Have you deduced it? Maybe you caught it on WNDU this morning? Yes, our One Book One Michiana selection is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Are you ready to start your path on the way to the high ranks of Sherlockians out there? Let us help. See the awesome progams SJCPL has planned for you!
What it takes to be a Sherlockian:
• Have read at least 3 Sherlock Holmes stories ( or pastiche stories/novels for advanced Sherlockians. The Sherlockian even counts though it is not a direct Sherlock Holmes story.)
• Tried smoking tobacco via a nice Sherlockian pipe and a)got addicted; b)got sick; or c)BOTH! (Smoking is not recommended by me or the Surgeon General.)
• Know that “Elementary, My Dear Watson!” is not an actual Sherlock quote.
• Realize that Arthur Conan Doyle shared no blood tie with Conan the Barbarian.
• Know at least 2 actors who portrayed Holmes in movies or on stage. (Wow! Who is that intense new actor from SJCPL who seems to utterly possess the persona of all things Sherlock? You better watch out Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey, Jr.!!!)
• Can put a hurt on somebody like Sherlock. (i.e., Know a little Bartitsu?)
Feeling discouraged on the whole Sherlockian thing? No worries. We will wipe all the above requirements if you snag a hot copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and spread the word to others about this year’s One Book choice!
By the way, did Sherlock really smoke a Meerschaum pipe? Yes if you count the actors portraying him but NO in the literature. Don’t trust me. Look into it!
February 16, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Loved the Wiki article on Bartitsu.
February 16, 2012 at 5:41 pm
You can find some practitioners on Youtube…people whacking each other with wood canes. Hmmm…didn’t know my Grandpa knew that art. He could strike out as fast as a viper if I tried to change the channel when Harey Carey was on.
February 16, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Love the Sherlockian thing! I prefer my Sherlocks geeky – Cumberbatch (modern setting) and Jeremy Brett (original Victorian London setting – but there you go. I’ve talked to several people who have said that the high kicking, butt-whipping, bare chested Downey portrayal is great, too.
Favorite story? Silver Blaze or The Hound of the Baskervilles. Favorite parody? Mad Magazine had a great one in the 50s…The Hound of the Basketballs…
“It is simplicity itself…”
February 17, 2012 at 2:20 am
I understand, Joe. I actually liked Christopher Plummer’s take in Murder by Decree though not remotely definitive, I suppose. (The scarf with ball-bearings was great along with the classic scene as James Mason’s Watson complained when Holmes squashed the delightful pea on the plate from which Watson was eating.)
I’m waiting for someone to argue the whole Sherlock used deduction vs. induction vs. abduction (C.S. Pierce) logic bit. I think a few die-hard real Sherlockians have come to blows over this. There are actual theses written on the argument in dusty academic tomes in many-a-school library’s dark forgotten shelves many floors up…(Might I suggest Ohio State for one, at least as of the early 90s.) Now digitized I’m sure…
February 21, 2012 at 1:56 am
I am so close to being a Sherlockian! There were a couple stipulations that preclude me from being the real deal.:) Sherlock Holmes has been a long time favorite of mine, although I’ve seen very few of the film/tv adaptations. I avoided the Robert Downey Jr. ones because I felt that it was going to depart too much from the cerebral Holmes that I know and love from the books and looks to be very action focused. I’ve heard they’re really good, though, and may give them a go sometime and just divorce myself from my own interpretation of Holmes for the length of the movie. I did watch and really enjoy the new modernized BBC Sherlock Holmes.