A Study In Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born on May 22, 1859, was a prolific writer and a physician who was from Edinburgh Scotland. He started his studies in the Roman Catholic Jesuit and began writing short stories while he was studying medicine in the University of Edinburgh. Conan Doyle is responsible for having created one of the world’s most famous characters, Sherlock Holmes. During his long writing career, Conan Doyle wrote plenty of other stories and books that he thought were much better compared to the Sherlock Holmes series.  However it was the world’s only ‘Consulting Detective’ that turned into a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. People wanted more and more stories of Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Doctor Watson.

While growing up, his passion for reading never decreased. He met Joseph Bell, a professor and surgeon, while attending the medical school at Edinburgh University. He was amazed at the ability of Dr. Bell to obtain numerous facts and information about patients by simply asking random and simple questions. That is where the idea of Sherlock Holmes first occurred to Conan Doyle. Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930, the character of Sherlock Holmes, that he created, still lives on even after 120 years of its creation.

Sherlock Holmes was created in the late 1880’s in the story ,”A Study in Scarlet,”  in the Beeton’s Christmas Annual magazine and later reprinted as a book. It had been originally titled “A Tangled Skein” but then later changed to “A Study in Scarlet”. The story is narrated by Sherlock Holmes’ assistant John H. Watson as he remembers the events that happened after his meeting with Sherlock and the adventures that they both find themselves into.

Source : http://history1800s.about.com/od/authors/a/arthur-conan-doyle-bio.htm

Lens

Psychoanalytical

Characters

Sherlock Holmes:

1.       A man who other detectives and members of the public consult to solve mysteries

2.       A man who does not seek the limelight, willing to let others take the credit, but rejoicing in the knowledge that he was challenged yet he came out on top.

3.       A man who knows the fantastic but ignores the mundane

4.       A man addicted to drugs

Dr. John Watson:

1.        Dr John Watson, an army doctor invalided out of the army

2.       Watson is quickly identified as being the voice of right and wrong

3.       Watson might not be as smart as Holmes but offers energy instead.

Gregson and Lestrade:

1.       Tobias Gregson and G Lestrade are considered to be the best of the capital’s police force

2.       Gregson and Lestrade happily take all of the credit for the solving of the murders

Jefferson Hope:

1.       He has spent his life seeking revenge against Drebber and Stangerson.

2.       They were responsible for the death of the woman he loved

Quotes

"On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion."

Watson, 11.

This part according to me refers to the drug addiction of Sherlock Holmes as the evidence found within this book suggests that Holmes was after all and drug user. When Holmes and Watson talk about their flaws before moving in together, Holmes explains to Watson that "I get in the dumps at times, and don't open my mouth for days on end. You must not think I am sulky when I do that. Just let me alone, and I'll soon be right" (9). This may be seen as a hint that suggests bouts of depression or side effects of drug usage.

"There's the scarlet thread of mur der running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."

Holmes, 38.

This quote has to be the most famous one from this book. It infuses the scientific, rational method of solving a crime with romance and allure. This quote unites sensibleness and pure reason, which is the need to dig out results of a murder, and poetry, which is the vivid invocation of blood and thread.

“It was easier to know it than to explain why I know it. If you were asked to prove that two and two made four, you might find some difficulty, and yet you are quite sure of the fact.”

                                                                                                                                    Holmes, 20.

Survivor

Chuck Palahniuk

On the 21st of February 1962, in the city of Pasco, Washington, the world stood still for a baby boy who would soon wield the pen that would write the stories about the darker side of human nature.

Chuck Palahniuk is a distinguished American novelist and freelance journalist. Palahniuk is one of the most notable and successful writers in the transgressive fiction genre. Palahniuk’s overall writing style focuses on characters that have become rebellious and anti-social mainly due to the high demands of the prevailing culture and society.  He was practically raised by his grandparents  after his parents separated and divorced. A career in writing was soon underway as Palahniuk graduated with a Journalism degree from University of Oregon on 1986.

Chuck Palahniuk started writing in his mid thirties and his first published work was a short story entitled “Negative Reinforcement” in 1990. At the same time, he also wrote his first novel, “If You Lived Here, You’d be Home Already” but this was never published. His next attempt was “Invisible Monsters” which was also rejected by agents because its tone was not pleasant. His breakthrough came with his next title, Fight Club, which got him a deal with a major publisher. At this time, he was able to get an agent, Edward Hibbert, and Fight Club was accepted for a movie deal.

 Fight Club became the gateway to Palahniuk’s fame. In 1999, two titles, Survivor and Invisible Monsters, which had been re-written, were both published.

Despite his great success as a writer, Chuck had a tumultuous and dramatic childhood and life in general which has been a great source of inspiration in the books he has written so successfully. One event relates to his grandparents on his father’s side whom he never met. It has been said that his grandfather shot his grandmother to death and then killed himself after he could not find his three-year-old son (Chuck’s father) who was hiding under the bed. His book Lullaby was written after the untimely death of his father who was murdered in 1999.

Protagonist

Tender Branson in Survivor, by Chuck Palahniuk, is a 33-year old suicide cult member on a Boeing 747 that crashes. He has dreams that make his reputation with the Creedish Death Cult grow. His girlfriend, Fertility Hollis, shares his gift of prophecy. He becomes a murder suspect when his agent dies suddenly at a Super Bowl game.

Tender does not seem happy with what his life used to be. He feels he missed out on the good life. He records his story into the "black box" as the plane nosedives into the Australian outback. He is not a murderer and has gotten all the passengers but himself off the plane before the dreadful moment. He calls himself stupid for not understanding the prediction that his girlfriend gave him

He is a cynic, believing that life is a waste, that people like to have problems, that everyone wants to die.

Setting

The book Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk starts off in plane, namely Flight 2039. However as the book goes on, different locations in the USA are shown such as New York, Louisiana and Nebraska. All the events in the book take place in the late 1990's.

 Quotes

• "People don't want their lives fixed. Nobody wants their problems solved. Their dramas. Their distractions. Their stories resolved. Their messes cleaned up. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown."
• You have a choice. Live or die.
• "The only difference between a suicide and a martyrdom is press coverage."
• "A girl calls and asks, 'Does it hurt very much to die?'
  Every breath is a choice.Every minute is a choice.Every time you don't throw yourself down the stairs, that's a choice. Every time you don't crash your car, you re-enlist.Well, sweetheart, I tell her, yes, but it hurts a lot more to keep living."

Personal Analysis

I was quite surprised, at first, to discover that the numbering of the pages begins at the end (page 289) and ends on page 1. The chapters are also back to front, probably representing the fact that the story begins at the end. However, it wasn't off-putting at all, and I quite liked the way that I could constantly tell how many pages I had left until the end. The chapters are a great length - usually no more than 5 or 6 pages - which makes it perfect for putting down and picking up again. And the fact that the story is so memorable means that it is hard to forget what had happened previously.

 liked this book a lot. It is very different from the type of fiction I would usually choose, but that made it refreshing, and I will most certainly be looking out for other books by the same author. I would recommend that people go into it with an open mind and see where it takes them - I have my opinion of what it all means, but it is up to the individual to make up their own minds. It probably won't sound like most people's idea of a good read, but it actually is suprisingly readable. Definitely recommended.