The Planet

Bee wrote: ↑

Mon 06 Jun, 2022, 6:17 pm

thiskurt wrote: ↑

Mon 06 Jun, 2022, 4:28 pm

InspectorCaracal wrote: ↑

Mon 06 Jun, 2022, 4:13 pm

so we're doing the Red-Headed League next weekend?

Every other week was the plan, so 18-19, but I could do 11-12 too.

Yeah we can do every week no problem

oh okay, i can do either one just lemme know

InspectorCaracal wrote: ↑

Tue 07 Jun, 2022, 3:30 pm

Bee wrote: ↑

Mon 06 Jun, 2022, 6:17 pm

InspectorCaracal wrote: ↑

Mon 06 Jun, 2022, 4:11 pm

my inlaws were visiting for a week c'mon

That was a month ago!!

wh-- what? *looks at the calendar* omg don't scare me like that lmao (they were here from the 23rd to the 27th)

>:)

@thiskurt @InspectorCaracal hey let's do weekly readings, then

Bee wrote: ↑

Thu 09 Jun, 2022, 2:50 am

@thiskurt @InspectorCaracal hey let's do weekly readings, then

@Bee @InspectorCaracal Ok, let's do it.

The next story is The Red-Headed League: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Red-Headed_League

Arthur Conan Doyle's second favourite story according to one interview.

thiskurt wrote: ↑

Thu 09 Jun, 2022, 6:58 am

Bee wrote: ↑

Thu 09 Jun, 2022, 2:50 am

@thiskurt @InspectorCaracal hey let's do weekly readings, then

@Bee @InspectorCaracal Ok, let's do it.

The next story is The Red-Headed League: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Red-Headed_League

Arthur Conan Doyle's second favourite story according to one interview.

Really? It's one of my faves too that's amazing

(Re)Reading the Red-Headed League and I still love it, although it's an excellent case of Doyle not actually caring about consistency between stories.

Shan't say anything more until y'all have read it~

edit: ...wait a second. *frantically searches through my notes* WAIT a second! These got published in the wrong order!! I'd never noticed that before omg

Busy Saturday and didn't feel like doing much Sunday, so I'll put my thoughts here tomorrow, though.

InspectorCaracal wrote: ↑

Sat 11 Jun, 2022, 7:21 pm

(Re)Reading the Red-Headed League and I still love it, although it's an excellent case of Doyle not actually caring about consistency between stories.

Shan't say anything more until y'all have read it~

edit: ...wait a second. *frantically searches through my notes* WAIT a second! These got published in the wrong order!! I'd never noticed that before omg

What do you mean, wrong order? Non-chronological?

Anyway, yeah, RHL is a lot of fun, from the wildness of the concept to how they catch the bad guys. What makes it a favorite, though?

In retrospect, the Red-Headed League reminds me of a lot of scam stories. People paying you money to do seemingly innocuous things and then you find out later it's all part of a scheme.

Bee wrote: ↑

Mon 13 Jun, 2022, 2:38 am

InspectorCaracal wrote: ↑

Sat 11 Jun, 2022, 7:21 pm

(Re)Reading the Red-Headed League and I still love it, although it's an excellent case of Doyle not actually caring about consistency between stories.

Shan't say anything more until y'all have read it~

edit: ...wait a second. *frantically searches through my notes* WAIT a second! These got published in the wrong order!! I'd never noticed that before omg

What do you mean, wrong order? Non-chronological?

Technically non-chronological but not specifically because it's non-chronological? Okay so.

In the early Holmes stories, Doyle would do a thing to create a light sense of continuity where he'd throw in an off-hand mention to the previous episode in Holmes' dialogue at some point in the story. A sort of "previously, on Sherlock Holmes" kind of a thing, you know? Eventually he stopped doing that because he was playing more fast and loose with chronology and also didn't really care lol.

Anyway so in the Red-Headed League, I suddenly realized that the bit references the case of Miss Mary Sutherland. All the other times I'd read the story I'd just skimmed it assuming it was a throwback reference to the lady Watson marries, but this time I looked at the name and went "wait, that's not her name", and I checked and it's the client from the following story, A Case of Identity. And there's no reference to A Scandal in Bohemia.

So I scrolled down a bit (I was reading on the Gutenberg page for the Adventures collection) and sure enough, right in the beginning bit there's a throwaway reference to A Scandal in Bohemia. Which is extremely compelling evidence imo that the Strand decided to publish the two stories in reverse order for some reason.