Where Various Sherlocks Pursue the Truth

alt.sherlock.holmes: New Visions of the Great Detective by Gini Koch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I generally love Sherlock Holmes. I go for original stories as well as modern novels based on them, and I also enjoy the movies, the many TV incarnations, the various graphic novels, and the many series that are reinventions (with Sherlock as a woman, or Sherlock as a descendent of the OG Sherlock, or Sherlock as a wizard...) Not *all* of these have worked for me, but I'd say 95% have. This book also sounded like I'd love it, which is what I figured when I got it signed at Phoenix Comicon some time ago, but it ended up, for me, in that small number of misses. Or near miss--3 stars is okay.

Parts of it entertained. And I'm convinced a lot of readers would enjoy this way more than I did. Really, the novellas in this collection are kinda literary-coded. However, that just isn't my thing.

TBH, these all would work better as stories unrelated to Sherlock. The characters in the Depression-era circus were cool and the setting was very real. The investigator in the reality TV story (a female Sherlock who could have been any capable detective) was fine. The 60s gay rights and Black Panther story has a reason to exist on its own. Any of these could be a decent story as a complete original. But for my money, Sherlock was just shoehorned into them. It's a bad fit. He seldom acts like Sherlock or spends much time doing the normal things Sherlock is supposed to do in an investigation. Most of the attention is on the unique framing, the new setting. It all gives about 20% Sherlock, 80% something else entirely, and I didn't love it.

Don't get me wrong--most of the writing is excellent. I'm gonna look up some other things by the authors here, because I might connect with other things a little better. And I supported the themes and (as Dan McClellan would say) the rhetorical goals of these creators, because it was all broad-minded, anti-racist, pro-diversity messaging. I'm right there with you. I want these stories to find their audience--but I didn't enjoy reading it very much.

In brief: lots of great vibes but uninspired detective work. Recommended mostly for those who lean literary. No shade.

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Where I Finally Read the Original Thing

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got this as a gift last year and saved it up to read at Christmastime. I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint.

Of course, I know the story pretty well. Lots of different movie versions going around. I even read an easy version with my ESL students back in the day. But reading the original is always the best, and I was pleased to see that I enjoyed it more than expected.

The story, separated from the original text (and plopped into a cartoon or the like), doesn't fell much like Dickens to me, but reading the real thing I finally got it. It really is Dickens. There are lots of characters, lots of details, lots of ironic lines, even in this short novella, that make it read like his other books, and I like how it came together. The three ghosts device is pretty clever, and having Scrooge eavesdropping on conversations he can't enter into, hearing what people really think about him, is a brilliant conceit. Nothing could ever be more honest--more brutal, too--than hearing what they say in their private homes, and it leaves Scrooge without any way to argue the point or shout them down. He has to listen and is basically convicted by their testimony, even in his own heart. We're so used to the story that these events don't much stand out, but I think it's a pretty impressive plot device.

Dickens' long books are generally a pleasure to read in their own way, filled with subplots and meanderings, but I really liked how quick this one reads. It's quite nice for a change to have it be so brief.

Even those who don't care for Dickens would probably enjoy this novella. It's pretty accessible for a number of reasons and doesn't take too much time to get through. And Dickens fans in particular should all find a lot to like here (if they haven't already).

So recommended for most readers. :)

I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry a a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody!

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