I Like Detective Stories. And Detectives.

Okay here’s the thing: I want to re-read Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, and I’d like to do it (if possible) at a rate of one short story a day, or one week for the novels. I’ll probably write more about why I want to read them in this manner at a later date, but suffice it to say that it’s a combination of curiosity about how reading the stories like this will affect my understanding and appreciation of them, and something of a personal challenge.

Anyway, the point is that I was thinking of starting sometime in the next couple of weeks, and wondered if anybody would like to join me. I have no idea what form “joining me” would take, but I wanted to ask. It could be as simple as an occasional “Hi! How’s the reading going?” message, or some form of more in depth discussion. I don’t know. I just wanted to send out a sort of open invitation, to see if anyone else had been thinking about doing the same thing, or would be interested in joining in.

As I said, I have no idea how this would work, and I’m not looking for any sort of eternally binding commitment here, but if you would be interested in talking about this please say hello: my ask box can be found here.

Anyway, anybody interested in, to be annoyingly precious about it for one second, taking a run down Baker Street? (Oh dear I can’t believe I’ve said that. I’m so sorry. Credibility out the window.) Anybody? Anybody?

Because if I had to pick one, it would be mine. And I’m curious if there is anyone else who feels the same…

I don’t understand it at all, but I’m so damn thankful to have found it. There’s something about it that feels like home in a way nothing else does. In my case, not even my ACTUAL HOME. I’ve never seen a fandom like this. It’s staggering sometimes.

It is staggering. And I guess that is why I’m trying to understand it. Because being a young woman and having that type of connection to Sherlock Holmes seems quite incongruous, but it’s very very real. I don’t know, as has been stated on this blog many times before, I’m a bit strange, but for me understanding something is the sincerest form of appreciation. To understand means that I’ve really examined it, really taken it apart and looked at how it works, really figured it out and loved it. I’d love to get to a place like that with these stories, and my relationship to them: a point where I’m able to say “this is the thing that I love and this is why I love it” because knowing all that means that I’ve given it the proper attention.

I hope that makes a little bit of sense. In brief: yes. Everything you said: yes. But why? That is what I’m working on. In vain. 

In other news: all the books suggested for me based on what I have previously purchased in the Kobo ebook store are books on beekeeping… I wonder why… Could it… Have anything to do with my affection for a certain fictional detective?

My favourite is called Beekeeping 101: Where Can I Keep My Bees?

I know the answer to that one: Sussex.