tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455307395670672432.post2870836917227691356..comments2023-08-24T08:49:09.340-04:00Comments on William Preston: SF, Wells, Conan Doyle, storytellingWilliam Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07896164917625191919noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455307395670672432.post-65779613075372238962012-01-22T10:29:11.448-05:002012-01-22T10:29:11.448-05:00The element of the Holmes stories that leaves an u...The element of the Holmes stories that leaves an unpleasant taste for me is their reliance, often, on information to which the reader isn't privy, some obscure fact that Holmes pursues because he alone has the information and background. There's not much of a mystery to the "Dancing Men," and what mystery there is is irrelevant to the obvious imminent danger of the situation, which no one works to actively avoid. The culprit is someone who hasn't been previously introduced, and of whom only Holmes has heard. The strengths of the piece are the characters, the setting, and Conan Doyle's writing.William Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07896164917625191919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455307395670672432.post-55489571170169810392012-01-22T10:07:29.684-05:002012-01-22T10:07:29.684-05:00I love Cordwainer Smith, at least his short storie...I love Cordwainer Smith, at least his short stories. Haven't really tackled his novels. He takes SF tropes and cliches and manages to remake them into something truly original, in a genre that often suffers (as do most genres, now that I think about it) from tedious imitations. <br /><br />Although I've read a fair fraction of the Sherlock Holmes canon, I've often felt that many of the stories were a cheap trick, or a rather lucky solution. It's always some conveniently maimed criminal who thoughtful walked with his wooden leg through the mud. Of course, Doyle was one of the early mystery writers, and pioneers can get away with this lazy stuff. I prefer the Nero Wolfe mysteries, which are a reworking of the Holmes model, with Wolfe even more bizarrely eccentric than Holmes, but sidekick Archie and police inspector Cramer have, to my mind, more agency than the Doyle originals. That's a matter of taste, of course, and there's still a lot of fun in the Holmes stories.Calvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10558762473911106563noreply@blogger.com