tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post3269731785183156761..comments2024-03-11T01:39:11.362-04:00Comments on At the Scene of the Crime: Enter Dr. ThorndykePatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-11447452090620772522012-09-05T13:47:35.788-04:002012-09-05T13:47:35.788-04:00Just started reading Singing Bone. Freeman is a co...Just started reading Singing Bone. Freeman is a competent writer, with flashes of wit, but I can't figure out whether or not he's just totally kidding here or what: "Thorndyke stepped over to the door and admitted a police inspector in uniform, and I stood up, and, presenting my dorsal aspect to the fire, prepared to combine bodily comfort with attention to business." <i>Presenting my dorsal aspect to the fire</i>?! I mean, even if that's a joke, it's still pretty weak. Anthonyhttp://www.google.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-6043220010007762562011-07-29T00:56:40.719-04:002011-07-29T00:56:40.719-04:00Freeman is sadly underrated. I find the dual stud...Freeman is sadly underrated. I find the dual studies of the inadequacies of the legal system and the beginnings of forensic investigation fascinating. I am very much afraid that Dr. Thorndyke won't get a critical revision until British television starts doing a mystery series based on the stories, thereby getting people talking about him again. Right now only two stories have been adapted for "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes."Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03343947041898057102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-35398815479822174782011-07-28T19:16:22.858-04:002011-07-28T19:16:22.858-04:00@TomCat
I think you misunderstand me. I've see...@TomCat<br />I think you misunderstand me. I've seen Columbo, several episodes, in fact, but I'm not intimately familiar with it. And though I tried writing an episode review several times, none of my words seemed to do any justice to the late Peter Falk.<br /><br />Yes, hardboiled authors. I went to the same high school as Ross Macdonald. I don't know what it was like when he was there, but boy did I hate it.<br /><br />@Sextonblake<br />Glad to hear it! :) I really don't think you'll regret making an acquaintance of Freeman.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-9990897455398280892011-07-28T18:44:30.260-04:002011-07-28T18:44:30.260-04:00I have a lovely old hardback collection of Freeman...I have a lovely old hardback collection of Freeman's short stories, but I've not read it. I'll have to put that to rights quite soon.Sextonblakenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-18396095624441240222011-07-28T16:50:21.776-04:002011-07-28T16:50:21.776-04:00Hey, you're evading the Columbo question. Don&...Hey, you're evading the Columbo question. Don't make me go Mike Hammer on you, Patrick! I expect an episode review before you go on holiday! ;) <br /><br />Hardboiled writers, eh? If you're going to read Ross MacDonald, I highly recommend <i>The Far Side of Dollar</i>. I read three of his books a few years ago, when I was also sampling Chandler and Hammett, but that was the only one I really liked. Heck, it even made my top 100 which shows how much I enjoyed it.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-68054193484810677092011-07-28T15:42:59.896-04:002011-07-28T15:42:59.896-04:00@Carola
I picked up a copy of that book and read t...@Carola<br />I picked up a copy of that book and read through the introductory material by Freeman. Great stuff! :)<br /><br />@TomCat<br />Thanks for the kind words, though I warn you that this series is going to continue until I leave (less than two weeks away now). If you think things are bad now, I have a big list of hardboiled authors to go into on my return, just to even things up a bit for their school. ;)Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-67437533830793852722011-07-28T14:41:17.297-04:002011-07-28T14:41:17.297-04:00Great review, Patrick, and your temping me to put ...Great review, Patrick, and your temping me to put down my beloved American mystery writers for a while to pick up one of these neglected, British Kings of Crime. I have several of their books residing on the shelves (Freeman, Crofts, Connington, etc). Argh, as if picking between them wasn't already difficult enough! :/<br /><br />By the way, have you finally started watching Columbo?TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-16274223113075999042011-07-28T13:24:12.880-04:002011-07-28T13:24:12.880-04:00I have all these stories and a whole lot more in a...I have all these stories and a whole lot more in a collection called Dr Thorndyke, his famous cases described by R. Austin Freeman. Even though I know whodunnit, I keep going back and rereading them every now and then. One of my favourite GAD authors.Carola Dunnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16796872169346386593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-88239315334838371062011-07-28T07:13:32.143-04:002011-07-28T07:13:32.143-04:00Thanks for commenting, Curt! I think you're ri...Thanks for commenting, Curt! I think you're right about both Chandler and Symons. I think I'll like Freeman's other tales as well. After all, I am studying science in university right now, and it interests me, particularly chemistry. To have Thorndyke go through his explanations and bringing up science left and right is, in a word, fascinating.<br /><br />It's a real shame that I can only find Connington's stuff online. Nothing against the university, but I can't download it into any file format and I don't have the time, patience, or physical capability to sit in front of a computer screen for the entire day and read a book that way.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-15737725423051943102011-07-28T00:02:12.902-04:002011-07-28T00:02:12.902-04:00Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself. I...Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself. I love this collection. Chandler's comment that Freeman;s writing isn't dull, just old-fashioned, is, I think a keen one. At bottom, I think Symons had trouble with all the physical science. Symons tends to be a lot more interested in sex and psychology.<br /><br />You should quite like the other Freeman stories (most are not inverted).<br /><br />John Street and Connington are to some extent Freeman's heirs, but none of them get much attention today compared to the Crime Queens, of course. So P. D. James feels free to criticize the Golden Age writers for having no understanding of forensic science--she clearly has never read Freeman!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.com