From
Carbuncle:
"After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief feature."
To me, it felt like Holmes was letting him go because he was eager to move on, and the rest is just rationalization.
I was wondering if there had ever been a Holmes story where he hadn't figured out the corrent answer.
He doesn't figure out the right answer in
A Scandal in Bohemia
until the criminal has made a clean escape.
Holmes is wrong in "The Yellow Face." That's the one where he tells Watson to whisper "Norbury" in his ear when he gets too cocky. I feel like there's another one, but I'm not sure.
This thread is now reopened and repurposed to contain discussion of the most recent and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
***SPOILER ALERT***
***Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will follow shortly. Read at your own risk.***
We really mean it about the spoilers. Probably stuff happens in the book. And we'll talk about it. And it's out now. Some of us have it. And like, read it and stuff.
Don't say we didn't warn you. Honest, we tried.
Enjoy.
It's been over 10 hours on East Coast and no posts. I think the midnight book purchasers partied at the stores too late to actually read. Don't have my copy yet, but subscribed because spoilers ahoy!
I posted some thoughts in Literary. Maybe I'll X-Post them.
ETA:
done
How rude.
I finished it about 7 and half hours ago. It was 7:30 a.m. in Edinburgh, so I decided to go to bed rather than surf the interwebs at the time, since I figured I was done before most people.
A few thoughts (I'll talk more after others post later):
I thought that, overall, it was a good read. Very plot-heavy, which makes sense considering how much she needed to stick in there, and is good because that's where JK's strengths lie.
I liked the idea of the Hallows vs. the Horcrux, and Dumbledore as fallible, and the fact that nearly ALL of my predictions came true (Snape hearts Lily, Snape is a badass, Harry's a Horcrux, Neville plays a major plot point role) and I liked Kreacher's turnaround, speaking of SPEW. Yay for Ron/Hermione finally getting some snog time. I still think it would have been more emotionally wrenching and satisfying if somebody really major died - Neville or Luna at least - but I can't really complain that the ending was happy. I like a happy. Re: the epilogue, I'm glad Draco didn't end up dead or imprisoned and has a chance to continue the tradition of providing Weasleys with enemies, and I love Neville as a Hogwarts prof.
I wish there had been more Neville, Ginny, and Luna time. I feel like there's a novel somewhere about their adventures at Hogwarts, and if JKR doesn't write it I hope somebody with good fic-writing skills does, without shoving in a romance story (though Neville/Luna can be cute if done correctly, there's simply no basis for it in canon, and I want to read a story that fits the canon there.)
I'ma read it again. Slowly. I know I missed things, especially as I was still a bit tipsy for the first 100 pages or so.
Thanks for the early report, Gris. Yay for well done and happy endings! I'm so pleased that you were able to be in Edinburgh to have this early reading opportunity.
