A COLLECTION OF BOOKISH THOUGHTS

sharing my love of books with you

Month: August 2022 (Page 3 of 6)

Zeppelin

August 21, 2022 /

Here is an odd word that isn’t a huge part of my vocabulary. (Sorry, I don’t listen to music by Led Zeppelin.) So, when I found it in The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, I had to look it up.

Zeppelin – a rigid airship, cigar-shaped, and supported by internal gas cells

Here is an article in the Encyclopedia Brittanica. One of the most famous zeppelins was the Hindenburg. Apparently, there is a difference between a zeppelin and a blimp.

Usage: Herlock Sholmes has been approached by an artist who is describing his missing work of art. “I am the leader of the Neo-Sculptors, my methods are ultra-modern. I used a pick-axe for my work – the results are astonishing. This statue – this masterpiece – was a miracle of art. I intended, at first to call it ‘The Riven Oak’; later I thought that ‘The Fallen Zeppelin’ would be a better title; but I finally decide upon ‘Venus’.”

Venerable

August 20, 2022 /

I found this word in the case of “The Missing Three-Quarter” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It is another word that I have skimmed over in the past, so I thought I would look it up this time to be sure it meant what I thought it did. I was wrong. I thought it would mean friendly, but it does not.

Venerable – accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character

Usage: “No doubt you will find some sights to amuse you in this venerable city.”

I suppose Cambridge can definitely be called old and respectable.

A Blurb About Starting The Hound of the Baskervilles

August 19, 2022 /

I was going to tell you that I had started a new book, but it’s not really a new book. I’m still reading my volume The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, so it did not feel like I was starting a new book. However, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is a novel itself, so I can call it a new book. Except that now it’s not really a new book because I’ve been reading it for a week, and I’m about halfway through.

Every time I read or listen to this story, I wish that I could travel to the moors of Devonshire and see the gloomy yet beautiful countryside Watson describes. I was looking for pictures of the moor to share with you when I came across this neat website called Unique Devon Tours. They offer a “Hound of the Baskervilles” tour, and now I really want to go! Here is a lovely photo of the moor from their gallery.

Once I’m finished with the novel, I will write up a summary, but in the meantime, just know that the story is filled with mystery, intrigue, possible hauntings, lies, deceit, troubled ladies, and strange neighbors. If you never read another Sherlock Holmes story, you really ought to read this one.

The Wind Tapped Like a Tired Man, by Emily Dickinson

August 19, 2022 / 
The wind tapped like a tired man,
And like a host, "Come in,"
I boldly answered; entered then
My residence within.

A rapid, footless guest,
To offer whom a chair
Were as impossible as hand
A sofa to the air.

No bone had he to bind him,
His speech was like the push
Of numerous humming-birds at once
From a superior bush.

His countenance a billow,
His fingers, if he pass,
Let go a music, as of tunes
Blown tremulous in glass.

He visited, still flitting;
Then, like a timid man,
Again he tapped - 'twas flurriedly - 
And I became alone.

(from Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson, printed 2016)

Sardonic

August 19, 2022 /

Here is a word that I have read over many times before because I can guess the meaning by the context. But when I came across it in “The Missing Three-Quarter” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I decided to look it up instead of just skimming by.

Sardonic – grimly mocking or cynical

Usage: Holmes is telling Watson how he was following a suspect. He was on a bicycle, and the suspect was in a carriage. “The carriage stopped, the doctor alighted, walked swiftly back to where I had also halted, and told me in an excellent sardonic fashion that he feared the road was narrow, and that he hoped his carriage did not impede the passage of my bicycle.”

On Plot Twists

August 19, 2022 /

Even if you are not an avid reader, I am sure you have come across a book or two with a brilliant plot twist. Now, when I say plot twist, I don’t mean a surprise. For example, I have found while reading Sherlock Holmes, that many of those short stories have a surprise ending, something that the reader didn’t see coming. But that’s not what I mean. I am talking about a complete one-eighty. One minute, the story is going in this direction, you have figured out the hidden secrets, and you think you know what’s about to happen, and then BOOM! Plot twist.

I began thinking about plot twists while I was listening to The Scarlet Pimpernel. Baroness Orczy has a beautiful way of writing that just draws you into her story. The exploits and narrow escapes of the hero are not the main focus for the first half of the book. The Scarlet Pimpernel’s exploits are just a backdrop, like a fairytale in Lady Marguerite Blakeney’s life. Then, Plot Twist! She learns that he is not some distant, courageous man; he is much closer to her than she ever dared dream.

Then I thought about another book I recently read that had a plot twist: Speaking in Bones, by Dr Kathy Reichs. Forensic scientist Dr Temperance Brennan is approached with evidence that opens an old missing persons case. As Brennan investigates, she discovers that bones collected at several different crime scenes may belong to the same person. The good doctor and the reader believe they know who the bones belong to until new evidence comes to light. Plot Twist! Suddenly, those assumed to be dead may still be alive, and those thought to be missing may no longer be alive. The second half of that book was really quite fascinating!

Although I mentioned that most of the Sherlock Holmes short stories have surprises but not plot twists, there is one in particular that has a conclusion even the great detective never foresaw. In the adventure of “Charles Augustus Milverton”, Holmes challenges a ruthless blackmailer for the sake of a lady’s reputation. The blackmailer, Milverton, stubbornly refuses to give up the compromising letters in his possession, so Holmes and Watson take matters into their own hands. They enter Milverton’s house by night, and then Plot Twist! I can’t say more without giving away the story. But I assure you, it was totally unexpected.

I have not yet written about The False Prince and the five books that make up the Ascendance Series by Jennifer Nielsen, but I plan to make a post about these books as soon as I reread them. However, for this post, I couldn’t leave out The False Prince. Wow, what a plot twist in that book! About halfway through, I began to suspect, but the way it came about is just a testament to the brilliance of the author. I have told many people: The False Prince is even better the second (or third or fourth) time around because you know the ending. This is also another great audiobook, and it’s on Spotify performed by Charlie McWade. Briefly, after the death of the King, Queen, and Crown Prince Darius, a regent named Conner devises a plan to pass an orphan boy as the long lost Prince Jaron. The whole country had mourned the death of Prince Jaron two years previous. Conner “adopts”, buys, or kidnaps (however you want to term it) three orphans who resemble the lost prince and takes them to his home. He trains them extensively in history, sword fighting, horseback riding, manners, and anything else a prince should know. The book follows the orphan Sage as he tries as hard as he can to annoy Conner while learning how to be a prince. A false prince. Will Conner’s treasonous plan succeed? Plot Twist!

The last plot twist I will share with you today is in the Divergent trilogy. You have to read all three books to get there. But then there are two major Plot Twists in the third book. That’s all I’m going to say here because I plan to read Divergent again very soon, and so I’ll also be writing about it soon.

I hope you have decided by now that you will read one (or all) of these great books. They are fun, fascinating, and sometimes suspenseful. I highly recommend them all.

I Finished The Scarlet Pimpernel Today

August 19, 2022 /

I listened to the final chapters of The Scarlet Pimpernel this morning. I absolutely love the ending! The great trick played on the enemy, the sweet surprise for the lady, the hero safe. The first time I read this book, I was thoroughly surprised. Now, after several readings and listenings, I still love it. And I won’t say more so that you will be compelled to read it just to find out what I am talking about. Now forgive me, but I am going to listen to the end again.

I Started Early, by Emily Dickinson

August 18, 2022 / 
I started early, took my dog,
And visited the sea;
The mermaid in the basement
Came out to look at me,

And frigates in the upper floor
Extended hempen hands. 
Presuming me to be a mouse
Aground, upon the sands.

But no man moved me till the tide
Went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too,

And made as he would eat me up
As wholly as a dew
Upon a dandelion's sleeve - 
And then I started too.

And he - he followed close behind; 
I felt his silver heel
Upon my ankle, - then my shoes
Would overflow with pearl.

Until we met the solid town, 
No man he seemed to know;
And bowing with a mighty look
At me, the sea withdrew.

(from Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson, printed 2016)

Sometimes I have a hard time understanding Emily Dickinson’s poems. For me, many of them seem to be a smattering of words and rhymes without much meaning. I’m sure if I tried to analyze them deeply, I could figure it out, but I tend to be lazy when reading poetry. If the meaning seems unclear, I pass by and find one that is clearer.

However, with this poem, I can see the picture clearly. Can you see it? A lady on a walk by the shore. She looks out, imagining mermaids and ships. Then the waves crash in. They overtake her, covering her shoes, making their way up her skirts all the way to her belt, threatening to overtake her and drag her back with them to the deep. Then, they stop. As though with a bow, the waves recede back to the depths without the lady. This is truly a beautiful picture painted by Emily Dickinson.

Chubbs Key

August 18, 2022 /

I came across this term when I was reading “The Golden Pince-Nez” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It has led me to a bit of a history lesson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses it in such a simple way, as though all of his readers are familiar with Chubbs Keys and Chubbs Locks. I suppose there was a time when at least all of England knew about Chubbs.

In this story, Holmes is trying to figure out who murdered Mr Willoughby Smith, secretary to Professor Coram and why Mr Smith would have a gold pince-nez clutched in his hand when he died. During his initial inquiries, Holmes mentions a scratch on a locked bureau that could not have been present the day before. Asking about the key, he is told by the housekeeper, “The Professor keeps it on his watch-chain.”

“Is it a simple key?”

“No, sir, it is a Chubb’s key.”

“Very good.”

You can see why my curiosity would be peaked. Though I didn’t know what a Chubbs key was, Holmes knew, and it made sense to him. Further, in his mind, it also explained the scratch.

In 1818, locksmith Jeremiah Chubbs patented a “detector lock” that was designed to keep any but the right key out. If someone tried to pick the lock, the detector mechanism would fall into place, keeping the imposter out and warning the owner that the lock had been tampered with. The original patent was for a lock with two keys, one to open it regularly and one to open the detector mechanism. In 1824, Jeremiah’s brother, Charles Chubb, patented a detector lock with only one key. The brothers would go on to become well known in the world of locksmiths and security. Their company would change names as fathers died and sons took over, and again as they bought out other locksmith companies. When Doyle wrote “The Golden Pince-Nez”, circa 1904, there were two Chubbs factories, one in London and the other in Wolverhampton.

If you would like to learn more about Chubbs locks, I am including a link to an article that I found helpful in my little bit of research for this post. I am sure a Google search would turn up more results for you if you wanted to look further. And as always, I also think you should read “The Golden Pince-Nez” at least once through so you can see how Holmes solves the case.

A Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers by Jim Evans copyright 2002

(I have no affiliation with this website; I just found the article and pictures helpful for my own understanding.)

What is a Scarlet Pimpernel?

August 17, 2022 /

“The Scarlet Pimpernel, Mademoiselle,” [Sir Andrew] said at last, “is the name of a humble English wayside flower; but it is also the name chosen to hide the identity of the best and bravest man in all the world, so that he may better succeed in accomplishing the noble task he has set himself to do.”

The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Orczy, circa 1905
photo credit Dear Plants

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