English Mysteries Club discussion

Please use this discussion topic to discuss the first Book of the Month for the English Mysteries Club! Happy Reading!

Please confirm if you're going to participate in this first Book of the Month for the club. I'm picking up the book from my library this week and aim to finish no later than end of February. Who else is in??? :-)
Cheers!

I don't normally go for the older stuff, but my library has a copy so I will pick itup today after work.

I'm game.

Hi David - That's great! The more...the merrier!
Cheers!
~S~

Hi Jennifer - Glad to have you in the BotM plan! Should be good! :-)
Cheers!
~S~

I'm in!

Excellent! Looks like we're off an running then! Thanks everyone!

got the book today and will begin reading.

Starting today

I got my copy today!! YAY!

me too!

I want to try and participate in this. I've not read any Dorothy Sayers books, but am always looking for new books to read. I noticed there are a few versions of this book available for Kindle for only .99. I'll probably get a copy that way. Looks like the one copy my library has is checked out at the moment.

That's great! The more...the merrier!!! :-)

Hope everyone has a copy of Dorothy Sayers 'Whose Body?' by now and is beginning to read for the current Book of the Month. I've got my copy and will start posting discussion questions at the end of February. If you aren't already participating, please join us! :-)

got the book and am reading it. Look forward to discussion.

Excellent! I'm really glad folks are getting on board with this and I'm looking forward to the discussions as well!

100 pages into it.

That's great! Shame there's not a 'like' button on here similar to Facebook! :-)

Count me in. I've never read Sayers before but I've seen some of the TV adaptations done by the BBC and loved them. For anyone using a Kindle, you can download a copy for as little as $0.99.

Wonderful! We're happy to have you along! :-)

Okay, I am 150 pages into it and unfortunately it is not my thing. I should finish later today.

That said, the book so far was totally worth the read for one reason - I learned a new word (on pg 120)

Blatherskite
1. a talkative silly person
2. foolish talk; nonsense

I will be using that whenever possible in the future.

I'm in.

Have to really pay attention to every word to get the full meaning of this story

She's been on my 'to-read' list for awhile... so I'm in. May seem like I'm getting in late, but I'll be finished by month's end. What a great pick!

Therese - No worries about the timing! It's not too long a book really and the goal is to finish by the end of February...plenty of time and we're glad to have you along!

Elizabeth - you've just hit on one of my favourite aspects of English mysteries (David did too acutally...): use of language and fantastic words and wording. Blatherskite is definitely a good one even if the book wasn't quite to David's taste.

We'll talk more about the book at the end of the month...I'm getting questions together already! Happy reading, all!

I will finish Whose Body today. It started a bit slowly for me, but is a good enough mystery that I will read at least the next couple of books in this series, because I generally enjoy mysteries featuring members of the aristocracy who act as sleuths. I hope the books will get better - and become more amusing - as the series progresses.

Why does Whimsey say "ain't so much?

I've often wondered that as well. Perhaps some insight here:

http://www.thingsmeanalot.com/2010/07...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Pet...

Perhaps she just means it as one of his quirks? :-)

I've always understood it to be a quirk of the English upper class, indicating that their station is life is so elevated that they aren't required to speak "properly." Under this view, anyone who is too proper is obviously of a lower station because they're trying too hard (which they wouldn't need to do if they were already one of them).

Quite possibly! Although my first thought is that this may also have been a tendency in earlier generations - such as Dorothy Sayer's generation.

I lived in England for the past nine years and you can always tell the super-posh and upper class by both their accent and the way they speak and the ones I knew would never speak that way or use a phrase like that. But then, the English class system which was once VERY rigid (i.e. when Sayers was writing) is becoming far more fluid so perhaps not speaking in such a way now is a method by the upper class to seem more like the middle classes? Can't really imagine Prince William using this phrase! :-) And I liked the analogy in the wikipedia entry comparing the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter with Jeeves and Wooster. So perhaps we see it as a curious way to speak because it's a reflection of the age of the book? It's all great food for thought as we're reading!

Ah, Jeeves & Wooster, love Jeeves & Wooster... especially done by Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie - great fun.

Exactly! Me too! I read all of the Sayers' Lord Wimsey Mysteries about a million years ago...or maybe about 15 years now really. And since then and seeing Jeeves and Wooster by Fry & Laurie have kind of imagined Wimsey & Bunter to be sort of the same in my head. :-)

OK, I've heard of Jeeves and Wooster, but never read any books with them as characters. Who is the author? Sounds as though my tbr pile is about to grow again!

Sherry wrote: "OK, I've heard of Jeeves and Wooster, but never read any books with them as characters. Who is the author? Sounds as though my tbr pile is about to grow again!"

P.G. Wodehouse: http://www.pgwodehousebooks.com/
The series aren't mystery's but are so much fun, if you like British humor you'll love them.

Fry & Laurie are hilarious! Although it's weird to watch Laurie as House, hard to believe it's the same person (I was amazed to discover he's a Brit, he's so believable).

I've added all the Lord Peter mysteries to my TBR list now, along with Jeeves & Wooster. FYI, the entry for Sayers on Wikipedia states that she once said that Lord Peter was a mixture of Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster, so looks like our mental images are right on :)

...And who, please, are Fry & Laurie? I feel as though I've wandered into a foreign land where everyone else knows the language except me!

Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie (a/k/a Dr. House on Fox Network). They met at Cambridge and have done a number of projects together (mostly in the 80's and 90's), including a TV adaptation of the Jeeves & Wooster books and their own comedy sketch show, A Bit of Fry & Laurie. If you like British humor, you should definitely check them out.

Sherry wrote: "...And who, please, are Fry & Laurie? I feel as though I've wandered into a foreign land where everyone else knows the language except me!"

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvddp...

Thanks! I would never have believed House was ever a comedian if I hadn't seen it. Well, cheerio! Must go watch episode 2!

Sorry to go even further off topic - but Totleigh Towers, a reoccurring location in "Jeeves & Wooster", was filmed at Highclere Castle, which is also used for "Downton Abbey".

My goodness - I'm away a few days and look at all the activity...LOVE IT!

Sherry - so glad you piped up to ask about the references to Fry & Laurie. It's curious - House is now on in re-runs in England but for most of the time I was there they were known for their comedies in the 80s and 90s, esp. Jeeves and Wooster", as quite the double act. So glad others in the group were able to help explain what we were talking about.

It's kind of like terminology - the differences between English and American as languages are VAST! I'm still trying to find a way to use blatherskite in everyday conversation thanx to David's post!

Not long now...end of February is our deadline...can't wait for more chat about the book!

I often watch Bill O'Reilly's show on the Fox News Channel, and at the end of every show he has a "word of the day." Blatherskite was one of those, and he's used "pettifogger," "poltroon," "hornswoggle," "popinjay," and a whole host of others. Very fun!

Sherry - Great to know that others (i.e. Bill O'Reilly!) are interested in some of the quirkier words in use today. Love that blatherskite came up!

ALL - Today is the last day of the month for our first BotM reading circle within the group. Please feel free to start flooding this thread with your thoughts, feedback, questions, and analysis!

Confession from your moderator...this is the 2nd time I've read it! :-) I read all of Sayer's books several years ago and have loved coming back to them so many years later.

I think my favorite thing about her books are the subtle plot links that only make sense towards the end. For her time, she was a very modern writer in many ways.

What do you think? Can't wait to start seeing comments and feedback as we move onto our next title!! Let's have some grand discussions about our first BotM! All comments and feeback welcome!

A few resources while you're considering your responses:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

http://www.sayers.org.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_...

I especially loved the sarcasm of Lord Whimsey and his ability to use deductive reasoning in seconds.
I did again notice his prejudice toward Levy's religion . Also in 1923 Whimsey certainly did not use English that would be used today. Do I want to read more????

Agreed with Anna's comment. Agatha Christie' prejudice was very evident in her her books too.

I liked the book, but thought it started a bit slowly. Lord Peter's sense of humor, and that of his manservant, was amusing; and the story had enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I suspect the attitudes reflected are simply those common at the time the book was written.

I think you're right, Sherry! I think the book has to be viewed in the context in which it was written. I would imagine it would've caused quite a stir back in the day as a Lord was hardly likely to be mixing with 'unsavoury' or 'common' people and yet Lord Peter delights in it. A little rebellious streak on Sayer's part, perhaps? I like to think so.

And really - it doesn't take decades for some terms and viewpoints to change significantly. I remember a show from when I lived in England called 'Only Fools and Horses'. Now - I've only see the reruns as it was a show from the 1980s and I wasn't living there until 2001. However, it uses the term 'paki' to refer to people of middle-eastern and specifically Pakistani origin. At the time, people didn't think anything of it but now there is NO WAY you could use a term like that on a prime-time show.

I think in the case of Sayer's writing and 'Whose Body', we have to kind of assume so much of those attitudes were at least understood if not completely embraced.

And I agree - it does start a bit slowly. But once it starts twisting and turning it gets really good, I think! Lord Wimsey is a little like an art-deco period Sherlock Holmes in his ability to take the tiniest speck and deduce a clue from it. Love that kind of thing!