A study in Scarlet

So... back to it again.

While I was looking up Sherlock Holmes... I found out that a study in scarlet was different from all the other sherlock holmes/detective stories because you weren't actually able to figure out who the villain was at all... The name Jefferson Hope(I think that was it) isn't revealed to you until Sherlock figures it out.

(I didn't notice this myself because, normally, I don't figure out who the villain is/what happened until the end... kind of like Watson .... but even more clueless) The only one I can figure it out for are the Dan Brown novels... cuz the plot gets a little predictable.. but anyways....

I'm not sure if I said this earlier.. but I think part of the allure of Holmes is his intelligence and capabilities.

But, besides the character himself, which is very important on its own.... there is also the reoccuring idea of the sidekick character, the impossible/creative plot, the danger, and maybe police involvement too? In every mystery novel I've read (casi todos...) there's always a reference to the Harvard Yard, or the FBI blah blah... you get the picture.... Though, that probably has more to do with it being a crime and crimes needing crminal prosecutors... But in a lot of books including the Alienest, the Dante Club, and the Sherlock Holmes novles, the police (some of them) are helpful to the protagonists.... while others... are not so friendly. ---But truthfully I don't think they are as important... but yet again maybe they are... you tell me.

What I think the police element brings in is... 1.when they have a collaborator, they are on the same side as the "good people" and not the villains/and don't act as as a conspirator. But, at the same time, when they are against the rest of the "ignorant" - whether of racial acceptance or new sciences - we're ok with the protagonists making fun of them/working against them becuase we know they (the bad police people) are in the wrong... So., wrong against wrong is ok... not really but you get the picture.

According to the book I was reading, in teh picture, watson looked like/was portrayed as a dog..... meanign he possessed those characterisitcs. Loyalty, slight intelligence, obedience.... stuff like that... -and in other books.... sidekick characters have similarish characteristics. I wonder whether this has a reason on its own (the reason why Doyle used Watson) or because later people wanted to mimick Doyle's use of Watson to recreate teh success of the Holmes detective stories..


Anyways... All detective stories seem to have creative/intelligent plots. -But that makes sense, since if they are all similar/based on the same crime-it would get boring fast. And, it's good for Sherlock HOlmes, becuase he said quirks/strange things/out of place things make things easier. - cuz it's more specific and such... (makes sense to some degree. but that's only if you can make a good enough guess at figuring it out... so not so much sense is made i guess).


But ... also, I feel Holmes and his fellow successors make too many assumptions when making their guesses ( I'll find esamples later...)


Ok... that's it for now...

But just to sum a study in scarlet (I knwo i was more general in this post....but) it was the first one. Watson is set up as a sidekick... There was a crazy plot... not really understandable... We're still left out of the picture (but along with Watson too - probably another purpose of having him there. He's intelligent and learned, but even he who also witnesses the same thigns as HOlme can't figure it out... so we don't feel like idiots for not knowing ourselves.s

La dee da...

If anyone would like to answer my questions... It'd be GREATLY appreciated.