Choose Your Own Adventure (Authors Edition)

[fictional]

Item: Lord Peter Wimsey.

Sadly Dorothy Sayers wrote Lord Peter mysteries of a finite number, and then moved onto religious plays, and Dante of all things...[and I say, wasn't one infernal poet enough??? I ask you. When the world could have been blessed with tales of Lady Peter (nee Miss Harriet Deborah Vane) and the Wimsey sproglets in WWII to say nothing of Bunter & Lord Peter's engrossing activities in Intelligence as well as those of Viscount St. George alias Jerry (it occurs to me that nickname couldn't have done him any favors in the RAF, now could it???) and his adventures in the Battle of Britain... from where I am sure he effected a daring escape of some kind, Miss Sayers' opinion to the contrary. And Winnifred. Perhaps we might actually meet her. And some more Dowager Duchess wouldn't come amiss. But I digress.]

So, okay, you read all the mysteries, then move on to the continuations by Jill Paton Walsh, then you want more. Naturally, being a person of sound taste and judgement, you proceed to the Wimsey fanfic on the web, all of it being of a surprising quality, but small in number. (Perhaps the explanation of the former lies in the latter.) You watch the filmed adaptations (Strong Poison and Have His Carcase excellent; Gaudy Night unforgivably awful).

And then? What then?

There are numerous directions to go: one can proceed to the incomparable Miss Heyer for the regency worldbuilding tinged with a gorgeous and delightful twenties/thirties aesthetic - (Incidentally Lord Peter's world, and Heyer's Regency are... surprisingly similar, now that I think of it. Including rhythms of phrase, etc.; says something about our tendency to merrily and muddily accept anything prewar and historical as "back then")... and know the path from there is straight towards comedies of manners, and probably on into fantasies of manners. Unexceptionable, what?

But suppose that's not desired... one can go and read inspirational texts... not the spiritual kind (not the chicken soup meaning anyway), but the ones that have their genesis in love. I've got Lois McMaster Bujold at my fingertips... and I remember my last reread of the Sayers oeuvre was in fact a sort of reverse application of this phenomenon -- I was desperate for more Miles Vorkosigan, and clearly the only thing to do was apply poultice of Lord Peter and hope for the best.

However! Ruthlessly back to the original quandary. One could go straight into P.G. Wodehouse say, and maybe after that wind up with a little Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)... and then... maybe a soupçon of Evelyn Waugh? Or backwards instead and choosing to indulge in a little, as Lord Peter might say, coming over all Galsworthy? I've always meant to give the Forsyte saga another wallop. And from thence backwards to Miss Austen? And then through to Emily Eden's "The Semi Attached Couple" and oh golly, back to la belle Georgette. A person could get dizzy with all this perambulating backwards and forwards in time.

[Incidentally, it occurs to me there is something quite Wimsey-esque to the Doctor and his TARDIS. Screwdriver/monocle, TARDIS/enviable Lagonda, post-(Time)war PTSD -- the arrogance, and the angst over condemning those that must be condemned... the list goes on and on. There's the fun of it all too.

Anyone up for a Tennant-Wimsey remake????

Incidentally, I wonder what pre-WWII era Torchwood would have made of Lord Peter....

...I but stir the pot.]

Thoughts? The important thing is to have a Plan.

Also, I really need a "reading books" icon.

Comments

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Clearly our charming colloquy is turning out to be both decorative and useful. I am enchanted to be of service, to say nothing of being in your debt for a lovely afternoon spent with Mrs. Gillmore and her protege Miss Maida Westabrook, of Boston.

Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries can be divided into two parts -- pre-Harriet and post-Harriet. While there is something to be said for reading them in chronological order, the writing gets substantially better the more you move along. If you don't insist on reading in order -- I myself read the Harriet Vane ones first, fell madly in love, and then went back and read the previous ones as sort of prequels.

So, the first one of the Harriet Vane ones is Strong Poison.
If you want to read completely in order, the first one proper is Whose Body.

There's a pretty excellent summation here -- Poison for Two in the Library: A Lord Peter Wimsey Overview (http://community.livejournal.com/crack_van/2822469.html#cutid1) -- which also explains the books in brief (scroll down.)

[valancy-joy.livejournal.com]

Your kind words are very welcome, and I will take your excellent advice to heart at my earliest opportunity to visit my local lending library.

I am so glad to hear you enjoyed your visit with Mrs. Gillmore and Miss Westabrook. I have been wondering if you would care to be introduced to a Miss Patricia Fairfield. I first met her in the summer of 1906 while she was on a tour of Long Island in one of those new fangled automobiles.

I enclose further particulars, and remain in your debt.

http://redeemingqualities.wordpress.com/the-patty-fairfield-series-by-carolyn-wells/ (includes links to the Gutenberg full text versions)

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Miss Fairfield sounds just my cup of tea. I will be most pleased to make her accquaintance, and will keep you posted regarding the results.

[melodylemming.livejournal.com]

The link above direct you to my website, which is how I got here -- via my blog stats page. And I thought I had better comment, because about 90% of the books you mention loving are among my favorites as well.

I've only recently discovered Bujold, and I'm trying not to make my way through the Vorkosigan books too quickly.

Also, are you familiar with Josephine Tey?

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Hi! Welcome. I'm pretty excited to add "Redeeming Qualities" to my reading list, so you may well be seeing more from me ;-)

My mistake with the Vorkosigan books was reading them too quickly...but it was impossible to stop! Luckily she's at work on the next one, so that should be out soon... (soon being a relative term.)

I've read Tey's "Daughter of Time" but none of the others. I should probably rectify that.

[melodylemming.livejournal.com]

I hope so :) -- check out my Laura E. Richards and Marie Conway Oemler tags -- I think you may enjoy their books. As for Tey, Daughter of Time is considered one of her three best books, along with The Franchise Affair and Brat Farrar. Also check out Miss Pym Disposes -- it's like Tey's version of Gaudy Night.

Meanwhile, having read this entry, I'm adding Maida's Little Shop and The Semi Attached Couple to my reading list.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

This is very exciting. I just met Maida myself, but I'm really quite fond of The Semi-Attached Couple. It usually comes bound with The Semi Detached House which I liked less well.

I will definitely check out Miss Pym Disposes. With a title like that!

I sometimes have a yen for books that I simply cannot defend. (Ex: books by Janet Lambert??) But these are all defensible I feel. *g*

[valancy-joy.livejournal.com]

May I report that having spent half the night in the company of Lord Wimsey (thanks to finding Whose Body? online) ... and taking advantage of a christmas gift certificate, I am now four more volumes richer, and will soon make the acquaintance of Miss Harriet Vane.

I sense a lot of reading in my future. And a jealous cat. He dislikes books for some reason. Tries to eat them. The manners of some felines...

Thanks for the push into the Wimseyverse. The lodgings are very comfortable.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Simply smashing! I cannot wait to hear what you think of the following ones. *g* Do keep me in the loop, old thing.

[calloocallay.livejournal.com]

There is no Post-Harriet, there is only Pre and during. Harriet: she lasts. I went directly from a reread of all the Wimsey books and short stories in Peter's chronological order (ie, not order of publication, but rather the order in which the plots occurred in the characters' lives) to a reread of the the Anne books. I'm not sure why it seemed like a logical next step, but it seems to be working out okay.

I HIGHLY recommend Connie Willis, particularly To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellwether.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

I was just talking with someone about Harriet/Peter vs. Gilbert/Anne, and expressing my preference for Harriet/Peter because I enjoy them just as much post marriage as I do pre, whereas in the post marriage Anne books, the interesting characters become the neighbors and kids.

And of course, Connie Willis.

My pre/post Harriet was meant to convey pre-introduction of, and post-introduction of. Just to clarify!