#canonfodderfriday

I think The Creeping Man is the closest thing to science fiction ACD allowed himself to get within the Sherlock Holmes range. For him, fantastic plot elements, such as those found in this story, were mainly reserved for the Professor Challenger stories.

I started reading the canon to get through a Sherlock free 2013 and it became something else...a fixed point in a changing age. I think I wrote about this in the summer, but it bears repeating and guess what? It is my blog and I can repeat myself! I traveled a lot in 2013 and canon fodder Friday kept me grounded in Paris, New Mexico, South Africa, key West, London. I discovered a great body of literature and got to share a little with my nephews who were transfixed with BBC Sherlock. I use lots of ACD quotes. I have enjoyed reading everyone's reactions and art and other comments. Thank you canon fodder friends

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A strange case, this one with its old professors nod monkey steroids. I will say, though that it was one of the few stories where I managed to work out something close to the actual answer on my own. One of the points that stood out was the dog, obviously. While Holmes' own theory that happy dogs must live in happy homes may not be entirely applicable here, the idea behind it was solid. With their heightened senses, dogs can often be markers of anything off or unusual. Look how Holmes used the spaniel in the Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place to figure that the dogs mistress was not who she seemed to be, but was in fact an impostor. Here the dog noticed something off about its owner, and the same goes for this case: something about the professor was vastly different enough to unsettle the dog. Like Holmes said a study in animal behavior may not go amiss in the investigative line of work. Another point that clued me in was the love affair going on. The professor was clearly infatuated with the younger woman, and he was described as a combative man. So why not think that when he was challenged in his affections by younger men that he would do something to put himself more on their level? To be stronger, faster, young again? The new strength was another teller for me: I immediately thought of some steroid. No one suspected the monkey bit though. Until next week.

I wonder if Holmes, though more perspicacious (thanks for the vocabulary word, ACD) than Presbury, was himself ever-so-slightly tempted when he gazed at the phial at the end of the case. Holmes himself said that it was surely time for him to retire when he suddenly realized he missed the connection between the Professor's knuckles and the dog and the ivy. But I think his experience with cocaine had made him wiser--the Great Detective would rather bow out and end his career gracefully than participate in "the survival of the least fit."

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Lots of musings while in a waiting room at the PT office.... ...had a difficult time keeping up with the players and the chronology of SH and JHW. I loved the energy of Watson's description of his place in SH's life and work. He seems very secure and proud of his contribution. By this time we are nearing the end of SH's career. John is working again and appears to have another practice. He sold his in the Norwood Builder Case. Something new or issue with consistency? The narrative emphasizes the age of Presbury...how old are SH & JW at this time? A new dog, Roy, as the canary in the coal mine. I love the ACD canon dogs. They give a sense of humanity to the canon. This solution to help Professor Presbury to keep up with a young fiancee..very interesting and in a way so current as we try to find ways to turnback the hands of time. Fav quotes: When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. "Excessive and a little violent and unnatural". "rather the passionate frenzy of youth" Interestingly, Presbury is a physiologist and so we get to look at science and the ethics of manipulating science and in a way trying to alter the course of true love. Love of self and love by our significant others. Sounds like he was having a mid- life crisis. Today, he would have plastic surgery and a sports car and maybe a little blue pill. Lots of good content for discussion in this short story-not a fav, but very interesting and of course the "come if its convenient" has been made iconic in BBC's Sherlock.

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