Sayers update
You were all so very right; the "Lord Peter" collection of short stories is a terrible introduction to Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books!
Have now read "Whose Body", "Strong Poison", and "Busman's Honeymoon" - great characters, and the women in fridges problem indeed goes very much away. Women are less throwaway plot devices, and more frequently represented among the background characters, too. Although I'm already a committed Harriet Vane fan, it's not just her - there's the Dowager Duchess of Denver, and Miss Climpson and her crew. Parker seems a little under-drawn, but I think that may be because I haven't gotten to some of the stories that feature him more prominently. Bunter is MUCH more interesting in long-form, too.
Have also read "Thrones, Dominations", and I don't know what the hardcore fan attitude is towards the Jill Paton Walsh "additions" to the series, but I liked it quite a lot. I can see where some of it is a little different than how Sayers might have done it, but it was quite subtle (unlike the "sequels" I've seen to Austen works), and a good read on it's own. I do intend to read the other Paton Walsh additions.
I read about half of "Five Red Herrings", and skipped to the end, and then skipped through that as well. It's astonishingly awful! Very little characterization (overrendered dialect doesn't substitute) and nothing but monotonous grind on what feels like the same plot details over and over with very little progress. Perhaps an accurate rendering of real detective work, but not much fun to read.
Have "Murder Must Advertise" and "Nine Tailors" awaiting me; another title (don't remember which) in transit from a nearby campus, and two titles requested from my own employing institution's catalog reported back missing, so I guess I'll have to ILL those!
Thanks for the encouragement to push on! I'm glad I did!
This entry was originally posted at http://retrofit.dreamwidth.org/5999.html. Please feel free to comment there or here.
Have now read "Whose Body", "Strong Poison", and "Busman's Honeymoon" - great characters, and the women in fridges problem indeed goes very much away. Women are less throwaway plot devices, and more frequently represented among the background characters, too. Although I'm already a committed Harriet Vane fan, it's not just her - there's the Dowager Duchess of Denver, and Miss Climpson and her crew. Parker seems a little under-drawn, but I think that may be because I haven't gotten to some of the stories that feature him more prominently. Bunter is MUCH more interesting in long-form, too.
Have also read "Thrones, Dominations", and I don't know what the hardcore fan attitude is towards the Jill Paton Walsh "additions" to the series, but I liked it quite a lot. I can see where some of it is a little different than how Sayers might have done it, but it was quite subtle (unlike the "sequels" I've seen to Austen works), and a good read on it's own. I do intend to read the other Paton Walsh additions.
I read about half of "Five Red Herrings", and skipped to the end, and then skipped through that as well. It's astonishingly awful! Very little characterization (overrendered dialect doesn't substitute) and nothing but monotonous grind on what feels like the same plot details over and over with very little progress. Perhaps an accurate rendering of real detective work, but not much fun to read.
Have "Murder Must Advertise" and "Nine Tailors" awaiting me; another title (don't remember which) in transit from a nearby campus, and two titles requested from my own employing institution's catalog reported back missing, so I guess I'll have to ILL those!
Thanks for the encouragement to push on! I'm glad I did!
This entry was originally posted at http://retrofit.dreamwidth.org/5999.html. Please feel free to comment there or here.