vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
A bumper crop of more books finished in the last month. Helped again by some library books.

    earlier books )
  1. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  2. City of Vengeance (Cesare Aldo book 1) by D.V. Bishop
  3. Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown
  4. Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
  5. The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird by Weird Walk
  6. Manga Classics Sherlock Holmes volume 1 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Crystal S. Chan and Julien Choy
  7. Glenshee: Glen of the Fairies by Antony Mackenzie Smith
  8. Insomniacs After School volume 7 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
  9. Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures by Luke Sherlock
  10. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab


Of the newly finished ones, I enjoyed Arthur Conan Doyle's Memoirs collection of Sherlock Holmes stories yet again. The David Bishop book was a Renaissance Italy thriller, the first in an ongoing series, and very enjoyable. The George Mackay Brown novel (Saltire award winning and Booker shortlisted) was still magical, on a reread. I found the Sandman Little Endless graphic novel on a book clearout/rummage, so read it again quickly before passing it on to charity. The rambling "Tales of the Weird" book was interesting, but not a great run of stories for me. Enjoyed the manga Sherlock Holmes. Still really enjoying the Insomniacs After School manga series. Loved the church history book, and enjoyed with provisos the V.E. Schwab vampire book, newly published in June. That last one was read for my book club. I wouldn't have got to it so quickly otherwise.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
I read this book recently, borrowed from Monifieth Library. It was published earlier this year, and is a manga version of the first Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet.

Generally I enjoyed it. The art is clear and distinctive, and full colour, with the characters well delineated. It's a fair retelling of a story which isn't one of my favourite Sherlock stories by a long way, though I really like the opening portion where Holmes and Watson meet and then move in together. But in many respects I find this a rather muddled Conan Doyle story, and the manga version reflects that. It was a very good idea for BBC's Sherlock to rework things quite a bit. I was a bit surprised to see the Mormon section included in the manga, which is good for faithfulness even if I'd personally rather see it excised as the BBC did! But, yes, a good read, and well done in manga form. The paper stock is also high quality. The book is noted as "volume 1" in the Sherlock Holmes stories, so hopefully they have more stories in development.

vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock holmes)
Continuing my reread, and this is one that I could remember well from the past.

spoilers )
vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock)
Starting my reread of The Return of Sherlock Holmes with this story.spoilers )
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Kindle books anyway. I also have library books on loan, plus other books ongoing in the house. I mainly read ebooks now because of huge problems reading print due to a progressive neurological disease. Gargantuan fonts on my Kindle keep me reading for extended periods.

A screenshot of a Kindle Paperwhite - black and white / greyscale - showing 2 rows of 3 book covers. At the top are "City of Vengeance: introducing Cesare Aldo" by D.V. Bishop (with an image of Renaissance Florence); "Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures" by Luke Sherlock (with a cover image drawing looking down at an old church surrounded by gravestones); and "The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird" edited by Weird Walk for the British Library "Tales of the Weird" collection (image of a spooky path in the countryside leading to a disturbing looking group of trees). At the bottom are "Is It My ADHD? Navigating Life as a Neurodivergent Adult" by Grace Timothy (image of a squirrel, looking distracted by lots of nuts); George Mackay Brown's "Beside the Ocean of Time" (image of a turbulent sea beside high cliffs); and "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" anthology by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlockian imagery, including a magnifying glass, and Holmes spoking a pipe while wearing a deerstalker).
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Recently rejoined the public library (Angus Libraries). I struggle with print due to progressive neurological illness - indeed have done for 25+ years - so borrowed a mass of illustrated/painting/photography books. Latest catalogue request from elsewhere in Angus is a new manga Sherlock Holmes. Fab!

It is encouraging I can still find physical books I want to borrow, even if I can't read print or even large print now. And it's marvellous how the online library catalogue lets me call books in from all over Angus. There's a particularly good Scottish cultural/history collection in store at Forfar.

Meanwhile I continue to read masses on my Kindle. I have a huge pile of ebooks on my virtual to read pile. I often snap them up when they're on reduced sale price. I buy far more ebooks than I ever get read! But at least it lets me keep reading extended fiction and non fiction. With gargantuan font.
vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock holmes)
Onto the last in the Memoirs collection, and going to discuss this pivotal story with big spoilers. spoiler cut ... )
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
Our garden that is. It's taken until now for it (1) to be warm enough for me to sit out for any reasonable length of time, and (2) a warm sunny day when I'm not doing something else, even in another city as on the Capercaillie concert day! We were out from 4.30pm-6.30pm, when it was pleasantly warm, with a little breeze. Martin got our folding table and chairs out, in our usual excellent spot.

Martin sat with me for the duration, happily reading, and intermittently taking photos of planes and birds in our garden. We also had seagulls flying overhead at just 3 metres! From below that's rather terrifying, like seeing a giant plane from below whoosh overhead at speed. But we were more surrounded by sparrows, blackbirds, chiffchaffs and wood pigeons. Oh and #notourcat Isla was curled up, tail swishing happily, in the garden nearby.

I had a first tentative go at sketching. Very rough, very rudimentary, but I was enthusiastically trying it. Looking forward to doing it more. It's about 35 years since I've seriously drawn anything ... I also took out my latest society magazines from the Tolkien Society and Sherlock Holmes Society of London. And was reading a recently published book of charming paintings around St Andrews. And planning various other bits and bobs.





vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock)
Nearing the end of Memoirs and on to this tale of a stolen secret treaty ... spoilers )
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
My main book reads at the moment, as usual reading on my Kindle so I can have an utterly gargantuan font needed for my progressive neurological disease. I will soon be finishing Wheel of Time book 9 and starting Assassin's Apprentice, which is this month's read for my book club.

Screenshot of a Kindle Paperwhite, black & white screen, showing 6 book covers. On the top row are Wheel of Time Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan, The Water Road narrowboat book by Paul Gogarty and Belladonna by Adalyn Grace. Below are The Haunted Trail collection of weird fiction in the British Library Tales of the Weird series, a collected Complete Sherlock Holmes, and Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Progress percentages for the books include 72% through the Wheel of Time book, 25% through the canals book, 8% through Belladonna (only recently started), and 37% through Sherlock Holmes (nearing the end of "Memoirs").
vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock holmes)
Recently I reread "The Musgrave Ritual" story in the Sherlock Holmes canon. I blogged my thoughts then. In a nutshell it's one of my favourite all time Sherlock Holmes stories, revolving around an old riddle and a treasure hunt. I mentioned in that blog that I planned to rewatch the Jeremy Brett version, and newly watch the Basil Rathbone film version. I've done that now, so will jot down some brief thoughts. Note there are some spoilers in here, though light.

Firstly I rewatched the Jeremy Brett TV version from 1986. This takes some liberties with the plot, which in the original story involved a young Holmes on his own in the past, but here was changed to Holmes and Watson going together to a countryside manor for Holmes to recuperate. There are lots of little elements even early on retained and reworked from the original story, such as Holmes having a big box full of old case papers that tantalise Watson. The TV version puts the story of the manor's butler firmly in the forefront, and we see this back story play out early on. James Hazeldine as butler Brunton is extremely effective, and carries his scenes very well. A few small changes are made to the treasure hunt itself, but the story is otherwise largely faithful. And those changes that are made are effective for transferring it to a TV episode. Good stuff.



The Basil Rathbone 1943 movie version is a much looser retelling, but charming in its own way. Here Watson - during WW2 Britain - is working in a Northumberland convalescence home for servicemen suffering from shell shock. And a series of murders lead him to call in Holmes for help. In this version of the story there are three members of the Musgrave family to meet, not one as in the original story, plus a characterful group of wounded servicemen, who are superbly written and acted. The butler Brunton is retained, though here with a wife. And there's another medic, and also the American airman that Sally Musgrave is in love with. The ritual is totally reworked, not really recognisable from Conan Doyle's original. Rather than a hunt around the physical grounds of the manor, this ritual leads to a giant chess game in the house, with the inhabitants playing the chess pieces as Holmes shouts out moves. Ultimately the secret treasure is uncovered and there is a satisfying ending. But it doesn't feel much like the original story. But, as I said, I like it. The direction is dynamic, with sometimes amazing special effects for 1943. The cast of British and American actors generally do a great job, with only a few dodgy accents (London-born Dennis Hoey as Lestrade has a surprisingly poor accent). The film is a little over an hour long, but full of incident and interest, and kept my attention throughout.



So two fun but different retellings of this Arthur Conan Doyle story. My favourite is the Jeremy Brett version, which is more faithful, and also features my all-time favourite Holmes and Watson pairing of actors. But the Basil Rathbone version is a delight in its own way. There's also a 1912 short silent film version of the story, that can be viewed on the story's Wikipedia page.
vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock holmes)
Onto another story, and unashamed disclaimer up front: this is one of my all-time favourite Holmes stories. spoilers )
vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock holmes)
Continuing my reread of the Memoirs collection, and another story I can barely recall. spoilers ... )
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
These have been on hold since Christmas, as I've just slept so much, and have been phenomenally wiped out as my neurological illness flares again. Then I had to focus my extremely limited awake time and energy on a time critical academic journal paper revise and resubmit. But I think I can restart these fun things next week. I enjoy doing them a lot. Initially I plan to alternate the two weekly, so a Benny audio listen and review one week, a Sherlock Holmes short story reread and review the next week, and repeat. With luck I may be able to switch both to a weekly rate again, but this initial alternating plan looks more sustainable for now. I will be resuming with the "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk" story from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and Bernice Summerfield Big Finish season 6 story number 3 The Lost Museum.

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vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
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