Great video truly agreed with your comment about fantasy. Also, I read Sherlock H but I’m not a big fan however, you should try the hound of the Baskervilles
Comment #2 Meant to note that I believe what most attracted me to mystery fiction as a child reader is that one joins someone on a journey, an adventure of sorts, with concrete plot points that propel the narrative forward while continually shaping and refining that journey and its specific direction, thereby creating a non-linear but connected tapestry along the way, at the end of which is a goal to be revealed. As an adult, I'd have to say it is the psychology (I've mentioned I'm a psychologist) that really sustains my interest, specifically the interior landscape of the characters in mysteries, their motivation--that of the perpetrator of the murder, those suspects who are innocent and choose deceit because there is something more threatening to them than to be suspected, and that of the murder victim or victims. For this reason, I generally am not interested in serial killer mysteries: I can more or less correctly hypothesize what is going on: reenactment of trauma. So there you have my long-winded answer. I'm grateful for you posing the question, for I've never attempted to define why mystery is my fave, even though I also read a lot of science fiction, horror, and historical fiction.
I’m not a huge fan of murder mysteries in general but I do love Dorothy Sayers’ novels. Also, she was friends with Tolkien and Lewis, and I really enjoy imagining what those conversations must have been like!
You might enjoy the graphic novel Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. It’s more Detective noir rather than straight up mystery, but I think you’d really love it.
3 videos from you in two weeks. And this one is chock-a-block with nuggets worth pursuing and worth response. #1 Mystery/Detective Fiction. This is my most favored. With regard to those Sherlock Holmes awaiting your favor, no, you should not touch them and read them. I finally decided after decades to give Doyle a go and read "A Study In Scarlet." Hated it. Mystery is such a wide genre with many subgenres; I prefer true mysteries over thrillers. Top of the recommended is your fellow countrywoman Minette Walters. Her books are atmospheric, are true mysteries, and are amazingly well-written. Also, though hailing from the U.S., I highly recommend Elizabeth George's series, the first of which is "A Great Deliverance" (the adaptations were weak except for the adaptation of the first novel). These are set in London primarily and throughout the UK. Both of these women have a clear love for language and characters. Three others I rave about to friends are Caleb Carr's "The Alienist," Val McDermid's "A Place Of Execution," and Michel Bussi's "Black Water Lilies." In fact, the conceit at which Mr. Bussi so deftly and brilliantly succeeds in that novel is unlike any other I've ever read. Finally, go nuts with Auntie Agatha. I read all her works in published order, undertaking this feat while in graduate school (as a way to keep my sanity). She is fantastic. One caution, she dabbles in thrillers, and the handful of those are by far her weakest.
Thanks for the many recommendations. I think I still will try Sherlock one day, even if it's just to say I've read it, but you've given me plenty of other things to consider reading first now, thanks!
Comment #3 Thanks for Mo Hayder's name. Loved your thoughtful remarks about George R. R. Martin. I've only read a handful of fantasy, and (though) I really enjoyed them, it is the seeming ubiquity of dragons that prevents me from diving in even more. However, your comments about Martin's series being historical with a focus on politics and intrigue and character thoroughly hooked me, so I'll definitely give the first book a try. Also appreciate your criticism of the authors who do not finish their series or drag them out forever. Finally, really liked your thoughtful answer to the question about favorite novel about masculinity. I read "Maurice" in graduate school, not too long after seeing the marvelous adaptation with James Wilby, Rupert Graves, and Hugh Grant. I've been meaning to go back and read it again and your recent mentioning of it in your reviews of Forster's novels and then again with this video have certainly brought a fresh urgency to that desire. I do find it curious how in Maurice--and in other novels involving gay men--that there is, or seems to be, an intrinsic assumption that men from lower economic stations are predictably more "masculine" while men from higher economic and/or social strata are by default "effete." I cannot help but think there is some intersection here between the social construction of gender and the effects of money and/or education.
Yeah it is worth reading the Song of Ice and Fire books, so long as you can resign yourself to the stories probably not being finished! :P On the Maurice point about class, I would agree that this is a trope that gets used a lot. That said, I think it holds generally in novels about class and masculinity. I think it comes from the fact that working class men typically do "dirty" jobs, often stuff that involves working with ones hands, whether it's building, making, crafting, farming, etc, whereas middle/upper class people occupy more "intellectual" spheres which are by contrast less traditionally masculine. I think there's also the fact that most novel writers are middle/upper class in their backgrounds, and I think a lot of them (at least given the novels they write) seem to have a thing for what we'd call in the uk "a bit of rough!" haha. That's definitely true of Forster I think, and you also find that in Lady Chatterley's lover by Lawrence as well.
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall Yes, I did think after hitting reply that if I start book 1 I better make sure I'm okay with there not being an "ending." Agree wholeheartedly on your observation and supposition about the connection between vocation and degrees of masculinity. Keenly spotted. I'd not considered the class of the writers themselves. I can see that, and I know there is a "tradition" in "gay fiction" for the middle/upper class protagonist's attraction to the lower class, bit of rough, what is referred to here in the U.S. as "rough trade." Maybe what I'm acknowledging is my own attraction to masculine men who exist in the middle/upper classes such that I'd love to read a novel where the protagonist is a lower class boy or man attracted to a masculine middle class boy or man, thereby subverting this trope.
Great video truly agreed with your comment about fantasy. Also, I read Sherlock H but I’m not a big fan however, you should try the hound of the Baskervilles
Comment #2 Meant to note that I believe what most attracted me to mystery fiction as a child reader is that one joins someone on a journey, an adventure of sorts, with concrete plot points that propel the narrative forward while continually shaping and refining that journey and its specific direction, thereby creating a non-linear but connected tapestry along the way, at the end of which is a goal to be revealed. As an adult, I'd have to say it is the psychology (I've mentioned I'm a psychologist) that really sustains my interest, specifically the interior landscape of the characters in mysteries, their motivation--that of the perpetrator of the murder, those suspects who are innocent and choose deceit because there is something more threatening to them than to be suspected, and that of the murder victim or victims. For this reason, I generally am not interested in serial killer mysteries: I can more or less correctly hypothesize what is going on: reenactment of trauma. So there you have my long-winded answer. I'm grateful for you posing the question, for I've never attempted to define why mystery is my fave, even though I also read a lot of science fiction, horror, and historical fiction.
I’m not a huge fan of murder mysteries in general but I do love Dorothy Sayers’ novels. Also, she was friends with Tolkien and Lewis, and I really enjoy imagining what those conversations must have been like!
You might enjoy the graphic novel Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. It’s more Detective noir rather than straight up mystery, but I think you’d really love it.
3 videos from you in two weeks. And this one is chock-a-block with nuggets worth pursuing and worth response. #1 Mystery/Detective Fiction. This is my most favored. With regard to those Sherlock Holmes awaiting your favor, no, you should not touch them and read them. I finally decided after decades to give Doyle a go and read "A Study In Scarlet." Hated it. Mystery is such a wide genre with many subgenres; I prefer true mysteries over thrillers. Top of the recommended is your fellow countrywoman Minette Walters. Her books are atmospheric, are true mysteries, and are amazingly well-written. Also, though hailing from the U.S., I highly recommend Elizabeth George's series, the first of which is "A Great Deliverance" (the adaptations were weak except for the adaptation of the first novel). These are set in London primarily and throughout the UK. Both of these women have a clear love for language and characters. Three others I rave about to friends are Caleb Carr's "The Alienist," Val McDermid's "A Place Of Execution," and Michel Bussi's "Black Water Lilies." In fact, the conceit at which Mr. Bussi so deftly and brilliantly succeeds in that novel is unlike any other I've ever read. Finally, go nuts with Auntie Agatha. I read all her works in published order, undertaking this feat while in graduate school (as a way to keep my sanity). She is fantastic. One caution, she dabbles in thrillers, and the handful of those are by far her weakest.
Thanks for the many recommendations. I think I still will try Sherlock one day, even if it's just to say I've read it, but you've given me plenty of other things to consider reading first now, thanks!
Comment #3 Thanks for Mo Hayder's name. Loved your thoughtful remarks about George R. R. Martin. I've only read a handful of fantasy, and (though) I really enjoyed them, it is the seeming ubiquity of dragons that prevents me from diving in even more. However, your comments about Martin's series being historical with a focus on politics and intrigue and character thoroughly hooked me, so I'll definitely give the first book a try. Also appreciate your criticism of the authors who do not finish their series or drag them out forever. Finally, really liked your thoughtful answer to the question about favorite novel about masculinity. I read "Maurice" in graduate school, not too long after seeing the marvelous adaptation with James Wilby, Rupert Graves, and Hugh Grant. I've been meaning to go back and read it again and your recent mentioning of it in your reviews of Forster's novels and then again with this video have certainly brought a fresh urgency to that desire. I do find it curious how in Maurice--and in other novels involving gay men--that there is, or seems to be, an intrinsic assumption that men from lower economic stations are predictably more "masculine" while men from higher economic and/or social strata are by default "effete." I cannot help but think there is some intersection here between the social construction of gender and the effects of money and/or education.
Yeah it is worth reading the Song of Ice and Fire books, so long as you can resign yourself to the stories probably not being finished! :P
On the Maurice point about class, I would agree that this is a trope that gets used a lot. That said, I think it holds generally in novels about class and masculinity. I think it comes from the fact that working class men typically do "dirty" jobs, often stuff that involves working with ones hands, whether it's building, making, crafting, farming, etc, whereas middle/upper class people occupy more "intellectual" spheres which are by contrast less traditionally masculine.
I think there's also the fact that most novel writers are middle/upper class in their backgrounds, and I think a lot of them (at least given the novels they write) seem to have a thing for what we'd call in the uk "a bit of rough!" haha. That's definitely true of Forster I think, and you also find that in Lady Chatterley's lover by Lawrence as well.
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall Yes, I did think after hitting reply that if I start book 1 I better make sure I'm okay with there not being an "ending." Agree wholeheartedly on your observation and supposition about the connection between vocation and degrees of masculinity. Keenly spotted. I'd not considered the class of the writers themselves. I can see that, and I know there is a "tradition" in "gay fiction" for the middle/upper class protagonist's attraction to the lower class, bit of rough, what is referred to here in the U.S. as "rough trade." Maybe what I'm acknowledging is my own attraction to masculine men who exist in the middle/upper classes such that I'd love to read a novel where the protagonist is a lower class boy or man attracted to a masculine middle class boy or man, thereby subverting this trope.