnaby and Troy realise they need to step back in time to find the answer, following all the lines of a well-known poem left next to each victim. Hugh Bonneville and Gemma Jones also appear.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

CBRetriever wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Christine wrote: "I've read this some 40+ years ago and still remember being impressed with the different bell ringing types."

I think that there was a Midsomer Murders episode that ..."

I may have to watch that one again.

[Christine]

Nancy wrote: "Christine wrote: "I've read this some 40+ years ago and still remember being impressed with the different bell ringing types."

I think that there was a Midsomer Murders episode that had bell ringi..."


I still have not watched "Midsomer Murders". Shame on me. :(

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

another thing: the bells in this book have men's names but are referred to as "she" or "her."

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Christine wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Christine wrote: "I've read this some 40+ years ago and still remember being impressed with the different bell ringing types."

I think that there was a Midsomer Murders episode that ..."

You should. At least the originals

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Well, I was wondering when Sayers' anti-Semitism would pop up, and here it is on page 135. Gah!

[CBRetriever]

I've read this (quite a while ago), but unfortunately, it didn't impress me enough to want to reread it. P.G. Wodehouse did it much better

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

CBRetriever wrote: "I've read this (quite a while ago), but unfortunately, it didn't impress me enough to want to reread it. P.G. Wodehouse did it much better"

If you are talking about being anti-Semitic, that's true.

[CBRetriever]

Nancy wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "I've read this (quite a while ago), but unfortunately, it didn't impress me enough to want to reread it. P.G. Wodehouse did it much better"

If you are talking about being anti-..."

that's true, but I was referencing the setting and the writing style. I read all of the books in this series and it really gets more and more philosophical and dry towards the end.

As far as anti-semitic and anti any "race" other than white, Zane Grey does an excellent job of insulting almost every other color of skin other than white.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I'm just a bit past the halfway mark with this novel. Delighted to see an epigraph by LeFanu from Wylder's Hand heading up one of the chapters. I may have to go find my copy of that book to refresh my memory.

I do have to say that I'm glad I've read all of the Wimsey novels in the past -- this book appears later in the series (just prior to Gaudy Night ) so I suppose it's assumed that the reader knows Wimsey's character well by this time.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Finished! Is anyone else reading this book?

[Pam]

I bought the BBC audio edition and it's difficult to know where The Nine Tailors begins. There are 4 Peter Wimsey episodes on it; I finally found it starting with Ch 13. Bear with me, please.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Pam wrote: "I bought the BBC audio edition and it's difficult to know where The Nine Tailors begins. There are 4 Peter Wimsey episodes on it; I finally found it starting with Ch 13. Bear with me, please."

Chapter 13? whoa.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Pam wrote: "I bought the BBC audio edition and it's difficult to know where The Nine Tailors begins. There are 4 Peter Wimsey episodes on it; I finally found it starting with Ch 13. Bear with me, please."

Speaking of the BBC, I watched the first of two episodes of the old series based on this book, and I'm hoping to get to the second later today. I have to say that the guy they chose to play Lord Peter seems a bit older than I would have thought, but that episode lays out how Bunter came to be with Wimsey which is not at all in the novel.

[Pam]

Welllll, I was wrong ... The book began on chapter 7 and continued through chapter 14; thus, since I began listening to ch 13, I knew the ending before the beginning! Grrrrr! 😬 I did listen to it all, though. Between each of the 8 segments, there were music interludes as well as a listing of actors / cast members from each prior segment. The different sound effects (cars, roaring water, and especially THE BELLS) occasionally drowned the spoken words. All in all, it was a rare experience.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Pam wrote: "Welllll, I was wrong ... The book began on chapter 7 and continued through chapter 14; thus, since I began listening to ch 13, I knew the ending before the beginning! Grrrrr! 😬 I did listen to it a..."

The sequence is weird but the music/sound effects sound great. I'm going to be reading a novel called Fire Rush at some point soon, and the audio version has reggae interludes.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I'm so dumb. I was thinking that episode 2 was the last of The Nine Tailors on tv; and it isn't. Having finished that one, I'll be moving on to #3, just not today.