Sherlock Holmes reread: The Dancing Men
Sep. 3rd, 2025 02:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivdunstanOnto another short story in the canon that I seem to have forgotten much of!
This short story is most remarkable for its unique cipher of dancing stick figures, almost childlike in their appearance, but carrying much more sinister messages. I remembered the cipher well, especially the vivid images, but I forgot much of the rest of the story. Not least the very sad outcome.
I wish I had had the patience as a young child to try to crack the code myself on first read through. But Holmes does such a good job of explaining it, so I felt satisfied then and also now.
I had a feeling going into this umpteenth reread that it was another American-linked story, and that's the case. But I forgot how badly it turned out, and how much Holmes was caught out too.
In many respects given the extended deciphering this story is relatively short on core written narrative. But the images of the dancing men easily make up for that. And it is good to have the cipher resolved.
I must rewatch the Jeremy Brett 1984 version at the very least. It was the second story in his multiple TV series version of Holmes, only preceded by "A Scandal in Bohemia".
This short story is most remarkable for its unique cipher of dancing stick figures, almost childlike in their appearance, but carrying much more sinister messages. I remembered the cipher well, especially the vivid images, but I forgot much of the rest of the story. Not least the very sad outcome.
I wish I had had the patience as a young child to try to crack the code myself on first read through. But Holmes does such a good job of explaining it, so I felt satisfied then and also now.
I had a feeling going into this umpteenth reread that it was another American-linked story, and that's the case. But I forgot how badly it turned out, and how much Holmes was caught out too.
In many respects given the extended deciphering this story is relatively short on core written narrative. But the images of the dancing men easily make up for that. And it is good to have the cipher resolved.
I must rewatch the Jeremy Brett 1984 version at the very least. It was the second story in his multiple TV series version of Holmes, only preceded by "A Scandal in Bohemia".