STUD, final chapters
Oct. 11th, 2020 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mightymads posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
victorian221bIt’s nice to return to Holmes and Watson and see how kind Holmes is to Watson. At the conclusion of the case Holmes invites Watson to come along with him to the police station since Watson is interested in the case. Holmes keeps including Watson into the action. It’s so considerate of him.
When asked about his actor friend, Hope declines to answer. Frankly, I’d like to know who that person is. I’d love to see Holmes tracing him. This would have made an excellent action sequence and another demonstration of Holmes’s deductive powers. This would work instead of the forced Mormon narrative! As we discussed in the previous post, having John and Lucy’s backstory told from Hope’s POV would be much neater, with all the unlikely and inaccurate things cut. Somehow, I can’t help mentally editing the second part of STUD to make it less awkward.
Back to the London part, it’s weird that Hope, having smelled a rat in the advertisement about the found ring, nevertheless had no suspicion when summoned by a street urchin to the very same address. But considering the previous American chapters, perhaps it’s not that surprising. Hope is a thickhead. Regarding the pills and an equal chance for the persecutor and the persecuted—that’s ACD’s notion of chivalry, isn’t it? Practically, though, it’s very silly. It would have been terribly ironic if Drebber had chosen the harmless pill and Hope had been compelled to eat the poisonous one.
In the last chapter Holmes explains to Watson his train of thoughts which was a revolutionary thing at that point. Very few detective novels did that at the time, and that was one of the factors which made Holmes legendary. His supposition that Hope wouldn’t change his name while travelling in Europe was a bit of a stretch. Hope could have easily done that. But, Hope being Hope, didn’t. The Mormon part aside, STUD is fantastic. It draws me in time and time again. When I was searching for inspiration while trying to write a mystery in another fandom, I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles (the first Poirot novel) and STUD. The difference was colossal. And while I enjoy Agatha Christie, after re-reading STUD a couple of years ago, I found myself in the Holmes fandom.
When asked about his actor friend, Hope declines to answer. Frankly, I’d like to know who that person is. I’d love to see Holmes tracing him. This would have made an excellent action sequence and another demonstration of Holmes’s deductive powers. This would work instead of the forced Mormon narrative! As we discussed in the previous post, having John and Lucy’s backstory told from Hope’s POV would be much neater, with all the unlikely and inaccurate things cut. Somehow, I can’t help mentally editing the second part of STUD to make it less awkward.
Back to the London part, it’s weird that Hope, having smelled a rat in the advertisement about the found ring, nevertheless had no suspicion when summoned by a street urchin to the very same address. But considering the previous American chapters, perhaps it’s not that surprising. Hope is a thickhead. Regarding the pills and an equal chance for the persecutor and the persecuted—that’s ACD’s notion of chivalry, isn’t it? Practically, though, it’s very silly. It would have been terribly ironic if Drebber had chosen the harmless pill and Hope had been compelled to eat the poisonous one.
In the last chapter Holmes explains to Watson his train of thoughts which was a revolutionary thing at that point. Very few detective novels did that at the time, and that was one of the factors which made Holmes legendary. His supposition that Hope wouldn’t change his name while travelling in Europe was a bit of a stretch. Hope could have easily done that. But, Hope being Hope, didn’t. The Mormon part aside, STUD is fantastic. It draws me in time and time again. When I was searching for inspiration while trying to write a mystery in another fandom, I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles (the first Poirot novel) and STUD. The difference was colossal. And while I enjoy Agatha Christie, after re-reading STUD a couple of years ago, I found myself in the Holmes fandom.
