Art of Deduction , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Hannah Rogers

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

152 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

The Game is Afoot! A collection of art, poetry and writing from fans of the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Doctor Watson. From the deadly Moriarty to domestic life of Holmes and Watson, The Art of Deduction showcases some of the greatest talent from arguably the oldest fan base in the world.

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	12 février 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781780922355
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0324€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Title Page
THE ART OF DEDUCTION
A collection of works by Sherlock Holmes fans in support of Save Undershaw

Compiled by Hannah Rogers
Edited by Steve Emecz

Publisher Information
First edition published in 2013 by MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed in 2013 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© 2013 Hannah Rogers and Contributors
The right of Hannah Rogers and Contributors to be identified as the author of this work, and Rikey Austin the illustrator has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover design by www.staunch.com

Introduction
By Ardy of the Baker Street Babes.
www.bakerstreetbabes.com
Why Sherlock Holmes is important
Holmes himself, more often than not, wanted his name to be kept out of newspapers and public reports and was often ready to give credit for the solution to a case to the police. Yet, today, we do indeed hear of Sherlock everywhere. The stories have been adapted countless times and, according to IMDB, he has been portrayed by more actors than any other character in fiction.
The recent Warner Bros. and BBC franchises have brought scores of new people to the fandom, but even as early as the 1930s, societies devoted to the study of the Sherlock Holmes stories started to form. Indeed, Holmesians are often viewed as the “first fandom”, since they invented what is termed “playing the Game”: treating the Holmes stories as if Holmes, Watson and the other characters were real people, thus conflating fact and fiction, and coining their own language such as terming the collection of stories “the Canon” as though it were scripture.
So what is it that makes Holmes, Watson, and the Canon so persistently appealing to people? Here is an attempt at reconstructing some of the reasons. The stories undoubtedly have a tremendous legacy in the realm of fiction-writing, but they matter beyond that as well if we look at the characters as cultural archetypes, and, finally, on the convergence of real-life issues and the character of Holmes through the ages. Let’s work our way through these.
The impact of the stories on fiction writing
The importance of the original Sherlock Holmes stories for English fiction writing cannot be overstated. Much of what we think of as modern crime fiction depends upon principles and writing devices that were employed for the first time in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing of the Canon.
The collection of short stories tied together by a single main character is the most prominent of these devices. These days, it is not at all uncommon to have series of novels or short stories that all revolve around the same character(s), but the Canon is one of the first instances of short narratives that are independent of one another but feature the same main protagonist (or indeed two protagonists). Much of modern crime fiction depends on this device and is therefore heavily indebted to the Canon.
Another device is the “double act” of Holmes and Watson: dividing the protagonist into two people, one to perform the main action of detective work and one to observe, tell the story and act as point of reference and audience surrogate. The relationship, of course, is more layered and complex than this, but much of what we enjoy about “buddy cop” drama or, more generally, double acts in crime fiction, has its roots in the relationship between Holmes and Watson.
The characters as archetypes
Holmes’ and Watson’s relevance goes even beyond the realm of fiction. As T.S Eliot pointed out, when we talk of Holmes, we invariably fall into the fancy of his existence. From the earliest days of the publication of the stories in the Strand Magazine, people were writing letters to Holmes asking him to solve their problems.
One of the reasons why the fallacy of Holmes and Watson’s existence is so prevalent is that the characters function as cultural archetypes. But not only that: their relationships as such is the prototype of the “unlikely friendship” and therefore in itself an archetype.
Taking these two considerations together, the conclusion emerges that these characters and their relationship have an essence that is universal and transcends the Victorian setting in which they were originally conceived.
Holmes is the ideal reasoner and investigator. As he puts it himself, it is his business to know what other people don’t. He can solve the problems no one else can solve and many clients seek him out as a last resort after they have tried every other avenue. The cultural significance of this should become apparent if you substitute “Holmes” in the previous sentence with, say, The Doctor, Gregory House, or Cal Lightman. To watch a genius mind like that at work, we need an intermediary between him and us as an audience, which is where the Watson archetype comes in: the Doctor’s Companion, James Wilson, or indeed Captain John Watson of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers.
We don’t just adapt the stories as they are. The characters work in settings and time periods vastly different from Victorian England, and with such diverse challenges as criminal investigation, medicine, and saving the universe.
Real-life significance
Fiction, or at the least, good fiction, is always at least partly based in real life and has something significant to say about it. What significance do we take from the Canon today? Let’s take a look at the BBC franchise to find some clues as to how modern people are (re-)interpreting the Canon.
Most obviously, the friendship between Holmes and Watson (or Sherlock and John) is what most resonates with audiences: two people who could not be more different from one another becoming best friends.
The BBC adaptation goes even beyond that, implying that their differences are precisely what makes their friendship work because each of them has something that the other one wants and needs. The washed-up war veteran needs a cause to fight for, the brilliant amoral reasoned needs someone to teach him compassion and the value of human life.
Less obviously, the mysteries themselves have relevance for the real lives of people. There is, in this fiction, a man who will solve the case when all hope is lost, who can see what you can’t and who will repay your trust. Holmes applies logic, reason, observation and deduction and teaches us that doing the same may bring us closer to the solution of any problem or mystery we are facing.
“No one writes of Holmes and Watson without love,” says John le Carré. What is more, each generation gives Holmes their problems to solve; be it Nazi spies in the Rathbones series, undiagnosable illnesses on House MD, or the mental and emotional complexities of everyday modern life on the BBC show.
Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and the Canon matter to people on many levels, and I am sure the list of reasons could go on for longer than I have page space for. Undoubtedly, they will continue to matter for the foreseeable future, and I look forward to the next generation’s take on them. But until such time may come, let’s enjoy and celebrate our love for Holmes and Watson with this wonderful book, full of contributions from people all over the world, in support of the place where it all started: Undershaw House in Hindhead.
So turn the page, open the door and come in!”

The Diogenes Club
1. The Diogenes Club
by ahoy-mycroft.tumblr.com
This is a small bit on the Diogenes Club and its place in canon and in history. The idea of it has always been a bit amusing to me, and so I did a bit of research and came up with more than I’d anticipated.
There’s no better way to start this out than with a quote from canon!
Holmes:
“There are many men in London, you know, who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the Stranger’s Room, no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed, and three offences, if brought to the notice of the committee, render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one of the founders, and I have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere.”
-“The Greek Interpreter”, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Here we get a rather innocent image of the Diogenes Club, where Sherlock explains it to be just a place for gentleman of importance could go to work or think or relax. Throughout the stories, there is no direct indication that the club is anything but what it appears to be. However, with a co-founder like Mycroft Holmes, there’s got to be more.
I’ve had a lot of ideas about Mycroft’s exact position in the British government, and from what I can see he appears to be a sort of reservoir of information:
“The conclusions of every department are passed to him, and he is the central exchange, the clearinghouse, w