I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Episode 113: Dancing to Death

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" dancing across the paper" [DANC] </h4>
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The opportunity to see an original Conan Doyle manuscript up close and to transcribe it word for word is a rare one. Which is why Ray Betzner, BSI ("The Agony Column") jumped at the opportunity and buttonholed David Morrill, BSI ("Count Von Kramm") to assist with the editing <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/dancingdeath.html" target="_blank">Dancing to Death</a></i>, the latest volume in the Baker Street Irregulars Manuscript Series, which covers "The Adventure of the Dancing Men."<br />
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Ray tells us about his budding interest in Sherlock Holmes and how it began with his discovery of Vincent Starrett — and a twice-failed driving test. And he continues with the origin story of this long-unseen manuscript, the choice of authors and topics — from an authority in ciphers to the first BSI to see the manuscript, to the role of sound, to the "manuscript police" — and an admiration for the ingenuity, creativity and expertise for their work.<br />
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But it goes deeper than that: Ray shares his misgivings about this story, which is one that it is actually a failure for Sherlock Holmes. He broke the code, but he also let his client down, ultimately resulting in the Hilton Cubitt's death. Even the story itself is one that focused on the puzzle rather than on the people.<br />
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Plus, a new Sherlock Holmes brand ad and a very special visit from <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/05/one-of-best-features-of-jeremy-brett.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a longtime favorite of ours</a>.</div>
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Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors. Please support our sponsors by visiting their sites:<br />
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<b>Notes</b></h3>
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1:33 Recovering from the recovery from the New Year<br />
3:17 Teasing a new feature: Elementary comic strip, courtesy of Steve and Rusty Mason<br />
4:05 Wessex Press<br />
5:19 For peat's sake!<br />
5:55 Welcoming Ray Betzner, BSI ("The Agony Column")<br />
7:10 A little bit about Vincent Starrett<br />
10:53 The selection of the editors of <i>Dancing to Death</i></div>
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13:43 The backstory on the discovery of the manuscript<br />
18:30 John Jones / Hilton Jones / Hilton Cubitt and a Mary Morstan Watsonism<br />
21:24 Ten essays cover a wide range of topics about the story<br />
25:33 Misgivings about "The Dancing Men"<br />
29:02 A story designed around the puzzle<br />
30:40 Conan Doyle's pin cipher in WWI and the attraction of ciphers to literary types<br />
37:17 Chicago just can't shake its reputation<br />
46:05 Baker Street Journal<br />
47:35 Sherlock Holmes Brand Codemaster 3000<br />
48:34 Wrapping up and an important announcement<br />
51:42 The game's afoot!<br />
52:29 An extra</div>
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Links</h3>
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<li>Ray's blog <a href="http://www.vincentstarrett.com/" target="_blank">Studies in Starrett</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sherlockholmespodcast.com/" target="_blank">Trifles</a>, our new podcast</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose61" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 61: The Private Life of Vincent Starrett</a></li>
<li><i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/dancingdeath.html" target="_blank">Dancing to Death</a></i> available on the <i>Baker Street Journal</i> website</li>
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Episode 113: Dancing to Death

" dancing across the paper" [DANC] The opportunity to see an original Conan Doyle manuscript up close and to tran...

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by Scott Monty

The Bostonian with the Twisted Lip

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<b>"The poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally predominated in him." [REDH] </b></h4>
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<a href="http://sherlockian.net/societies/gregory.html" target="_blank">The ranks of the Baker Street Irregulars</a> have included both a Wrigglesworth and a Wigglesworth. Doug Wrigglesworth, BSI ("The Retired Colourman") is a Toronto-area Sherlockian and Doylean; this note, however, is about the 12-letter Wigglesworth, the first of four BSIs who have held the title "The Man with the Twisted Lip."<br />
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[<b><i>Editor's Note:</i></b> a small mystery, in looking at the list of Baker Street Irregulars — Wigglesworth died in 1977 and is listed as having received his investiture in 1944. However, another Irregular (Edward Bartlett) was invested as "The Man with the Twisted Lip" in 1952. Traditionally, investitures are only reused when Irregulars are finished with them (i.e. deceased). The same investiture was then granted to Stanley MacKenzie in 1967 and this year to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose57" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Charles Prepolec</a>. What might the circumstances have been that caused Wigglesworth's investiture to be recycled <i>twice</i> in his lifetime?]<br />
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I never met Belden Wigglesworth — and most Sherlockians now alive have probably never heard of him — but something got me thinking about him the other day, and the debt we owe him. I hope the Mycroft Holmes Society of Syracuse, New York, makes occasional pilgrimages to <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42711517" target="_blank">his grave site in that city</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXj2qQFGceWz6yn7aQ27_KQoxVQNDu5g4tzvjS9hOm33uZLUiOBWERQ0LJI-xRZQP8qTlbpbvT1g1MJ5jxXGadeVZwVMWoPLplx4WPIhtKKEGS-LQpRmhMp5Yak-lmKx9VZoWOpOUEk5gq/s1600/Wigglesworth+stone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXj2qQFGceWz6yn7aQ27_KQoxVQNDu5g4tzvjS9hOm33uZLUiOBWERQ0LJI-xRZQP8qTlbpbvT1g1MJ5jxXGadeVZwVMWoPLplx4WPIhtKKEGS-LQpRmhMp5Yak-lmKx9VZoWOpOUEk5gq/s640/Wigglesworth+stone.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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He was descended from a notable New England family, though born (1901) in New York, and apparently in some sense coming from Arkansas. Educated at Harvard, class of 1923, he must have been familiar with the landmark <a href="http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/widener/history.cfm" target="_blank">Widener Library</a>, though not the newer <a href="http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/" target="_blank">Houghton Library</a> where the archives of the <a href="http://bsitrust.org/" target="_blank">BSI Trust</a> are now housed. Because the files of Harvard's newspaper <i><a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/" target="_blank">The Crimson</a></i> are online, we can know easily that he played squash, rowed crew, and organized a charity clothing drive during his undergraduate years.<br />
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He took up employment briefly with the Bank of New York, spent (an obituary mysteriously says) "several years abroad," worked for the Boston and Maine Railroad, and somehow ended up editing a newspaper in southern California. Sherlockians, and Harvard graduates, are versatile folks. He was married twice, first to Olive Brogan and later to Doris Drake. He lived in Arkansas again in retirement, and died there in 1977.<br />
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When he first came to Sherlockian notice in 1941, he had just moved "from Arkansas to Boston", according to a letter written by James Keddie of the <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose77" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Speckled Band of Boston</a>, where Wigglesworth was apparently a new member (and would be a mainstay for long afterwards). This letter is on the public record because it is transcribed in one of <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsihistoryseries.html" target="_blank">Jon Lellenberg's books about the early years of the BSI</a>, a stunningly detailed archive of information about the great ones of past generations. His <i><a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=&tn=Irregular+Records+of+the+Early+%27Forties&kn=&isbn=" target="_blank">Irregular Records of the Early 'Forties</a></i> shows Wigglesworth on the attendance list of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1942-bsi-dinner.html" target="_blank">BSI dinner in January 1942</a>. Indeed, he contributed to the program, reading a poem he had written, "Ballade of Baker Street". (This verse is not the same as the better-known "Ballade of Baker Street" by mystery author Carolyn Wells, which first appeared in 1908. When the Wigglesworth verse was eventually published, it was given a new title: "Ballade of Watson in the Morning.")<br />
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Ballade of Watson in the Morning</h3>
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Whether Baker Street was foggy or fair,<br />
Snow-bound or by autumnal rains washed clean,<br />
Paradoxically life ran smoothly there,<br />
Because Sherlock Holmes had no set routine.<br />
But Watson indulged in slumber serene<br />
'Till ungodly hour (he gave due warning—<br />
A Study in Scarlet). Yet one truth I'd glean:<br />
When did Watson get up in the morning?<br />
<br />
Taking cocaine or filling the air<br />
With violin-chords to conquer his spleen,<br />
Time between problems he found a night-mare<br />
Because Sherlock Holmes had no set routine.<br />
Army and medical training between<br />
Them made Watson (both professions adorning)<br />
"A seasoned campaigner," but doubts intervene:<br />
When did Watson set up in the morning?<br />
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"Come, Watson, the game is afoot!" The flare<br />
Of a candle at dawn illuminates the scene,<br />
As Watson's awakened by his confrere<br />
(Because Sherlock Holmes had no set routine),<br />
But this is the rule's exception, I ween—<br />
Watson, the laggard, his record scorning.<br />
The problem's still with me, as always it's been:<br />
When did Watson get up in the morning?<br />
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<center style="text-align: left;">
          L'ENVOI</center>
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With Baker Street's master no mystery's seen,<br />
Because Sherlock Holmes had no set routine.<br />
I ask, though reply dies ever a-borning:<br />
When did Watson get up in the morning?</blockquote>
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He was also at the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1943-bsi-dinner.html" target="_blank">BSI's 1943 dinner</a>, and presented a paper about Sherlock Holmes's possible coat of arms. Sherlockians had so little to argue over in those days — though the first shadow of Johnlock had come with Rex Stout's "<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/02/watson-actually-was-woman.html" target="_blank">Watson Was a Woman</a>" bombshell in 1941 — that the subtleties of heraldry became a dearly cherished controversy. When Wigglesworth's paper was published in 1944 in <i><a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&recentlyadded=all&sortby=17&sts=t&tn=Profile+by+Gaslight&yrh=1944&yrl=1944" target="_blank">Profile by Gaslight</a></i>, it was accompanied by <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/02/that-was-no-lady.html#.WI2KavkrLb1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a rebuttal from another respected Sherlockian</a>, Julian Wolff. <br />
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Belden Wigglesworth came to national fame also in 1944, when <i>Life</i> magazine published <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BlAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">a piece about the continuing popularity of Sherlock Holmes</a>, with a few words about the BSI. Photographs of Sherlockians included one of Wigglesworth showing off a (possibly not authentic) swamp adder. That picture was probably taken at a Speckled Band meeting in Boston, since Wigglesworth was not at the January <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1944-bsi-dinner.html" target="_blank">1944 BSI dinner</a>. He did, however, get to New York for the so-called "Trilogy Dinner" in March, when the BSI helped launch three Sherlockian books and, for the first and last time, held two formal dinners in a single year. <br />
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Belden Wigglesworth is sometimes described as being among the first class of Irregulars to receive investitures, but the reality is that he was not in the list of those assigned titles in 1944; his Twistedness came in April 1945, at a Speckled Band gathering in Boston. Much more could be said about him and his continuing contributions to the Sherlockian world, up to and including a role in founding the Arkansas Valley Investors of Little Rock in 1969. <br />
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One other detail guarantees his immortality: when the <i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank">Baker Street Journal</a></i> began publication in 1946, the very first item in the first issue, apart from the editor's introductory note and trumpet-blast, was a piece of verse by Wigglesworth. Titled "Cum Laude: <i>The Baker Street Journal</i>", it was a formal sonnet, and an acrostic sonnet at that: the initial letters of the eight lines in the octet and the six lines in the sestet spelled out the name "Sherlock Holmes."<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b>irs, here we have the medium that we<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">H</span></b>ave long desired, through which we can express,<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">E</span></b>ach one of us, with fervent eagerness . . .<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">R</span></b>eluctantly . . . or otherwise with free<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">L</span></b>ogicians’ minds, the truth of truths we see<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">O</span></b>nce overlooked in Baker Street. Ah yes,<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">C</span></b>onfession’s good, and here we’ll all confess<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">K</span></b>ing, prince and commoner, religiously.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">H</span></b>ere we will give our Watson his full due;<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">O</span></b>r, seeking other avenues, explain<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">L</span></b>ess happily for Scotland Yard the crimes<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">M</span></b>ishandled by Lestrade and Gregson: clue<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">E</span></b>ngenders clue to end in Sherlock’s gain,<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b>ince he remains the master of our times.</blockquote>
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The Bostonian with the Twisted Lip

"The poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally predominated in him." [REDH] The ranks of the Baker Street Irregulars...

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by Chris Redmond

Molly Hooper and the Romanticizing of Emotional Abuse

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"You have been cruelly used" [SPEC] </h4>
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<br />
When I first started watching <i>Sherlock</i>, I was of course taken by Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal. Sherlock was mysterious, outwardly a jerk, and otherwise unappealing, but there were little touches, little hints, that indicated he might be redeemable, at least on the inside. I was able to completely gloss over his obviously manipulative treatment of Molly Hooper, and I think that was the desired effect. Molly was a sort of awkward little mouse of a woman, Sherlock was conniving and an admitted sociopath, so their interaction was bound to not be ideal. <br />
<br />
<div>
After watching "The Final Problem," however, I began to reconsider the treatment of the character of Molly Hooper from the beginning of the series to the unsatisfying and dismal end, and I realized that in effect, Gatiss and Moffat created a scenario in which viewers were tricked into lusting after what was actually an emotionally abusive dynamic between Sherlock and Molly. <br />
<br />
<h3>
"Holmes had, when he liked, a peculiarly ingratiating way with women" [SECO] </h3>
Throughout the first season, you can see clear evidence of this facet of emotional abuse between Sherlock and Molly.  In case you  are not well-versed in the verbiage of emotional abuse, “love bombing” (which can also be called the honeymoon stage) is when the abuser will offer compliments, often directly tied to wanting something. After they get what they want they cycle back to devaluing/demoralizing their victim.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the best example of this occurs in the episode “The Blind Banker.” Sherlock asks Molly to “wheel out” Eddie Van Coon and Brian Lukis so he can reexamine the cadavers, but Molly informs him the paperwork on the bodies has already been completed. At that point, Sherlock notes that Molly has changed her hair and he encourages her by saying, “No it’s good. It suits you better this way.” Molly then proceeds to do what Sherlock wants.<br />
<br />
Sherlock perpetually insults Molly as part of the devaluing cycle. He tells her, for example, that talking is not her strong suit. In “The Great Game,” the episode directly following “The Blind Banker,” Sherlock insinuates that Molly has gained weight since she started dating her new boyfriend “Jim.” This, incidentally, is another tact emotionally abusive people use to keep their victims off guard. Sherlock drops little treats for Molly but never fulfills her wishes. However, he gives her an equally hard time when she tries to form relationships with other men.<br />
<br />
<h3>
"no ghosts need apply" [SUSS]</h3>
Another aspect of emotional abuse that appears in Sherlock is what is known as ghosting. In “The Empty Hearse,” Sherlock asks Molly to work with him, but throughout almost the entire time they work together, he continues to call her John. One could argue that this simply is to re-establish how close he is with John, but in the context of the entire dynamic between Sherlock and Molly, that feature in the episode takes on more disturbing undertones.<br />
<br />
<h3>
“I am bound to say” [WIST] </h3>
This all takes us to that now much-discussed part of the finale, where Sherlock must make Molly tell him she loves him. There are almost too many problems with these scene to explain. To put it succinctly, Molly is encouraged by Sherlock to finally make herself fully vulnerable, even though she knows, after all of the abuse he has heaped upon her and all of the manipulation he has done, that she will not get anything out of it. He forces her to voice her feelings, but she gets no reward for being emotionally brave. Instead, he hangs up, and she is left with the final proof that he does not have the same feelings for her. Her hopes are crushed as just a minor part of the episode, which almost feels like emotional abuse from the writers themselves.<br />
<br />
<br />
Molly Hooper is an obviously clever woman, sweet, thoughtful, and caring. She is the perfect target for a sociopath like Sherlock, but viewers are led to be forgiving, and even sympathetic, of Sherlock. “That’s just how he is.” In the process, we are saying that treating women in this manner is acceptable and something to be shrugged off, especially if the abuser is attractive and clever.<br />
<br />
Do we really want to perpetuate that way of thinking?<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/FEftYi" target="_blank">Zuza Ritt (Flickr)</a></i><br />
<br />
--<br />
<br /></div>

Molly Hooper and the Romanticizing of Emotional Abuse

"You have been cruelly used" [SPEC] When I first started watching Sherlock , I was of course taken by Benedict Cumberbatch’s...

+ Read more »

by Margie Clayman

New Sherlock Holmes Podcast: Trifles

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"It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles." [TWIS] </h4>
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<br />
After a number of months in development, planning and production, our new show is finally here.<br />
<br />
IHOSE Media, LLC (aka Scott and Burt) have launched a new podcast: <a href="http://sherlockholmespodcast.com/" target="_blank">Trifles</a>. You can find it via the preceding link or by typing <a href="http://sherlockholmespodcast.com/" target="_blank">sherlockholmespodcast.com</a> into your browser — catchy URL, eh?<br />
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(Bit of a backstory: you may be wondering how such a dead-on URL might still be available in 2017. Well, the truth is, we secured that URL back when we first launched I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, which itself is accessible via <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ihearofsherlock.com</a> and <a href="http://ihearofsherlockeverywhere.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ihearofsherlockeverywhere.com</a>. We thought we would keep it handy for...for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9dF5xuJBbM" target="_blank">just such an emergency</a>.)<br />
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<h3>
"I fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground" [STUD]</h3>
How is <b>Trifles</b> different from <b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</b>? Well, we established IHOSE on the premise of covering the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and popular culture. As such, most of our shows have been interviews with current Sherlockians, reviews of books, films, television shows, and the like. As our iconic intro promises, we've covered "goings-on in the world of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts, the Baker Street Irregulars, and popular culture related to the Great Detective," as we "talk about what's new in the world of Sherlock Holmes."<br />
<br />
We heard from some early iTunes reviewers who were disappointed that we didn't talk more about the original stories (despite what our introduction professes). But we were at our wits' ends trying to make some of the discussion points about the stories the same length as our other shows — and length was becoming an issue with those. Only the most dedicated fans would stick with us for an hour or more (thank you!). And to be clear, IHOSE will continue on its twice-a-month broadcast schedule.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
"perhaps a trifle faster" [LAST]</h3>
So, we came up with the idea that is <a href="http://sherlockholmespodcast.com/" target="_blank">Trifles</a>: a 15-minute, weekly audio program in which we discuss something related to the Canon. It could be ethical issues raised in the original works, common themes, something related to the time of year, discrepancies, or any number of other things.<br />
<br />
But the idea here is simple: create a shorter, more Canonical program that is more accessible to the general listener. We may revisit some classics of Sherlockian scholarship, or break new ground with observations of our own. But it will all be based on the Sherlock Holmes stories.<br />
<br />
Here's a sample to get you started —  our first episode:<br />
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<iframe title="Embed Player" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5021288/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/d0161c/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes" height="192" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" style="border: none;" data-dashlane-rid="b26f9ceed866db08" data-dashlane-frameid="3723" data-form-type="other"></iframe><br /></div>
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<h3>
"its atmosphere brings me inspiration" [VALL] </h3>
The name of the show was inspired by Bill Hyder, BSI ("A Most Valuable Institution")'s annual inserts in the BSI dinner packets. Each year, Bill includes a blue half-page titled "TRIFLES" with some thought-starter from the stories. But other inserts, such as "Compliments of the Season" from Peter Blau, BSI ("Black Peter"), "Crowborough Occasionals" from Steve Rothman ("<i>The Valley of Fear</i>") and various "Daypark Press Publications" from Leslie S. Klinger ("The Abbey Grange") also lend themselves as sources of material.<br />
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<br />
<h3>
"professional assistance" [RESI]</h3>
Works like this are a team effort, and without the advice, guidance and generosity of a few individuals, <b>Trifles</b> would not have come to fruition.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tomrichmond.com/" target="_blank">Tom Richmond</a>, whom you may remember from <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose65" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 65 of IHOSE</a> as a talented artist with Sherlockian leanings (not to mention being one of the Usual Gang of Suspects for MAD Magazine), provided our artwork.<br />
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<a href="http://www.scpr.org/about/people/staff/john-rabe" target="_blank">John Rabe</a>, son of the late Wilmer T. ("Bill") Rabe, BSI ("Colonel Warburton's Madness"), host of KPCC's "Off Ramp," and faithful <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">supporter</a> of IHOSE, provided direction for the intro and outro of each episode.<br />
<br />
And Ludwig van Beethoven, as expressed through the U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra, is responsible for our theme music.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
"Shall I sign here?" [BLAC] </h3>
We'd urge you to <a href="http://sherlockholmespodcast.com/" target="_blank">sign up for updates from Trifles</a>. As is our habit, we offer a number of options: you can sign up for <b>email updates</b> and subscribe via <b>iTunes </b>and <b>Google Play</b>. It works on any device, so you can listen at your desktop, or take it with you for your walk, gardening, or commute on your phone or mp3 player.<br />
<br />
The show will air every Wednesday.<br />
<br />
If you have an idea for a discussion topic, please feel free to let us know by emailing us at <a href="mailto:trifles@ihearofsherlock.com" rel="nofollow">trifles@ihearofsherlock.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
"you'll excuse my troubling you about such a trifle" [HOUN]</h3>
And if you could help us out by <a href="http://ihose.co/triflespodcast" target="_blank">leaving a rating and/or a review on iTunes</a>, we'd greatly appreciate it. Doing so will help other people discover the magical world of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
"I don't know why you should be so warm over a trifle" [BLUE]</h3>
As you can tell, we're pretty excited about this. We hope that you share our passion and demonstrate it by passing this message along. Forward it as an email, share it on Facebook, tweet it, put it on reddit, send a telegram, text or smoke signals — we know the power of the Sherlockian network is strong. Please help us reach new an interested Sherlockians-in-waiting.<br />
<br />
Thank you. And until next time... "The game's afoot!"<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Image credit: Artwork by <a href="http://tomrichmond.com/" target="_blank">Tom Richmond</a></i><br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

New Sherlock Holmes Podcast: Trifles

"It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles." [TWIS] After a number of months in development...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Hallelujah, Holmes

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"and did my best" [VALL]</h4>
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<br />
Love, Christmas and Sherlock Holmes have at least one thing in common: they’ve all been hugely popular subjects for songs.<br />
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The multi-talented Karen Wilson joined us on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose111" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 111: Hip Hop Holmes</a> to share her tribute to the Master patterned after Lin-Manuel Miranda’s <i>Hamilton</i>. Now comes a new, well-crafted ode in the style of another distinctive singer-composer.<br />
<br />
Leonard Cohen was a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, poet, novelist, and painter who passed away in 2016. Among the hundreds of memorable songs Cohen composed and sang in a career spanning almost 50 years was 1984’s “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallelujah_(Leonard_Cohen_song)" target="_blank">Hallelujah</a>,” evoking both early rock and gospel music. A version of Cohen's classic can be seen <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22640%22%20height=%22360%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/YrLk4vdY28Q%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E" target="_blank">here</a> and below.<br />
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Karen’s latest contribution to the Sherlockian Songbook is “<a href="https://youtu.be/HN4RwlKsy7U" target="_blank">Hallelujah Holmes</a>,” encompassing Holmes as well as Christopher Morley and the BSI in its lyrics.  You can see and hear Karen’s performance of her song from the January 6, 2017 Gaslight Gala in New York City <a href="https://youtu.be/HN4RwlKsy7U">here</a> and below:<br />
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Hallelujah, indeed.<br />
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<i>Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonard_Cohen_2107.jpg#/media/File:Leonard_Cohen_2107.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></i><br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

Hallelujah, Holmes

"and did my best" [VALL] Love, Christmas and Sherlock Holmes have at least one thing in common: they’ve all been hugely po...

+ Read more »

by Third Pillar

Sherlock Series 4 — That's a Wrap

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"a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain." [3GAR]</h4>
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<br />
[<b><i>Editor's Note:</i></b> this is the 14th in the series of reviews we're sharing on Sherlock Series 4. And spoilers? Yeah, we got that.]<br />
<br />
After six years, Sherlock Holmes’ journey is complete. Series 4 of the hit BBC series has come and gone amid rumors that this latest offering could be the very last we see of the detective’s famed modern incarnation. “The Six Thatchers,” “The Lying Detective,” and “The Final Problem” represent the culmination of a six-year-old story, and in a way that recalls the very best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, these tales give us a rollicking, powerful ending that still manages to toss out all of the viewer’s lingering preconceptions.<br />
<br />
<div>
If you come into this crop of episodes expecting to be entertained by intricate Holmesian plots, you may emerge from your viewing with disappointment. There is <i>a lot</i> going on in this season—along with trying to solve the overarching mystery of Moriarty’s continued appearances from the afterlife, Sherlock and John must confront the unspeakable tragedy of Mary Watson’s death and unravel the secrets of the previously unknown Holmes sister, Eurus. All of these storylines are compelling to follow, but the sheer amount of material that has to be covered sometimes reduces the impact of the individual episodes themselves.<br />
<br />
The strongest standalone tale of the bunch is certainly “The Lying Detective;” in addition to possessing the best single-episode villain in the entire series' history, Toby Jones’s chilling Culverton Smith, our main characters both have time to solve a case and cope with their traumas. In contrast, “The Six Thatchers” and “The Final Problem” race through their scenes at breakneck speeds, leaving fewer quiet moments for the audience to savor even as they create almost unbearable dramatic tension.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
While some of the plots are slightly jumbled, there are still plenty of delights to be found throughout all three episodes. As always, the performances are top-notch; Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman brilliantly infuse Holmes and Watson with believable shades of ambiguity that challenge our perceptions of the famed heroes. And, as in “The Abominable Bride,” the women of the show get another opportunity to shine. Even as a figment of John’s imagination, Amanda Abbington is a heartbreaking delight as Mary Watson. Series newcomer Sian Brooke steals every scene she’s in, making Eurus Holmes a singular creation that is equal parts terrifying and pitiable. And Una Stubbs may have just cemented herself as the definitive on-screen Mrs. Hudson, bestowing the beloved landlady with an indomitable spirit and the driving skills of James Bond.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
"with special reference" [LADY]</h3>
A furor has recently been raised about this series’ similarities to the Bond films, but I actually find the season’s referential nature to be a strong point in its favor. <i>Sherlock</i> has never been shy about drawing upon outside influences, but it’s fun to see the writers stretch beyond the Basil Rathbone canon and instead incorporate elements from Bond, <i>The Silence of the Lambs</i>, and even Batman’s Arkham Asylum. What makes them all work is that these sources once drew from Sherlock Holmes; now, the show is returning the favor while still maintaining a distinctly Holmesian twist in re-adaptation.<br />
<br />
Even after brawling over a bust of Margaret Thatcher, Sherlock still finds it necessary to dramatically announce that he’s found the Black Pearl of the Borgias with a wording that doesn’t sound too far removed from the actual canonical text. Instead of engaging in a philosophical prison debate à la Batman and the Joker in <i>The Dark Knight</i>, Eurus torments her brother by demanding a violin performance from her jail cell. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have always pushed the boundaries of how adaptations can pay tribute to and innovate their source materials, and their experiments in this respect continue to be an entertaining spectacle to witness and analyze.<br />
<h3>
<br />"pray what remains for you?"</h3>
</div>
<div>
But perhaps the largest success to come out of series four is in its resolution. I was keenly aware as I was watching “The Final Problem” that I was witnessing an ending that had been building since “A Study in Pink,” and one that has always been reflected in the title of the show. When we were first introduced to Sherlock way back in 2010, he was a high-functioning sociopath who couldn’t even understand why someone would be distraught over losing a child. He was prickly, irascible, petty, and brilliant—even Greg Lestrade couldn’t deny that he was great and terrible. But it quickly became clear that the show’s goal wasn’t to see Sherlock achieve further illustriousness; if they had wanted to associate him with greatness from the start, the title would have been <i>Sherlock Holmes</i>, which would have instantly aligned this version of the character with his iconic legacy. <i>Sherlock</i> was not fully formed—it demanded evolution.</div>
<div>
<br />
This season was not the climax of the entire series’ plot; it was its emotional apex. Sherlock’s character transformation was wrenching and revelatory in these three episodes—he finally saw the disastrous consequences of giving into his own ego. Instead of lapsing into drug use to stave off his own boredom, Sherlock went to hell and back in service of a friend. This character finally was able to be there for other people—he hugged the bereft John Watson; he was able to bring Eurus Holmes down to earth by promising to be by her side, not through a series of dazzling deductions. Greg Lestrade could smile when he realized that his hope from six years ago had been realized.<br />
<br />
Instead of being great, Sherlock Holmes finally became good this season. If it turns out there are more journeys with him ahead of us, I know I will look forward to seeing what they will be like with the good detective and his best friend.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br /></div>

Sherlock Series 4 — That's a Wrap

"a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain." [3GAR] [ Editor's Note: this is the 14th in the series of revi...

+ Read more »

by Unknown

Sherlock Series 4 — An Improbable Truth

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<b>"a good many of us
may wither before its blast" [LAST] </b></h4>
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[<b><i>Editor's Note:</i></b> this is the 13th in our <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Series%204#.WIHVH_krLb0" target="_blank">series of reviews</a> for Series 4 of <i>Sherlock</i>.<b> </b>Yeah, yeah, spoilers.]</div>
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So let me get this out of the way. I am a traditional Sherlockian.
If cinematic versions of Holmes and Watson never existed, my Holmesian world
would not feel one whit smaller. <i>Sherlock</i> is an incredibly well-acted and
produced show. My criteria for the cinematic Holmes must be that it tells a
good Sherlock Holmes story. I have never seen a film version of a Canon story
get it right to my liking. Sorry Granada.</div>
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<br />
In fact, I prefer original stories about the detective or original spins on the material. As
such, "A Study in Pink" was brilliant. There were quibbles, such as
in the opening shots the bottle of pills being offered by Jeff to his victims
containing more than two pills, and it took an inordinate amount of time for
Sherlock to realize the cabbie was the killer. Those don't matter. It was a
brilliant modern-day reimagining of the character.</div>
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<br />
Now at the end of Series Four, we can clearly see that Steven Moffat and Mark
Gatiss weren't telling a unified, coherent story about a detective but a series
of interlinked stories about the many versions of the Holmes/Watson mythos with
each episode having its own emotional cohesion, but only a tenuous
relationship with preceding or upcoming episodes, and, indeed, storytelling
logic. As an example, look at "A Scandal in Belgravia" and
"Hounds of the Baskerville" (thanks to<a href="http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/"> Ariane Devere</a>)</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK <i>(walking closer and looking down at her)</i>:
Oh, enjoying the thrill of the chase is fine, craving the distraction of the
game – I sympathise entirely – but sentiment? Sentiment is a chemical defect
found in the losing side. <br />
<i>(He bares his teeth slightly as he finishes the sentence.)</i> <br />
IRENE: Sentiment? What are you talking about? <br />
SHERLOCK: You. </div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK: So they didn’t have it put down, then – the dog. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JOHN <i>(tucking into his breakfast while Sherlock stands
next to him and drinks his coffee)</i>: Obviously. Suppose they just couldn’t
bring themselves to do it. <br />
SHERLOCK: I see. <br />
JOHN <i>(smiling)</i>: No you don’t. <br />
SHERLOCK: No, I don’t. Sentiment? <br />
JOHN: Sentiment! <br />
SHERLOCK <i>(rolling his eyes)</i>: Oh. </div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In "Belgravia" Sherlock knows knows all about
sentiment and uses that knowledge to break Irene's code. However, in
"Hounds," sentiment is a foreign concept, in keeping with the
episodes depiction of Sherlock as an unfeeling automation:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK: Always been able to keep myself distant ... <i>(he
takes another drink from the glass)</i> ... divorce myself from ... <i>feelings</i>.
But look, you see ...<br />
<i>(He holds up the glass and glares at his shaking hand.)</i><br />
SHERLOCK: ... body’s betraying me. Interesting, yes? Emotions. <i>(He slams the
glass down onto the table.)</i> The grit on the lens, the fly in the ointment.<br />
JOHN: Yeah, all right, Spock, just ...<br />
<i>(Realising that he is starting to raise his voice, he looks around at the
other people in the restaurant behind him and then looks back to Sherlock.)</i><br />
JOHN <i>(more softly)</i>: ... take it easy.</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
When John explains to Sherlock that the owners of the Cross Keys Inn couldn't
kill their dog because of sentiment, you could practically hear Cumberbatch
recite the Spock line, "Ah yes, one of your Earth emotions." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
By using various pop tropes (superhero, action hero, spy, horror) as applied to
Sherlock Holmes, Moffat and Gatiss are telling different stories about
different Holmeses and Watsons. This is made clear in the fourth wall-breaking
"The Abominable Bride" which opens with clips dated 2010, 2012 and
2014, years the shows aired, not internal chronology, and with the
"Alternatively" year running down not to 1881 but fading around 1884.
<i>A Study in Scarlet </i>was published at the end of 1887, but accepted for
publication by Ward, Lock Co. early in 1886. 1884 might then be Moffat and
Gatiss' guess at when Arthur Conan Doyle first thought about writing of Holmes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
If "Abominable" was its own stand-alone episode, then a modern Sherlock
imagining a Victorian, Canonical Sherlock who knows details of Doyle's Holmes
(such as the implied knowledge of Sidney Paget) and whose mind palace has all
cinematic tricks of the BBC series tucked into it, well, that would be fine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
But "Abominable" is part of the show's continuity, violating both
regular and meta-storytelling techniques. Then Series Four makes a mockery of
Sherlock's statement</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK: Moriarty is dead, no question. But more
importantly ...<br />
<i>(He raises his head and looks to one side.)</i><br />
SHERLOCK: ... I know <i>exactly</i> what he’s going to do next.</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
As we soon see, Sherlock doesn't have a clue. He has suppressed all memory of
his sister, the real boogieman behind Moriarty and leaving the viewer to wonder
if Moffat and Gatiss make this stuff up all on the fly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
As Series Four keeps throwing in the viewer's faces, Sherlock (and <i>Sherlock</i>)
is all about emotion, which explains why that in a  supposed
"clever" show it rarely has Sherlock getting out of tight spots by
brain power. "The Great Game" has the Mexican stand-off with Moriarty
and his snipers end by Moriarty getting a phone call and being distracted and
leaving. The terrorist bomb in "The Empty Hearse" has an off switch.
Sherlock uses the Mike Hammer deductive technique of putting a bullet in the
bad guy's brain in "His Last Vow". He then gets out of exile-to-certain-death through the <i>deus
ex machina</i> of Moriarty hacking every screen in Britain, then having the
government, through Mycroft, altering the surveillance tapes to show a
government sniper killing Magnussen instead.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The show has, in fact, has pushed the characters past the breaking point of
being any sort of representation of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. It is the
canon of <i>this</i> show that Sherlock is, to put it nicely, a "d*ck." He
unknowingly made John an accomplice to murder:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK <i>(loudly, lifting his head)</i>: Oh, <i>do</i>
your research.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(He steps closer to John, reaches round behind him and
into John’s coat pocket, then steps away again and walks forward towards
Magnussen.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK: I’m not a hero ...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(Magnussen turns to look at him.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK: ... I’m a high-functioning sociopath.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(He widens his eyes and glares at the man.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SHERLOCK: <i>Merry Christmas! </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(He raises John’s pistol, aims it at Magnussen’s head and
fires. As John recoils and even before Magnussen hits the ground, Sherlock
drops the gun to the patio and turns towards the helicopter, raising his
hands.)</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
And Sherlock sees Watson less than a friend and more as a
fashion accessory:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>([Sherlock] looks at the picture of John with his new
moustache.)</i><br />
SHERLOCK: Well, we’ll have to get rid of <i>that</i>.<br />
MYCROFT: “We”?<br />
SHERLOCK: He looks ancient. I can’t be seen to be wandering around with an old
man.</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This Holmes and Watson have a dysfunctional relationship,
with John physically assaulting Sherlock and Sherlock emotionally abusing John,
such as letting John believe he and Sherlock were going to die, just so John
would forgive Sherlock for deceiving about his death in "The Empty
Hearse".  </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Watson is not the stalwart companion of the Doylean Canon, but the
damsel-in-distress, needing to be saved by Sherlock from Chinese circus spears,
dynamite vests and burning Guy Fawkes effigies. Finally, Sherlock saves John by letting John believe he's saving Sherlock from his drug use (call it the "Miss Mary Sutherland Treatment"). Mary Morstan, even in death, is
a more Canonical John Watson than what the scripts give Martin Freeman to work
with. With Sherlock making a vow to Mary, to protect her from her past, he is
in essence making John, Mary and himself a polyamorous unit and it is Sherlock
and<i> Mary</i> to the rescue in "The Empty Hearse." And while "The
Sign of Three" refers to John, Mary and unborn Rosamund, it could also
refer to John, Mary and Sherlock and their union of love and partnership. In
this triad, someone has got to be diminished, and John becomes lessened in
comparison to his ninja assassin wife.  He's someone prone to texting
flirtations with a stranger on a bus while Mary does her superspy thing <i>and</i>
being a sleep-deprived mother of a new born.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
How does the show explain how Sherlock came to be the great detective, whether
Canonical or pop cultural? Moffat and Gatiss have concluded that Sherlock
Holmes is the way he is because his psychopathic six year old non-Canonical
sister killed Sherlock's best friend; Sherlock suppressing all memory of her;
Eurus being locked away, but like
the Joker in Arkham, running the secret government asylum; controlling
Moriarty, thanks to an incredibly stupid Mycroft; Eurus responsible for who
knows how many deaths, all because she wanted Sherlock to play with her. And
we're supposed to be happy with the conclusion of Sherlock making regular visits to
play (the violin) with Eurus because, what, family is family?<br />
<br />
We've entered the
world of comic book superhero soap opera mythology where John and Sherlock jump
through second story windows microseconds ahead of a devastating bomb blast and
land in a busy metropolitan street without a scratch and left the Doylean realm
of human beings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Sherlock Holmes is widely recognized as having said <b>"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."</b>  Well, the series was filled with improbabilities, which made it impossible to like.<br />
<br />
And that's the ugly truth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
--<br />
<br /></div>

Sherlock Series 4 — An Improbable Truth

"a good many of us may wither before its blast" [LAST] [ Editor's Note: this is the 13th in our series of reviews fo...

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by James C. O'Leary

Dear Mr. Gatiss

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"attracted admirers who occasionally hung about" [BERY] </h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy1P1D71AllAB6WEkdzRgCg6t6eLoIYsKoKLYHggsnhlAQIsIkmFB-K7NRjip15tboWIvgRPItvMPog9SYDUUZ_JgSlWN5uxardEEfDbGmawQOjmlpAqeRuQZv7keYfHCGQzJ0zx_cNF_/s1600/Sherlock+-+Series+4+chess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy1P1D71AllAB6WEkdzRgCg6t6eLoIYsKoKLYHggsnhlAQIsIkmFB-K7NRjip15tboWIvgRPItvMPog9SYDUUZ_JgSlWN5uxardEEfDbGmawQOjmlpAqeRuQZv7keYfHCGQzJ0zx_cNF_/s640/Sherlock+-+Series+4+chess.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
[<b><i>Editor's Note:</i></b> this is the 12th is a <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Series%204#.WIHVH_krLb0" target="_blank">series of reviews</a> of Series 4 of <i>Sherlock</i>. Minor spoilers ahead.]<br />
<br />
In <a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz-tv/hot-tv/578507/Sherlock-BBC-complicated-Benedict-Cumberbactch-show-creator-Mark-Gatiss" target="_blank">a recent interview</a>, Mark Gatiss — co-creator of and actor in BBC One's <i>Sherlock</i> — took a dig worthy Mycroft Holmes (well, <i>his </i>version of Mycroft Holmes, at least) at the show's critics:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"People ask if it's good to challenge the audience. Of course it f***ing is...Go and read a children's book with hard pages if you don't want to be challenged. We’re making the show we want to make. We don't make it a certain way because fans are pressuring us."</blockquote>
I hear it being said with a sneer. I hope it's out of context.<br />
<br />
I know better.<br />
<br />
And for that reason, I have a letter for Mark Gatiss.<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Mr. Gatiss,<br />
<br />
I admire your work.<br />
<br />
Many of us here do.<br />
<br />
All of us, anyway, have decisively made room for Sherlock Holmes and his adventures in our brain attics. So the implication <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Series%204#.WH90mhsrJPY" target="_blank">our near-universal condemnation of Series 4</a> is somehow due to a lack of understanding and appreciation for "challenging" art is, at the very least, tedious.<br />
<br />
You know there would be no <i>Sherlock</i> without its fans. You know there'd be no <i>Sherlock</i> without Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And you know there'd be no <i>Sherlock</i> without ACD's formula:<br />
<ol>
<li>The tangle of impossible evidence.</li>
<li>The untangling.</li>
<li>The reveal.</li>
</ol>
<br />
The wonderful, sure arc you just derided. We bump along with Watson and Lestrade down the track — through the tunnel, 'round the bend, past the pirates — and we like it that way. We hang our deerstalker on the logic and sense of it all and the assurance that the cleverest of us will solve the mystery.<br />
<br />
Series 4 unfortunately did away with the gamut.<br />
<br />
Episode 1 served to write Mary out.<br />
<br />
Episode 2 felt a bit more familiar. (The delicious baddie. The bugged cane.)<br />
<br />
But Episode 3 completely got away from you. How did the chick from <i>The Ring</i> escape Alcatraz to pose as a flirt on a bus then as a tranquilizer-wielding shrink? Right right right. She's an evil genius I suppose I'm incapable of fathoming. Why the drone? How did John end up shackled in a well? And Redbeard was a kid? C'mon. Enough.<br />
<br />
If you and Mr. Moffat do write a fifth series, consider us for a Christmas treat: consider we deal with enough challenges outside the fandom that when we tune into you, <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/sherlocks-huge-ratings-confirm-its-status-as-one-of-uks-mostloved-shows-ahead-of-finale-a3440896.html" target="_blank">as we have in huge numbers</a>, we are the case in the chair. Craving reason in the unreasonable and, for me, cheekbones I could cut myself on.<br />
<br />
Looking forward,<br />
<br />
Jessica Levine<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

Dear Mr. Gatiss

"attracted admirers who occasionally hung about" [BERY] [ Editor's Note: this is the 12th is a series of reviews of Se...

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by Jessica Levine

The Dilemma of Interpretation, Pastiches, and Sherlock

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b>"thousands of other similar cases " [REDH] </b></h4>
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<br />
No one inhabiting the Sherlockian realm is unaware of the volcanic ire unleashed since the broadcast of <i>Sherlock</i> Series 4 “The Final Problem,” presumably the series' final episode.<br />
<br />
My goal is to remind my friends that the flowing lava will cool in time. In fact, many pastiches of the past were criticized or snubbed in their day, and now are generally regarded with intense affection.<br />
<br />
I've commented in other forums about the nature of pastiches and how we’ve come to regard them. The following is an updated version of an essay I offered in the early 2000s in the <a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/hounds/" target="_blank">Hounds-L listserv</a> -— I was known as “The Lurking Man” — with insertions pertinent to the <i>Sherlock</i> brouhaha, drawn from my comments in a recent Facebook thread.<br />
<br />
Let's admit at the onset that part of my soul is utterly mystified by the repeated references one comes across to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle having "conceived" the Canon. And yet another part of me understands the widespread delusion that, somehow, Dr. John H. Watson relinquished all control of his notes to Doyle and that the Literary Agent was in fact the Author.<br />
<br />
If we aren't reading chronicles related by Watson-as-Biographer, it goes a long way toward explaining why there are so many different Holmeses within the Canon itself. In fact, the premise helps us to understand why so many of the later "stories" actually appear to be pastiches flowing from the presumably mighty pen of Doyle-as-Author himself.<br />
<br />
Take, for example, the different Holmeses of <i>A Study in Scarlet </i>and<i> The Sign of Four</i>. In the first, Holmes is youthful, glib, friendly, chimerical, outgoing, arrogant, energetic, full of brightness and even fun. In the second, he is taking cocaine thrice a day, and when he is not occupied with the case he is moody, brooding and pessimistic. (I reiterated this point recently <span style="text-align: justify;">in an essay about</span> “The Speckled Band,” published in Christopher Redmond’s remarkable compilation <i><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/10/about-sixty-eliminates-improbable.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">About Sixty</a></i>.)<br />
<br />
We see glimpses of these two Holmeses throughout other stories, and we reconcile them by claiming that, at times, Holmes must have been manic depressive or simply dual-natured. But perhaps Doyle-as-Author was dual-natured himself and this tendency emerged in his writings, based on his imagination-of-the-moment.<br />
<br />
A third Holmes often appears, and is neither of these other Holmeses — not the chemist / code-breaker / paralegal / actor / amateur anthropologist. This Holmes is a creative force who searches for things outside of the realm of crime — a varied mind that encompasses the multiple lives of a scholar, art lover, book collector, historian, musician, traveler and author.<br />
<br />
This is a consistent, almost pointed characterization that emerges in many of these separate chronicles/stories. Each new aspect reflects on the same notion that here is a brilliant, wide-ranging mind that embodies the expansiveness of the Victorian era and the increasing opportunities becoming available to the rising middle class of English society.<br />
<br />
In addition to fattening a cheque-book, either:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Watson was well aware of what an astonishing human being Holmes was and sought to capture his character for the benefit and inspiration of others, while acknowledging his weaknesses and self-contradictions; or</li>
<li>Doyle was well aware of what a truly astonishing human being was capable of being, and sought to describe such a character for the benefit and inspiration of others, while recognizing that any human being would have to have drawbacks and inconsistencies.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
In the characterization of these various Holmeses we find a curiously consistent thread — the flash of a scintillating genius, through a glimmer here and a sparkle there, all adding up to a collective blaze that illuminates the body of work we call the Canon, even if individual entries are pale and dull compared to the whole.<br />
<br />
When we read a <a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/pastiches/index.html" target="_blank">pastiche</a>, if we fail to note that spark, that glimmer, that slight jewel-shine that catches our eye and reminds us of that overall, highly personalized genius, then something is missing. Something is wrong. It doesn't ring true. The writer has failed to convince us that he is either Doyle-as-Author or Watson-as-Biographer. There's no subjective or objective reality on which we can suspend our disbelief.<br />
<br />
<h3>
"I fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground" [SIGN]</h3>
However, if the pastiche-wright shows us something new, something jewel-like, it awakens our own inner genius. We recognize Holmes (or some version of him) as the man we met before, and the Master walks among these pages once again. That's a rare event, and such a perfect fiction is hard to forge, but it's no less an accomplishment than what Doyle-as-Author might have set out to do when attempting himself to re-invent Holmes for the later stories. In fact, in some cases, the accomplishment probably is greater.<br />
<br />
For the purist, <i>The Seven Percent Solution</i> is a fabrication to be dismissed. But there's no doubt that <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose85" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nicholas Meyer</a> re-awakened some very real conception of Holmes for many, many thousands of people who had forgotten (or never known) the delight of reading about this man of genius living in a time when genius could thrive. <i>This</i> Holmes looked like what <i>a</i> Holmes should look like. That's why Meyer's fiction ranks highly — very highly — when compared with, say, "The Veiled Lodger" or "The Mazarin Stone," both found among the Sacred Writings but neither conveying a well-realized sense of what a Holmes truly should resemble.<br />
<br />
Naturally, I hold a higher esteem for those works that I prize as having come from the pen of Watson-as-Biographer. I have enormous respect for all those that might even have come simply from the pen of Doyle-as-Author. However, if there exist new tales that provide a joy of sudden discovery, and convince me — however briefly — that another biographer has been located at last, so be it. A truly successful "Sherlock Holmes story" conveys to my judgment an appreciation of insightful genius, regardless of its source.<br />
<br />
Genius can and does thrive all around us, and isn't necessarily found only in the same old place, between the covers of only one set of 60 stories about this or that version of Holmes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
"on which I would willingly dwell" [FINA]</h3>
This is why I came to enjoy rather deeply the Holmes I saw in several episodes of <i>Sherlock</i>, despite the show's obvious modernizations and manipulations of the Canon. When I noted the scripts' quirks and liberties, I reminded myself that I — with many other Sherlockians — had come to honor pastiches such as <i>The Seven Percent Solution </i>and<i> Without a Clue</i>, and view Nigel Bruce's childishness and Basil Rathbone's high-flying coifs with fond respect, even relish. Like many others, I gave <i>Sherlock</i> the same break.<br />
<br />
After all, many of us cackle to see Holmes and Watson dumped into Loch Ness by a monster submarine, because Billy Wilder made it happen in <i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i>. Some of us even have come to see the made-for-television film <i>Case of Evil </i>as innovative and daring, despite its uncomfortable obsessions about sex and drugs. (Gasp!)<br />
<br />
By canonical standards, all these interpretations and crazy dramatizations are heretical and loony, but time has allowed us to see these creations as <i>appreciations</i> rather than assaults. That means we can admire — even adore — what was offered, and what continues to be offered.<br />
<br />
Remember, my friends: We came to terms with Jeremy Brett's unexpected, eccentric tics and outbursts, which were so deeply criticized when he first appeared on the scene. Brett, now regarded widely as the most canonical of all Sherlockian actors, initially was scorned by many fans who'd been married to the notion that Holmes was Rathbone.<br />
<br />
That perception changed with time — and with the realization that it was all just an interpretation, and that the Canon still stood firmly in place, just as it does today.<br />
<br />
<i>Sherlock</i> hasn't had the gift of time to separate us from our expectations and umbrage, but I suggest we all revisit these amazing programs in, say, 2037. Then we can pass the bottle and discuss amiably just how much fun all these shows have been, despite their ups and downs, heresies, looniness and flaws. We even may discover new ways to appreciate them — ways that only time can develop and reveal.<br />
<br />
Perhaps then we also may look around the room and see how many of us have come to Holmes through <i>Sherlock</i>, and recognize what an astonishing service has been achieved on behalf of the Sherlockian world.<br />
<br />
There are many true chronicles yet to be written and many dramatic interpretations yet to illuminate the screen. Let them come.<br />
<br />
[<b style="font-style: italic;">Editor's Note: </b><i>This is John C. Sherwood's first contribution to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. He is from Marshall, Michigan, and has been a professional Sherlock Holmes impersonator since 1987. He was Gasogene XVI of <a href="http://www.watsonstinbox.org/" target="_blank">Watson's Tin Box</a> of Ellicott City, Md., and a recent recipient of the Beggar's Cup from the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit.</i>]<br />
<b><br /></b>
--<br />
<b><br /></b>