Years ago, I used to publish a series of short blog posts where I told you what I was doing, what movies I saw, and what you could look forward to. I called them my Coffee Sunday articles, since I published them on—you guessed it—Sundays. Though I don’t remember why I stopped them, I am going to reinstate them right now, only on Saturday, so their name is Coffee Saturday. They are my opportunity to talk to you person to person, writer to reader, nameless face on the internet to you. I hope you like them.
I’ve published a new article on Medium: “The Greatest Fictional Detective: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle.” It’s a big deal because it’s the first time I’ve published on a site not controlled by me. I considered the writing I did on Sherlock Holmes some of my best work, so it was an easy decision when I decided to publish on Medium to take another look at the material and write a whole new review on A Study in Scarlet. Here is a sample:
Someone opened a window, and standing in its frame was Dr. John H. Watson, a veteran of the Afghan War. He faced money troubles. Later on today, he would meet a friend from college, Stamford, who would solve the troubles by introducing him to Sherlock Holmes, but Watson didn’t know that yet. He studied the rushing population. He wanted to join them, be a part of their joy and eager anticipation of the day’s events. But how can he? Wounded and recovery and haunted by war, so I imagine, he felt he was an outsider peering through a window. No friends. No acquaintances. When Stamford found him, though he had never been a “crony” of Watson, he greeted him with enthusiasm.
You can find the review by following this link: https://medium.com/@keithbroyles/the-greatest-fictional-detective-da2e74c2b64f. If you are interested in my blog posts about Sherlock Holmes, just search Sherlock Holmes under CATEGORIES. In the course of a year, I read every book Doyle published about the detective and reviewed them for your enjoyment.
In movies, I watched again The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). This movie stars Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, and Stellan Skarsgård. There was another 2009 movie based on the novel, starring Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace, but it was in Swedish. I am sure I saw it also, years ago, and I liked it, but the 2011 movie was in English, so it was the version I chose. Dealing with rape, murder, torture, and family secrets, it is not appropriate for everyone. Consider yourself warned.
But the thing it had done for me is give me a taste to reread the novel. I read the novel, but I never reviewed it. Look for a review sometime soon.
I am not going to post a blog review this week, but next Sunday, October 11, I will publish on my blog the review for Call It Sleep. This novel tells the story of David, an immigrate child living in New York City in the early 20th century.
Take care!
