something queer going on

I just finished watching it yesterday, and there were some things I really liked, some things I thought were just strange, and one thing that irritated me enormously. Guess what I'm going to talk about?

( not spoilery for plot but somewhat for character development )

My allergy problem segued into a sinus infection problem, leading to several unpleasant days on which my entire face hurt, but I'm better now and feeling mostly human again.

Today I was reminded that while the Granada Sherlock Holmes series was mostly excellent, towards the end it went off the rails. I checked out "The Eligible Bachelor" from the library. I'd never seen it before, and ye gods was it terrible. About a third of the storyline was based on two ACD stories, the rest was a lot of overheated Victorian melodrama, terrible special effects, and scenery-chewing. Even Jeremy Brett went a bit over the top; only Edward Hardwicke kept his dignity and grace as Watson, but unfortunately he wasn't in the story much.

In another instance of bad media choices, I also checked out The Explorers: A Story of Fearless Outcasts, Blundering Geniuses, and Impossible Success from the library. I was in a hurry and didn't look closely at it; I just saw from the blurb that it was about the Burton and Speke expeditions to find the source of the Nile and thought it would be interesting. It turned out not to really even be about the expeditions, apart from a few scattered pages. Mostly it's about seven personality traits supposedly associated with explorers, and how they can help the reader succeed in their own life. So, scads of self-helpish generalities and dubious neuroscience. Also, it turns out the author is a frequent ghostwriter co-writer for right-wing television pundit Bill O'Reilly, whom he enthuses about in the author's notes.

I only skimmed but still managed to be irritated, especially by author Martin Dugard mentioning Richard Hillary as an example of the brave, persevering explorer type. Hillary, Dugard writes, was a pilot "shot down and killed during World War II." Now, this is technically true, but not the way it sounds. First Hillary was shot down and seriously burned. After surgeries, rehabilitation and a lot of badgering of doctors and commanding officers, he managed to get himself cleared for flight retraining even though his hands were stiff from scar tissue. During training he crashed his plane, killing himself and his radio operator. Hillary, when his story is told honestly and not fudged, doesn't strike me as an admirable example of ceaselessly striving for your dreams, but rather an example of the value of knowing when to quit.

I've made at least one not-mistaken media choice by starting to read Chaz Brenchley's Outremer series, which is set in a fantasy version of the crusader settlements in the middle east, aka Outremer. It's a bit grimdark, and given how important religion is supposed to be, the religious issues aren't clearly defined, but it's a good story so far and I like that there are queer characters who are central and have plots roles well beyond their queerness. I should note that the books aren't really standalones; they need to be read in order and so far they tend to end abruptly.

So how are you all? I miss you!

The fourth round of the ACD Holmes Fanwork Exchange is open for signups. I appear to have signed up. How did that happen?

Here are my answers for the "tell me a character, I'll tell you one of their hangups" meme.

graculus and vilakins asked for ( Mervyn Bunter (Lord Peter Wimsey) )

magnetic_pole asked for ( Sherlock Holmes )

lilacsigil asked for ( John Watson )

st_aurafina asked for ( Lord John Grey (Outlander books etc.) )

It's Wednesday again. How does that happen?

Currently Reading:

I've been re-reading some Sherlock Holmes stories. The good thing about re-reading is that you can skip over the case details and just focus on Holmes and Watson. I've been thinking about how Holmes behaves in The Sign of Four; of course the last line, where Holmes basically says, "So, you're getting married, huh? Well in that case I'll just shoot up ALL THE COCAINE, so there!" has stuck in my head in all its passive-aggressive glory. What hadn't entirely registered before is how hard Holmes tries to show that he can be the perfect companion (so what does Watson need with a wife???). He notices when Watson is tired and makes him lie down and plays soft music to help him sleep. He arranges nice meals and makes damn sure Watson notices: "I have oysters and a brace of grouse, with something a little choice in white wines.--Watson, you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper." (Athelney Jones joins them for this meal, but Holmes didn't know he was going to be there--the effort certainly wasn't for his benefit.) He talks charmingly "on miracle plays, on mediaeval pottery, on Stradivarius violins, on the Buddhism of Ceylon" and seems quite another man from the Holmes of A Study in Scarlet who insists that it's a waste of his brain space to know about anything unconnected to crime. (Just as SoF Watson, with his wounded leg, occasionally seems quite another Watson from the one in Scarlet with the bullet in his shoulder! Oh, Conan Doyle, you needed a story bible like no other writer.) Holmes also calls Watson "my dear boy" and worries that a long hike across London will be too much for Watson's leg.

I just want to hug him, poor man, to make up for Watson's obliviousness.

Not that Watson's marriage seems to come between them all that much, in the end. Watson starts out "A Scandal in Bohemia" claiming that he hardly sees Holmes anymore what with being so happily married, oh no, nothing interests Watson anymore but domesticity. Which would be why he's popping in to visit Holmes all the time, ignoring his medical practice if Holmes wants his help or just his company, accompanying Holmes to restaurants and concerts, and sleeping at Baker Street when he has a perfectly good home of his own. All typical of a happily married, domestically minded man.

(Incidentally, and going back to SoF, I wonder if anyone's ever written a fic where Mary Morstan refuses Watson's proposal because she and Mrs. Forrester are lovers. Doyle's description of Mrs. F. waiting up for Mary and holding her and comforting her makes that interpretation perfectly possible. And if Mary had the courage to be frank with Watson, which I think she might, it would do Watson some good to think about the possibilities for love outside of a conventional marriage.)


Recently Read:

I gave up on Charles Glass's The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II because it was much too focused on three individual stories and not very informative in a general sense.

I did finish Stephen Jay Gould's Full House, but my first impression of it as a rehash of themes Gould explored pretty thoroughly elsewhere turned out to be true. Also, I got the sense that Gould really just wanted to write a book about baseball, and I don't give a damn about baseball.


What I'm reading next:

Interlibrary loan finally sent me Demobbed: Coming Home After the Second World War by Alan Allport. It looks interesting and actually remembers to talk about POWs, yay!

And I should read Ben Aaronovitch's Broken Homes, but I'm kind of afraid to. Even though we're just in the middle of the big plot arc, I feel about the new book almost like I do/did about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics and about new Discworld novels: no, I don't want more canon, thank you. More canon could ruin things for me. It's not a matter of declining quality, as it is with Discworld and was with Buffy, just that the story universe and certain characters in particular (*coughThomasNightingalecough*) have a definite shape in my mind and I don't want it changed, no. (This is one reason, I think, why my fannishness gravitates towards closed canons. In a closed canon, you can read or watch the whole thing and then develop theories and headcanon, instead of having big lags where you wait for new canon and start having Ideas which are then jossed. How do you people who prefer open canons stand the tension?)

Here are my answers to the prompts I was given for this meme. I'd be happy to take more prompts if anyone is interested.

miss_morland asked about ( Captain Haddock )

mcicioni asked about ( Peter from The Wooden Horse )

executrix asked about ( Pilot Officer Larry Page )

slashgoddess80 asked about ( Tintin )

elaineofshalott asked about ( Conan Doyle's G. Lestrade )

1) I saw War Horse the other day, mostly to please a friend but also because Benedict Cumberbatch is in it. Unfortunately, Cumberbatch was only in it for about ten minutes and had a horrible mustache. And the film itself was pretty awful, as even my heartwarming-animal-stories loving friend agreed. But it was awful in the way that means it will probably win several Oscars.

2) Out of all the things I could be writing, why am I writing a Sherlock/Cabin Pressure crossover that pairs Martin and Mycroft? I think that when presented with multiple fic-writing options, my subconscious goes for the one that will be the creepiest and/or attract the fewest readers.

3) Why do non-British (generally American) fen go to the effort of writing really good Sherlock fic, often quite lengthy and with great care taken over the prose and plot, and then don't get it Britpicked? I cringe at every "gotten," every wrong "pants," and if it bothers me, it must bother British readers much more. I end up hesitant to rec these stories, however good they are in other respects, and even to comment on them because I'm annoyed that the author couldn't bother to do one simple thing.

I feel compelled to show you all my new desktop wallpaper: ( image under the cut )

That was ( spoilers )