- The Adventure of the Red-Headed League
A weekly roundup of links across the web related to Sherlock Holmes, courtesy of Matt Laffey from Always1895.net. As usual, we welcome your comments and feedback, and if you have any material to include in the weekly roundup, please send to always1895@gmail.com.
 |
| [Mattias Boström, BSI “The Swedish Pathological Society".] |
Mattias Bostrom was interviewed this week on Baker Street Beat by Dan Andriacco about Mr Boström’s recently published Från Holmes till Sherlock ("From Holmes to Sherlock" in English). Mr Boström’s opus, though currently only available in Swedish, is already causing quite a stir in the Sherlockian world. Like Mr Andriacco, I was fortunate enough to have received an inscribed copy of what is one of the finest looking Sherlockian books published in the last few years - and going by just the end notes and bibliography (which are mostly in English), it’s overwhelmingly clear that the book I’m holding is a meticulously researched scholarly love letter to ACD and his most famous creation. Boström answers questions on how he first discovered ACD and Holmes, how he came to write Från Holmes till Sherlock, what his research practices are, if/when we can expect an English translation and the level of popularity of Sherlock Holmes in the Scandinavian countries. A fascinating interview which will leave Sherlockians wanting more: “In my book I present some previously unknown facts regarding the years when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was alive, but in the later half of the book there are big chunks of unknown facts."
Oxford Press announced an intriguing sounding ACD-centric release titled Conan Doyle: Writing, Profession and Practice (2013) by Douglas Kerr, set for release in late July 2013.Conan Doyle is described as: "A critical study of the writings of Arthur Conan Doyle and a cultural biography, this is a book for students of literary and cultural history, and Conan Doyle enthusiasts. It is a full account of all of his writing, and an investigation of the role of the author as he practiced it, as witness, critic, and interpreter of his times….The subject of this study is what Conan Doyle knew - the knowledge of his own culture, its institutions and values and ways of life, its beliefs and anxieties, which is created and shared by his writing. The book is organized according to a number of cultural domains - sport, medicine, science, law and order, army and empire, and the spiritual life." The author Douglas Kerr is Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong and has previously written books onGeorge Orwell, the English soldier-poet Wilfred Owen and Eastern Figures, a fascinating sounding study of Orient and Empire in British Writing in the 19th and 20th centuries. I’m a fan of much of ACD’s non-Literary Agent work, particularly his short stories from The Strandand other magazines collected in The Best Supernatural Tales and Uncollected Stories: The Unknown Conan Doyle and look forward to this comprehensive study of Doyle qua author.
[Cover for Conan Doyle: Writing, Profession and Practice.]
Baker Street Babes, who can be found at their new online home Libsyn (bakerstreetbabes.libsyn.com) as well as AudioBoo ("still a work in progress"), released their 42nd podcast episode "Lestrade Appreciation”: "Detective Inspector Lestrade doesn’t get the credit he deserves, so we’re here to fix that! Join Curly, Lyndsay, Melinda, Kafers, Ardy, & Sarah as we discuss and coo about our favorite Lestrades, how he’s important to Holmes, how to pronounce his name, & who our favorite Lestrudels are. Yes, Lestrudels." To find out what on earth a ‘Lestrudel’ is, give Episode 42 a listen and join in on the Lestrade-a-thon madness!
[Lestrade, still dubious regarding “the Napoleon bust business again,", looks on as Holmes acquires the final bust from the steadfastly honest Mr. Sandeford, of Reading. In a few moments Lestrade will commend Holmes for his workmanlike job in acquiring the famous black pearl of the Borgias: ""Well," said Lestrade, “I’ve seen you handle a good many cases, Mr. Holmes, but I don’t know that I ever knew a more workmanlike one than that. We’re not jealous of you at Scotland Yard. No, sir, we are very proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow, there’s not a man, from the oldest inspector to the youngest constable, who wouldn’t be glad to shake you by the hand."" (SIXN)]
Post-Meridian Radio Players are the public face of Hub of the Universe Productions, a radio drama company out of the Boston area doing live shows before an audience in the style of old time radio. They did a production of The Hound of the Baskervilles during the Summer of 2012 - you can listen to an eight minute sample of their HOUN production here - and this summer they’ll once again bring the Great Detective to the stage with an adaptation of The Sign of Four! Opening night is July 11th, 2013 at 8pm at Responsible Grace in Somerville, MA., with six showings throughout the month of July. I’ve had a listen to their online sample of HOUN and their approach to interpreting the Canon is both faithful and humorous, making fine use of a full cast, mood-inducing music and judiciously chosen old time radio-style sound fx.
[Click image for more info about PMRP’s stage adaptation of SIGN and click here for a sample of their previous adaptation, The Hound of the Baskervilles.]
Book Reader’s Heaven posted the first blogoshere review of Lyndsay Faye’s Seven For a Secret. “The complexity of this novel is what keeps readers’ attention! Just when we mystery lovers are on the scent, we are confronted with an entirely new political or criminal issue with the normal police actions taking place. Timothy is so engrossed in fulfilling his promise that he disrupts court proceedings, is involved with the murder of another Copper Star, as well as being forced to attend a political function, dressed up in clothes bought for the occasion by his brother…and then being kidnapped himself and taken, beaten, and sentenced to death by a small group of politicos!" Like I said last week, if you enjoyed Ms Faye’s Gods of Gotham, Seven For a Secret will put you right back into the action and squalor of 1850s NYC,
[Timothy and Val Wilde and their Copper Star friends and enemies are back for another round of intrigue, murder and mystery!]
Tea at 221B discovered this “unpublished photograph from an unused scene. In the Granada episode, we only see Holmes tying a tourniquet from a back shot, his arm out. He covers his arm as Watson walks in and unsuccessfully hides the cocaine…" Granada’s Devil’s Foot is one of my favorite adaptations of one of my favorite Holmes stories, and this scene sets the tone for precisely where Holmes is in relation to his habit at the start of the episode; later of course we watch as Holmes discards his syringe and ‘solution’.
["Now I knew that under ordinary conditions he no longer craved for this artificial stimulus, but I was well aware that the fiend was not dead, but sleeping; and I have known that the sleep was a light one and the waking near when in periods of idleness I have seen the drawn look upon Holmes’s ascetic face, and the brooding of his deep-set and inscrutable eyes." Watson from MISS.]
The Baker Street Blog posted a lengthy and thought provoking piece by contributor James O’Leary that deals with various aspects of the ongoing Klinger vs. ACD Estate case. Making sure we’re all on the same page, Mr O’Leary begins by explaining what’s at stake with an extensive quote from the Free Sherlock (ie. Team Klinger) site: “Klinger seeks to have the Court determine that the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson are no longer protected by federal copyright laws and that writers, filmmakers, and others are free to create new stories about Holmes, Watson, and others of their circle without paying license fees to the current owners of the remaining copyrights." Almost every Sherlockian I’ve spoken to about this case has at least a moderately strong opinion regarding what the outcome should be (though most are pro-Klinger), but there is apparently a segment of pro-Klinger stalwarts whom “have taken the Free Sherlock movement to heart. They have “taken up arms”, spiritually if not financially, with Klinger and see the seal of the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. as something undesirable" - in short, they have called for a boycott of Sherlockian ‘products’ that feature the Estate seal. When asked about this boycott, Klinger responded “While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t think that a boycott is fair. Many licensees have been pressured into obtaining licenses, and not everyone has the freedom (that is, the time or the money) to stand up to the Estate’s bullying and threats of blocking sales. I do have a problem with flaunting “authorized” status, as in the case of The House of Silk" (cf. Klinger’s review in The Globe and Mail of House of Silk and argument against ‘flaunting’ here). I strongly encourage you to read the entire piece.
 |
| [Spend some time virtually exploring the London of Sherlock Holmes.] |
Sherlock. Everywhere. posted a fascinating, online interactive map of selected Sherlock Holmes sites throughout London. The map is based on The London of Sherlock Holmes (MX) by Thomas Bruce Wheeler and features over 31 select Sherlock Holmes sites in London, including canonical locations such as Simpson’s on the Strand (mentioned in DYIN and ILLU) and Lauriston Gardens (STUD); or Sherlockian places of interest such as the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 239 Baker Street, NW1.
No Place Like Holmes, the website of Sherlockian video reviewer Ross K, is rolling out a set of videos from the Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 4 which took place on June 8, 2013 and examined “What The Current Media Adaptions Contribute to the legacy of Sherlock Holmes". The current videos available cover: Introduction/Opening Remarks regarding the scope of the GSHD 4; and presentations about: 1) The Warner Bros Franchise; 2) "The Russians" (ie. the upcoming Fall 2013 Russian adaptation), 3) Big Finish Audio (ie. Nicholas Briggs as Holmes in a variety of audio adaptations of the Canon) - with five more videos to come. Each video is about 7 minutes long and acts as an informative summary of each major, contemporary Holmes adaptation across a variety of mediums; and taken as a whole, the videos provide a nice overview of how ‘we’ are interpreting Holmes in the beginning of the 21st century, over 125 years after the Great Detective’s first appearance in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, 1887.
[Still from “The Russians" presentation featuring Watson (Andrei Panin) in the Fall 2013 Sherlock Holmes Russian adaptation. Sadly, Mr Panin died unexpectedly on March 7, 2013 in his Moscow apartment.]
The Guardian mentioned a new Holmes pastiche: “Critic Nick Rennison is a Sherlock Holmes expert with a special interest in the copycat sleuths who sprang up in his wake. So it is no surprise to find him pastiching Conan Doyle in Carver’s Quest, the first of a projected series starring amateur archaeologist Adam Carver and his runtish manservant Quint…" From the Goodreads synopsis: set in 1870 (which would make Holmes about 16 years old), it’s "an elaborate mystery which comes to centre on the existence (or not) of a lost text in Ancient Greek, one that may reveal the whereabouts of the treasure hoard of Philip II of Macedonia." (Thanks to Brenda for the tip!)
[A young Sherlock Holmes teams up with archaeologist slash detective Adam Carver “from the foggy streets of London to the bandit-infested wilds of Greece…"]
 |
| [Albert Morrow cover for HOUN.] |
Ray Wilcockson posted this very cool piece of art by "Albert Morrow (1863-1927), an Irish poster designer who created this Hound of the Baskervilles cover for Strand Magazine" (seen at left). Read more from Mr Wilcockson at his Markings blog.
Baker Street Beat in ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Agony Columns’ considers the frequency in which characters in the Canon place and respond to newspaper ads as well as Holmes’ acute awareness of the importance that these cryptic, and often desperate, lines of type represent. "He seems to have regarded “the agony columns,” what we now called classified ads, and news stories as equally file-worthy."
Entertainment Weekly notes that BBC "Sherlock is going to San Diego Comic-Con for the first time, bringing PBS’ Masterpiece cult hit to the fan convention later this month. The panel will include Steven Moffat (co-creator, executive producer and writer), Mark Gatiss (co-creator, executive producer and writer) and Sue Vertue (producer)." Unfortunately, EW also confirms that Sherlock will not make it’s American Season 3 debut until 2014.
Tea at 221B dug up this delightful behind-the-scenes Granada photo of Jeremy Brett from the set of what I assume to be The Hound of the Baskervilles.
[Click for a larger version of JB displaying his single stick prowess against an unknown opponent.]
Scion Links:
Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit announced that their next meeting is on “Saturday evening October 5th, at the British Commonwealth Club" and will feature Regina S Stinson as their guest speaker.
The Game Is On is a Sherlockian gathering happening in Brooklyn, NY on July 13th from 2pm to 7pm. Click for the RSVP form for "The Game is On: A Sherlockian Meet-Up At The Way Station" - 683 Washington Ave., Brooklyn, New York 11238.
See additional events - and add your own - on the Sherlock Holmes Community on Google+.
--
0 comments:
Post a Comment