Ginny at Small Things hosts a weekly feature so writers can let one another know what they are knitting and reading. I don't have any pictures of the baby blanket I am knitting, but I can talk about the book I am reading with my son.
Yesterday, between our son's middle school baseball practice and his travel soccer practice, he ate dinner with me (salmon with green beans), sitting on the sofa as I read "A Study in Scarlet" to him. When he returned home from the high school turf fields about 9:15, he readied for bed and we snuggled upstairs as I continued reading to him about Sherlock Holmes' very first case. He fell asleep as I was reading to him and my husband moved him later from our bedroom to his bunk bed one door over.
Oh how I love this not-so-little boy and our snuggly reading times together. We have spent hours and hours like this, and I know that one day - too soon for me - he won't be asking me to read to him.
This is a terrific short story, part of a massive tome I bought (pictured above) for about $25 at Barnes and Noble of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's complete works. "A Study in Scarlet" is the first story, the one in which Doyle introduces readers to Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson.
While Doyle wrote the story in 1886, our son has no trouble at all understanding the language, the meaning or the story. The writing is simple enough that he can read the story on his own.
The title comes from something that Holmes says to Watson about the nature of his work: "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."
Our son has an analytic mind and he loves trying to piece together the clues and what might happen next. He and I are looking forward to making our way through hundreds more pages of Doyle's work.
I love Sherlock Holmes ....the old movies...Have you seen the new ones?
ReplyDeletewe have seen the movies with Robert Downey Jr. and loved them. In fact, I wrote a review! Now we likely will rent some of the older ones...
Deleteah. Here is the link:
Deletehttp://ramblingfollower.blogspot.com/2011/12/sherlock-holmes-2-funny-fast-paced-and.html
Allison, I also like Sherlock Holmes, but to tell you the truth "A study in scarlet" is not one of my favourites since its structure is so strange. It tells the story of the investigation first, then he tells what happened before. It makes the reader lose attention in the second half. The same can be said about "The valley of fear".
ReplyDeleteI liked "Sign of four" and "The hound of the Baskervilles" much more.
maybe we will read those next, Vincent. Thanks!
DeleteMy husband's read some Sherlock Holmes, but didn't care for it. He also found it so odd that he sniffs coke throughout the book like it's no big deal! I guess that was the culture back then. so strange.
ReplyDeleteWhoa. That hasn't happened yet. I will be on the lookout.
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