Slander, Thy Name is Doyle
Thanks to a great Christmas gift from my girlfriend's parents, I have begun reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. I (I also have Vol. II for when I finish the first book). I didn't quite know what to expect, but I have been very pleased with the book so far.Still, I do have one major complaint against what I have read. Midway through one of the stories, Doyle writes:
In the central portion of the great North American Continent there lies an arid and repulsive desert, which for many a long year served as a barrier against the advance of civilization. From the Sierra Nevada to Nebraska, and from the Yellowstone River in the north to the Colorado upon the south, is a region of desolation and silence....there are enormous plains, which in winter are white with snow, and in summer are gray with the saline alkali dust. They all preserve, however, the common characteristics of barrenness, inhospitality, and misery. (p. 55, my emphasis)Doyle might be a good writer, but he knows nothing of Nebraska.
That's how Nebraska basically was at the time of Doyle's writing. Historical context and all that. Writer's intent. Passage in the greater whole.
Don't they espouse that stuff all the time in seminary? :)
Posted by
Heath |
4:07 PM
I ain't buyin' it. Nebraska rules.
Posted by
Jacob |
4:24 PM
No one of course, could accuse you of having a bias now, Jacob.
Posted by
Lindsey |
7:01 PM
Well he says "to" Nebraska, so perhaps that means not including Nebraska, as he also says "to Colorado," and his description doesn't sound very Coloradoy.
Posted by
Anonymous |
7:17 PM
He actually says "to the Colorado" referring to the Colorado river. Just clarifying.
Posted by
Heath |
9:11 AM
Ah, good point. I still think saying "to" could exclude the thing you're going to. Maybe. Kinda.
Posted by
Anonymous |
2:31 PM