I've read the whole works of Sherlock Holmes more than once, but there are some bits I don't get. Like in the Valley of Fear. Sherlock Holmes is discussing a secret code with Dr Watson and it refers to a page number in a book:
"Hardly that, Watson. You will, I am sure, agree with me that if the page be given, the number of the chapter is immaterial. Also that if page 534 finds us only in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable."
See, what I don't get. How can they think the first chapter was really long just cos page 534 was in chapter 2? What if chapter 1 was short and chapter 2 was really long?
I have some more questions too.
Danielle xx
I think Holmes' point is simply that it's redundant to put too much stock in an arbitrary figure such as a chapter number. He's suggesting that the real quantity of work is measured in the pages, not the chapters. Chapters are variant and objective. They can be as long or short as you like, whereas the page numbers actually quantify something accurately - in a way that means something.
A poetry selection!
I've only read Valley once (vs. multiple readings of Hound, Study, and some of the collections) so I can't really comment without looking back at the context.
Love Holmes, though I tend to stick to "canon" and haven't read many of the non-Doyle stories.
Hmm, I'm really not a Sherlock Holmes expert, but 534 pages seems to be pretty long to only be in the second chapter of a book.
I mean, a lot of books are quite shorter than that (around 200-300 pages) and may contain as many as 10 chapters. Also, the chapters in a book are usually of similar length, hence why one could assume that 'the length of the first one must have been really intolerable'; even if you were at the end of the second chapter, that would be around 267 pages per chapter (more or less depending on the minimal variation in the length of each chapter).
I have no idea what the passage that you quoted refers to, but it seems that Sherlock Holmes just discovered a message at this point, in which someone points to 'page 534 of chapter 2' in a certain book. Sherlock then assumes that this is in fact a secret code, as being at 'page 534 in chapter 2' seems highly improbable in a book, and one wouldn't need to mention the number of the chapter if the page was already mentioned.
Does it really matter? In the last Harry Potter book, JK Rowling got it wrong when she said that, 'The muggles who lived in Grimmauld Place had long since accepted the amusing mistake in the numbering that had caused number eleven to sit beside number thirteen.' Obviously, 11 and 13 would be on opposite sides of the street in England. Authors are human too. I find it kind of pleasing, actually.
I would say it falls down probability. The likelihood of a book where Chapter 2 is into 534 pages is almost 0. So you can eliminate it from your assumption.
C in that could refer to Chapter, Character, Column etc. But if you have already given a page number then, why use the chapter number? If the chapter is to be mentioned, it should precede the page number and not vice versa in my opinion. And regarding why Watson said C could stand for Chapter is fairly obvious, since when you think of C in a book, your mind immediately jumps to Chapter
I've got another one!
This is from the beginning of The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
'Yet his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to set any tax upon his legs.'
Now, I'm reasonably au fait with the various ways of running, but I can't say I can conjure up anything from my imagination that equates to how Conan Doyle describes this man's actions.
Opinions please...
Sorry DanielleX if it doesn't follow the theme, but I've to post it here :P
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?"
Watson pondered for a minute.
"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets."
"Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo."
"Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three."
"Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant."
"Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow."
"What does it tell you, Holmes?"
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: "Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent!"
I've got another one. I've read this over and over and I don't get it...
It's from the Adventure of the Three Students.
SH is describing a pencil, which has been used in a crime...
"“Well, he wrote so furiously that he broke his pencil, and had, as you observe, to sharpen it again.
This is of interest, Watson The pencil was not an ordinary one. It was above the usual size, with a soft lead; the outer colour was dark blue, the maker’s name was printed in silver lettering, and the piece remaining is only about an inch and a half long. Look for such a pencil, Mr. Soames, and you have got your man."
Then...
"Mr. Soames was somewhat overwhelmed by this flood of information. “I can follow the other points,” said he, “but really, in this matter of the length—”
Holmes held out a small chip with the letters NN and a space of clear wood after them.
“You see?”
“No, I fear that even now—”
“Watson, I have always done you an injustice. There are others. What could this NN be? It is at the end of a word. You are aware that Johann Faber is the most common maker’s name. Is it not clear that there is just as much of the pencil left as usually follows the Johann?”
Okay, I get the bit about NN being part of Johann Faber etc, but I don't get how he has deduced the length of the pencil. Surely when you sharpen a pencil, you sharpen the tip. If he can see the NN, then the guy decided to sharpen the blunt end. SH then states that there is only as much left as normally follows Johann. But how can he know how much was left of the (unsharpened) pointed end?
Danielle x
