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Hello everybody. This is a reminder that the KeePer’s book club starts in two days. Try to have the first two chapters read by then. See you then.
–The management
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Will read them tomorrow…probably. 😉
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@christi-eaton @gretald @hope @spradlin @hannah-c @sarah-h @overcomer @wordfitlyspoken @dbhgodreigns @zoe-wingfeather @hannah-olsen @writefury @anna-brie @hannah-krynicki @hislittlerose @vanna @jadamae @ingridrd @the-happy-bookaholic
Alright everybody, The Sign Of The Four has begun. By now, you should hopefully have read the first two chapters, but if not, you still have a few days to catch up before we move on to the next two.
I thought I’d get us started with a few questions.
1. Different detective stories have different approaches. Some use clues that you can follow along with and make your own decisions whereas some are puzzles you could never have guessed and the fun is in having the detective explain his genius to you. In some, detectives are cold fact analysts whereas in others they use more psychology or intuition. Did you like the detective style of Sherlock Holmes? Are there other styles you like more? If so, why?
2. How do you think the author did with his characterization? Why do you think his characters stood out or failed to stand out?
3. Do you have any observations about the book’s prose?
4. Why do you think the author included Watson’s attraction to their female client? Is this important? (Bonus question: Do you think there is any significance to Holmes saying that The Martyrdom Of Man is an excellent book?)🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
Hmm…I think I’d like to tackle number 4 and the bonus question. Watson’s attraction to Mary is definitely significant, because it adds a very interesting twist to the climax. I won’t say how, since we aren’t there yet.
Why did Holmes suggest Martyrdom of Man? I’m not sure. It was a very controversial book at the time, so maybe the author was stating his opinion on it. Maybe not, though, because it makes a point that a detective would find interesting, and which Holmes quotes later in the story, about statistics. Someone else might have a better answer to that. 🙂I haven’t read Sign of Four before, but I’m thinking that Watson’s attraction to Mary is entwined with the main story plot somehow, like Sarah said. I also think it serves to contrast Watson’s character and Sherlock Holmes’s character. Watson is much more emotional and open about his emotions, whereas Holmes doesn’t have much emotion at all.
And as far as the Martyrdom of Man goes, I think maybe the author was giving his own opinion about the book, like Sarah (@sarah-h) said, again. 😉Those are some good points @sarah-h though different from what I came up with. I’ll put mine up for comparison.
I will start with the martyrdom of man first since it was the foundation for my conclusions on Watson’s attraction. Honestly, I had never heard of the book before (at least I don’t think), but I pulled up Wikipedia on it and read what they had to say. In summary, the book describes Reade’s theory of social Darwinism. He describes society as progressing from wars, to religion, and then, there were two more I forget (basically on on to the enlightenment). Now I propose that this is important in setting the feel of the story. Holmes expresses quite a lot of his philosophies in the early chapters. He is rather a coldhearted logician and his commendation of the martyrdom of man is the icing on the cake. It all goes to accent Holme’s need for an intellectual (or drug) stimulant to carry him out of the monotony of life. This is the tone I think the author intended. I think he hoped (perhaps subconsciously) that it would add a bit of a thrill to the mystery portions of his book.
Based off this, I think Watson’s attraction was ployed as a contrast. His struggle over her at the end of chapter 2 (which I consider the most brilliant part of the book) focuses significantly on his willingness to let emotions triumph over cold hard facts (the very opposite of Holmes).
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Hmm, Sherlock’s detective style. I like the cold, hard, logical approach as opposed to some detective stories where quite a bit of it is a hunch. That being said, there are many things Sherlock figures out which I think are quite lucky guesses. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very smart and there are lots of things people can figure out by observation and deduction (I love Holmes’s definition of the differences between the two) but there are some things which could have any number of options. The watch, for example…it could have been the Father who was careless, or the watch could have been the only item remaining from a formerly rich life… there’s lots of possibilities.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@Daeus As I was reading your comment about Holmes being a “cold, hard logician”, it occurred to me that through the series he often complains about life being dull and miserable, and maybe the author did that on purpose to show the result of being completely logical and emotionless. Holmes is brilliant, but he is a very unhappy person. I don’t know why I didn’t see that before…. And I think you’re right about Martyrdom of Man highlighting Holmes’ personality. Discovering things like that is my favorite part of literary analysis.
Sherlock would say he never guesses, @hope . He makes observations and deduces from them. When there are several possible deductions to make he chooses the most likely based on the facts. So there is very little guesswork involved. It is more clever thinking. 😉
I wouldn’t call Holmes unhappy, @sarah-h . He is most happy when investigating a case, especially with his comrade Dr. Watson. Watson is less clever, which is sometimes why his guesses (he does guess) are more practical and/or simple in nature. This makes him invaluable to Sherlock because he occasionally forgets or overlooks the obvious in the search for a more difficult explanation.
Sherlock is cold and logical because it suits his profession and vice versa. It’s not so much that he doesn’t care about the people involved with his cases. He does. It just makes it easier to solve the cases if he pushes those feelings and concerns out of his mind, which makes sense. Surgeons often prefer to operate on people they know nothing about. That way they can better focus on their work and not their feelings.
I think they are a great character combination. Sherlock’s quirky cleverness together with Watson’s loyalty and good heart make for an interesting read. 🙂 🙂
@daeus I’m actually on vacation this week, so I can just join in later on the next few chapters.
@hannah-krynicki Oh, nice! Have fun on vacation. 🙂
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As far as characterization went, I though he did a great job. Especially in the beginning, he used dialogue to introduce his characters quickly without info-dumping. For style, I definitely noticed how instead of giving the clues and letting you try to figure it out, you were simply told the very basic premise and Holmes tells you the answer. Somehow, you are still drawn into the story.
@gretald Thanks. I certainly will!
I would like to point out the fact that Sir Arthur Conan Dole did an excellent job (in my opinion) on making Sherlock Holmes human. Most authors would have been tempted to take this character with extraordinary abilities and make him perfect all around but not in this case. Sherlock is vain and self centered at times and we catch a glimpse of just how truly human he is with his weakness when it comes to morphine and cocaine.
I think this addition and what could be considered a act of self discipline on the part of the author really adds to the book as well as the characters.
Plus I love how you feel as if you really are reading a biography written by Watson himself.HC
Yes! @hannah-c , I love how Watson semi-narrates! 🙂
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