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vivdunstanOn to another Sherlock Holmes short story, and again I'm going to discuss this with big spoilers.
This is an intriguing and well set up story, that sadly doesn't work so well on rereads, because the big reveals that then don't surprise as much are only really effective the first time around. But I still find much to admire in it, and it also feels somewhat different from many others in the Holmesian canon.
We start with Watson and his wife approached by a lady seeking help to find her husband. Not starting in Baker Street as usual. And this looks like the start of the core mystery, when it's just a way of getting Watson to the dockside opium den, and the greater mysteries that await there.
Sherlock Holmes stories have an often frustrating view at best of race. This story doesn't annoy me as much as many others. The Eastern foreigners are not depicted nearly as badly as they might have been. And the presence of opium dens in London at this time - a legacy of shameful British actions overseas - can hardly be denied. One description is particularly vivid:
There is a reference to a "sallow Malay attendant", and also a reference to a "rascally lascar", but these are the only evidently racist elements in the story for me.
Of course so much of this story revolves around disguises. Early on Holmes is discovered by Watson in disguise at the opium den, working undercover. And this, in many ways, is a precursor for the much bigger reveal later in the story, when the missing man Holmes fears murdered is revealed to be a long-term beggar, who looks remarkably different, and uses his skills as an actor to create a phenomenally effective disguise, that even fools Holmes.
Both disguise reveals are very vividly portrayed. For Holmes we get
only for him to revert to his disguise seconds later.
But it's far outdone by the reveal of the other disguise, which is truly remarkable. Reveal by sponge:
As it turns out the missing, possibly murdered, man that Holmes was seeking was a former London journalist, who'd investigated a newspaper story about begging, and tried begging undercover, only to discover that he could earn far more that way. That's neat! Though I don't think we can take his success as a beggar as indicative of wider trends.
But yes, a good story, but one that sadly doesn't work so well on repeat. Oh and another strong female character, nicely, in the missing man's wife. We also get a brief scene with Mrs Watson.
This is an intriguing and well set up story, that sadly doesn't work so well on rereads, because the big reveals that then don't surprise as much are only really effective the first time around. But I still find much to admire in it, and it also feels somewhat different from many others in the Holmesian canon.
We start with Watson and his wife approached by a lady seeking help to find her husband. Not starting in Baker Street as usual. And this looks like the start of the core mystery, when it's just a way of getting Watson to the dockside opium den, and the greater mysteries that await there.
Sherlock Holmes stories have an often frustrating view at best of race. This story doesn't annoy me as much as many others. The Eastern foreigners are not depicted nearly as badly as they might have been. And the presence of opium dens in London at this time - a legacy of shameful British actions overseas - can hardly be denied. One description is particularly vivid:
Out of the black shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of the metal pipes.
There is a reference to a "sallow Malay attendant", and also a reference to a "rascally lascar", but these are the only evidently racist elements in the story for me.
Of course so much of this story revolves around disguises. Early on Holmes is discovered by Watson in disguise at the opium den, working undercover. And this, in many ways, is a precursor for the much bigger reveal later in the story, when the missing man Holmes fears murdered is revealed to be a long-term beggar, who looks remarkably different, and uses his skills as an actor to create a phenomenally effective disguise, that even fools Holmes.
Both disguise reveals are very vividly portrayed. For Holmes we get
His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire
only for him to revert to his disguise seconds later.
But it's far outdone by the reveal of the other disguise, which is truly remarkable. Reveal by sponge:
Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, rubbing his eyes, and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment.
As it turns out the missing, possibly murdered, man that Holmes was seeking was a former London journalist, who'd investigated a newspaper story about begging, and tried begging undercover, only to discover that he could earn far more that way. That's neat! Though I don't think we can take his success as a beggar as indicative of wider trends.
But yes, a good story, but one that sadly doesn't work so well on repeat. Oh and another strong female character, nicely, in the missing man's wife. We also get a brief scene with Mrs Watson.