November meeting notes

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Nov 30, 2022, 10:11:20 PM11/30/22

to Notorious Canary-Trainers

Meeting Notes, Notorious Canary-Trainers

Date: November 20, 2022, 3-4:30

Location: Fitchburg Library & Webex conference room

Facilitator: Kent Miller

Note taker: Diane Balmer

Attendance: 10 in person, 1 by video

Story: The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

Announcements:

Johanna unveiled our new web site at http://canarytrainers.com/ It currently contains a reading schedule and a short history; further contributions will be happily entertained.
Johanna also shared her recently-acquired copy of a book published by the Mycroft Holmes Society of Syracuse in 2000. She also noted that Sherlock's Mycroft, Mark Gatiss, has made an adaptation of A Christmas Carol for the stage, which was filmed and there are a couple of showings of it coming up at Point Cinema in Madison.
Kent reported having watched the new Enola Holmes movie on Netflix and was unimpressed, finding it clichéd and aimed at kids, but did definitively state that it was "not as bad as Holmes & Watson."
Max has been in touch with the family of recently-departed Canary Trainer Bob Ristau. They have a number of Holmes-related items that he had collected and for which they would like to find good homes; some were shared (and claimed) at the meeting, others are still available. Max said he would supply a list at some point.
The schedule of the January birthday lunch was discussed. Our usual schedule would have put it on January 8, but this date falls during the time of the BSI weekend in New York (http://www.bsiweekend.com/) and some of our members plan to attend this. It was agreed that the lunch should take place on January 15, which is the date of our regular meeting. A location has not yet been determined; several suggestions were made, but our quest to find a place with a separate room where we can talk, but without an exorbitant fee associated, may prove difficult.

Story Discussion:

Most people found the story very enjoyable, with enough twists to keep them wanting to see what happened next. The story had interesting characters, and Doyle's sense of humor when describing Lord Robert St. Simon was fun for most of us. This characterization was seen by many as a send-up of the class system, with Sherlock puncturing his lordship's bubble of pretension in several passages. This provoked a conversation on Doyle's own views on social classes; it seems contradictory that such a devoted royalist and imperialist should be tearing apart a member of the nobility like this, but there is additional context in that St. Simon might be seen as letting the side down by stooping to marry an American nouveau-riche upstart for her money rather than finding a British bride of a good family and maintaining the bloodline. It was noted that none of St. Simon's relatives were listed as guests at the wedding, so perhaps the family agreed that the marriage was not a good idea. Numerous other examples of similar marriages exist, from Winston Churchill's parents to Edith Wharton and Downton Abbey, so clearly it was a common theme to be explored at the time.

Several people also commented on Inspector Lestrade's appearance (in both senses) – he seemed much better dressed than usual (positively dapper), but no closer to finding the correct solution than on other occasions. The description of the dinner was also of interest; Jim always enjoys the (rare) discussions of food in the Canon, while several people were puzzled by the fact that the feast of game birds, pie and wine (with apparently not a vegetable in sight) was brought by a confectioner (which even then was apparently defined as a maker of sweets). Lord Backwater, who also appears in Silver Blaze, has an amusing name which seems to have had pejorative overtones of rural isolation by 1879 per in-meeting research. Several people would have liked to hear more about Flora Miller and her story (noting that she was a ballerina, not a floozie, in the classical meaning of danseuse). There was also discussion of the reunification of the UK and the US, with Dave being interested in the proposed flag (and wondering if there was a Holmesian scion dedicated to vexillology). A discussion of possible improved titles for the story resulted in the general acceptance of The Adventure of the Claim Jumper as the best suggestion.

There were some elements of the story that were problematic; prominently featuring here is another display of Doyle's atrocious American dialog. Max felt that Holmes was being arrogant to most of the other characters. Upon consideration, plot similarities to several other stories came up, including A Study in Scarlet, A Scandal in Bohemia, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, etc. It seemed too early in the series to start repeating story elements; Max observed that it wold look like a fine story in the Casebook but doesn't hold up well with the stories in the Adventures.

There was also some confusion about Hatty's status with regard to a charge of bigamy. It was generally thought that since she hadn't known her first husband was alive until she was actually in the ceremony, it shouldn't be a serious problem. In regard to whether she should stop the ceremony and make a scene, Johanna pointed out that Francis Hay Moulton had indicated to her that she should be silent by holding a finger to his lips, so she was actually just obeying her husband in fine Victorian fashion. It was noted that some of the adaptations have gotten past this by not letting Hatty see Francis until she is returning from the altar after the ceremony.

Additional Topics:

Max is planning to attend the Norwegian Explorers' dinner in Minneapolis on December 1 (http://www.norwegianexplorers.org/2022_dinner.html); Diane is hitching a ride, and Max said there was more room in the car if anyone else was interested. The guest lecturer is Glen Miranker, the organizer of the Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects exhibition. Johanna said she had visited the exhibit in Bloomington, Indiana and thought it was very interesting. She also recommended the catalog from the exhibition. The exhibition is scheduled to be at the University of Minnesota in 2023.
Max also pointed at a new edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles which, though not as lavish as the original, is also not as expensive, and can be ordered from the UK as indicated in his after-meeting email (https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Hound-of-the-Baskervilles-by-Sir-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/9781398812192).