About 9 years ago at a flea market in Fort Worth I bought a book titled A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes, selected and with an introduction by Doyle's son Adrian. I don't remember what I paid for it, probably just a couple of dollars. Until recently I only dipped into it a few times and maybe read 3 or 4 stories. Detective fiction didn't appeal to me, or so I thought. G. K. Chesterton wrote that there's a widespread bias against detective fiction in the sense that it's not generally considered serious literary fiction. That was probably more true in Chesterton's day than now, but I have admit that same notion colored my own thinking about the genre.
Well, if necessity is the mother of invention, invention's got a sibling named 'discovery.' As I've written previously I don't have easy access to new books in English. Recently I pulled down my Sherlock Holmes book from the shelf and started reading it. Wow - to discover what I've been missing all these years! The Hound of the Baskervilles is just fantastic.
It's interesting reading these stories and finding casual mention of things considered normal at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, when these works were written. Holmes is a private detective and not part of any official police force. After he's nabbed a villain and the villain is about to confess his crimes, a Scotland Yard detective present will quickly remind the criminal that he has the right to remain silent and anything he says can be used against him in court. This right was firmly established in British common law by the 17th century. I think Americans today don't realize how much of our legal traditions are British; for example, trial by jury, which doesn't exist in most other European countries outside Britain.
Another interesting thing to me is Dr. Watson's possession of his old army revolver. Watson had been a doctor in the British Army (he served in Afghanistan - plus ça change . . .) and upon discharge he retained this firearm. Holmes also possesses a revolver (and remember, he's not a police officer). The right for individuals to bear arms goes far back in British and European history.
Dr. John Watson
I recently read that after Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland in the 17th century, Catholics in Ireland were denied the right to arm themselves, among other rights. This was regarded as a denigration of their full rights. I would add, it was a denigration of their full responsibilities, too. It used to be assumed that the primary responsibility for policing belonged to the people of a community. New York City didn't have an official police force until the middle of the 19th century (and the city is much older than that). This is important to remember in the ongoing debates over gun laws. It's fundamentally a moral issue.
Getting back to detective fiction, I've downloaded a book of G. K. Chesterton's 'Father Brown' detective stories as well as Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles in which she introduced her Hercule Poirot character, both from Dodo Press on The Book Depository website. I went on a travel reading binge last summer and so I guess the autumn will belong to detective fiction.
Hercule Poirot
No comments:
Post a Comment