(by Claire)
Hi! I really enjoyed this week's reading--A Study in Scarlet is one of my favorites. These first five chapters moved really fast-first Watson and Holmes meet, then Watson finds out what Holmes does, and then woosh! he gets dragged along on one of the cases and the fun begins. :) As part of my job, I've prepared three questions--
1. What do you guys think of the meeting between Watson and Holmes? I think its kind of funny; Holmes gets so excited over the test for blood stains, while Watson is completely taken aback and Stamford stands there smiling as if he just caused some kind of great thing to happen and everyone will thank him in the end. Which is close to the truth. (link to video [blogger doesn't like vimeo] from BBC show [yes, I will try to incorporate references into every single post. I would like to show how true to the books it is.])
2. What do you think about Watson's list, "Sherlock Holmes - his limits"? Any particular favorites? Do you think Sherlock is right about the "wood in the attic" concept--do we really need to save information about things that we will never use? (and, as a bonus, following up on that; do you think core subjects really necessary after you decide on a major/job? And obviously, explain why/why not.)
3. (Page 56/195 on Kindle, I have no idea where this is in a real book) Here we first see Sherlock liking to be flattered. The beginning of his drama queen episodes almost. He says, "You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick, and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." and then later, "My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words, and the earnest way in which I uttered them. I had already observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty." Your thoughts on Sherlock's vanity?
Finally, in honor of John coming along on his first case with Sherlock, I present this beautiful .gif (and I downloaded this off my Pinterest, so its all good copyright-wise):
~Claire
1.) I have to say, I also love this first meeting, Watson first sees Holmes and he's practically giddy with excitement over his discovery of the blood test, and Watson is just taken aback when he experiences Holmes' deductive skills. However, where Stamford does believe he just did something wonderful, it makes me smile that he doesn't realize just how perfect a match he just made.
ReplyDelete2.) My favorite in the list is #9 "Sensational Literature. - Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century". I believe that Holmes is correct to an extent, where it sometimes becomes difficult to access "important information" and instead we think of lots of different "unimportant information" it is usually because we are distracted, not because there is too much information shoved into our brains. I believe that core subjects are very necessary because they give us tools to use in whatever profession we choose, whether we notice it or not, there is also the fact that many people change their major, and if they took no core classes it may be difficult to change majors.
3.) I feel it is only natural to enjoy being flattered, especially when it pertains to a field of work that you have devoted so much time into, as Holmes has into being a consulting detective.
~Jarod