The Morning News

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Currently: solving the world’s ills, over drinks
Today’s Feature: “Ladies First” by Eric Feezell
Digest: “Video Digest” by Meave Gallagher
» Advertise on TMN via the Deck
Letters for publication in The Morning News should be emailed to letters@themorningnews.org. Letters must be exclusive to The Morning News, and may be edited for length. Authors will not be contacted if their letter is published. All letters must be signed. No attachments, please. We value your correspondence.

Edited by Kate Schlegel

Reader Mail

March 20, 2007
Hi, Kate,

While I agree there is some weakness “especially apparent in the final third of” Arthur and George, I think you have greatly underestimated and misunderstood an important element of the novel. I refer to your contention that: “It wouldn’t have been so dry had Sir Arthur’s skills been more in doubt; the knowledge that eventually he would tap the correct villain and clear Mr. Edalji’s name took away some of my interest as I neared the end.” To your first point, isn’t the sentence in which Conan Doyle first sees Mr. Edalji and immediately identifies him as “oriental” the single funniest and most telling line in the book? How much more could “Sir Arthur’s skills” be in doubt? To your second point or points, does Arthur “tap the correct villain”? Is Mr. Edalji’s name cleared? It seems to me the novel is more about Arthur’s inability to negotiate an investigation in the real world and reach an adequate conclusion, hindered all along by his exaggerated sense of self-worth and preconceived notions. You state: “…it was clear from the beginning that the mystery would be solved and that the solution wasn’t the sort that could be sussed out by a careful reader.” Isn’t the great trick of the novel that we as readers, like Arthur, ignore or are blind to arguably the most logical explanation for its central crime? I think you have misidentified the true mystery of Arthur and George: It is one that may not be completely solvable but whose careful construction and implications can be sussed out by a careful reader.

Ryan

Kate Schlegel responds:

Hi, Ryan,

I stand by my decision: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s reputation for eventually getting the good guy off makes for a lackluster mystery. But if you liked Arthur and George enough to write, you should definitely give One Good Turn a chance. I bet you’ll like it!

Kate

* * *

MORE MAIL


TODAY’S FEATURE

Ladies First

Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week ERIC FEEZELL solves the origins of “Mrs.,” and presents a new nomenclature to fill the gender gap, once and for all.

PURE GIBBERISH

My Father Speaks Another Language

Sarah Hepola listens, her mother translates.

NEWSLETTER

Prize Lovers Apply Here

More addictive than heroin, more challenging than Sudoku: the TMN Map Quiz, delivered hot, fresh, and diabolical to your inbox every Friday.

» SIGN UP

DIGEST

Video Digest

May 16 | The government is watching you right now. Don’t believe it? Meave Gallagher has the video to p…

» Mp3 Digest, May 14
» Book Digest, May 12