The mainstreaming of Holmes/Watson
I've just ordered a book. I shouldn't have, because it's not work-related and I have four piles of books I own but haven't yet read taking over my dining room table, but I just couldn't help it.
Because it's called A Study in Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes!
As this review says: "Scholars and fans have been arguing about the implications of queerness in the Holmes canon for a long time it's a popular topic. Two men in an intense emotional relationship, living together, sharing spaces and finances and their lives; well. It's suggestive, and it's intriguing. Both of the most recent big-name interpretations of the Holmes stories the Robert Downey, Jr. movie and the BBC's delightful Sherlock have played with the intensity of the relationship between Holmes and Watson, explored it and made suggestions about it."
Seriously. When I studied queer history as the background for my PhD Holmes and Watson would occasionally pop up despite being (I hate to say it) fictional. (It did help that Conan Doyle created Holmes after a meeting with a publisher at which Oscar Wilde was also present.)
I know that if I want Holmes/Watson I don't need to go any further than LJ, but I have to confess that I enjoy reading stories in a real, tangible book. Ebooks just aren't yet the same to me. So - I 'm excited. I just hope this is worth my twenty hard-earned dollars.
Because it's called A Study in Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes!
As this review says: "Scholars and fans have been arguing about the implications of queerness in the Holmes canon for a long time it's a popular topic. Two men in an intense emotional relationship, living together, sharing spaces and finances and their lives; well. It's suggestive, and it's intriguing. Both of the most recent big-name interpretations of the Holmes stories the Robert Downey, Jr. movie and the BBC's delightful Sherlock have played with the intensity of the relationship between Holmes and Watson, explored it and made suggestions about it."
Seriously. When I studied queer history as the background for my PhD Holmes and Watson would occasionally pop up despite being (I hate to say it) fictional. (It did help that Conan Doyle created Holmes after a meeting with a publisher at which Oscar Wilde was also present.)
I know that if I want Holmes/Watson I don't need to go any further than LJ, but I have to confess that I enjoy reading stories in a real, tangible book. Ebooks just aren't yet the same to me. So - I 'm excited. I just hope this is worth my twenty hard-earned dollars.