sharing my love of books with you
This is a silly sounding word, isn’t it? I found in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. Since it is part of a description, my first thought was that it was like the pug dog, wrinkled, but I was not correct.
Pugnacious – eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight
Usage: Dr Watson described Henry Baskerville as “a small, alert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built, with thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face.”
“I must admit, Watson, that you have some power of selection, which atones for much which I deplore in your narratives. Your fatal habit of looking at everything from the point of view of a story instead of as a scientific exercise has ruined what might have been an instructive and even classical series of demonstrations. You slur over work of the utmost finesse and delicacy, in order to dwell upon sensational details which may excite, but cannot possibly instruct, the reader.”
Sherlock Holmes, “The Abbey Grange”, The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock HOlmes, circa 1904
I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.
“Well, Watson, what do you make of it?”
Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.
“How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”
“I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me,” said he.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles”, The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902
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.
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.
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.”
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 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.)
I came across this fun word in “The Second Stain”, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I call it a fun word not only because of its meaning, but also because it just sounded neat in my head when I read it.
Farcical – of, relating to, or resembling farce; ludicrous; laughably inept
Usage: “This is a farcical waste of time, but still, if nothing else will satisfy you, it shall be done.”
Here is a word from one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes called “The Second Stain”. It must mean carpet based on the context in which it is used, but I still looked it up just to be sure.
Drugget – a course, durable cloth used chiefly as a floor covering
Usage: “The carpet was a small, square drugget in the center of the room.”
Hi! I'm Cadie. Welcome to my Collection of Bookish Thoughts where I will share with you everything I love about books.
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