P.D.B.W.

[herewiss13]

I have finally come into the fold and embraced Lord Peter Wimsey. I've read about half the short stories and everything up until "Strong Poison" (well, a couple of the plots have been only conveyed by the awesome Ian Carmichael's mini-series rather than text, but I just had to skip ahead to Harriet Vane, given the press she's gets;-).

It is a most diverting and charming series. Wimsey is just that: whimsical. If I were going to pluck an odd comparison, I might say he resembles Bruce Wayne...if Bruce Wayne had not seen his parents killed as a child, that is. A hyper-competent playboy, as it were.

I definitely see the debt Miles Vorkosigan owes to Sayers too. A clever little git, too clever by half, charming, aristocratic, apt to babble, and with a tremendous talent for personnel: Bunter, Ms. Climpson, Parker, Burbles, etc. It's going to be quite interesting to re-read the more mystery-oriented of the Vorkosiverse novels and see what further resonances I pick up that I hadn't previously.

Not to mention the fact that the first 75 pages or so of "Strong Poison" has had me giggling almost non-stop. That has to be the funniest proposal I have ever seen...I think it even tops "A Civil Campaign"'s attempt (though that scene takes awards for 'High Farce'). I'm not sure how someone who hadn't already gotten a good grounding in Wimsey would take it.

It surprises me sometimes to to think that these novels were written almost 80 years ago and still seem quite fresh, not stilted or antiquated. Written in the patois of the time, but not archaic for that fact. And the occasional cutting remark or penetrating turn of phrase that Sayer's employs is simply delicious and surprisingly trenchant.

If I were to have a critique (and I haven't yet reached the books that are occasionally mentioned as needing a stronger edit) it's simply that 1)Sayers seems to end things abruptly. It's the sort of series/genre that generally either needs a nice afterward to let you know what happens to the entire cast, or a pithy little bon mot to sum everything up. Instead the narrative seems to trail to a full stop, usually 3-4 pages after the murderer's been apprehended and/or allowed to die. Peter's always depressed and while that seems a deliberate character point, the last lines still come out of nowhere and leave in the same direction. It's like she's not sure what the do with the piece after the crime's been solved.

Point two is more an observation, I suppose, than a true critique: is it just my imagination or does Sayers prefer to have her villains do themselves in rather than face trial? More often than not, they either beat the police to the job or manage to stick it to themselves just afterward. Some face the dock, obviously, but on balance...

In any case, as per usual, I finally find myself joining, long after most of my peers, a vast community of aficionados, and I can only say: "I'm glad I've arrived." I may need to try reading outside the SF/F genre more often. ;-)

Comments

[oilsdragon.livejournal.com]

I may need to try reading outside the SF/F genre more often. ;-)


Never! ;)