How funny, I'm in the middle of rereading The Nine Tailors. I was reading some of the stuff about change-ringing to my husband, who thought it sounded bonkers. Which it does. But Gaudy Night is next, which is exciting. I think it's the clear peak of the Peter-and-Harriet books, and Harriet's whole journey, returning to the academic community and being among people with such dedication, is always very comforting to me.

Meant to say, my dream adaptation needs to hit hard on the guilt about helping to convict even guilty people. That’s vital.

Gaudy Night is another one that the only thing I remembered from it was a tiny scene and something I thought I remembered from it was not in it at all. Disconcerting.

I watched YouTube videos of change ringing trying to understand what the notation meant. I think it helped? I might look into it some more, I do like combinatorics in general. I’m also very curious about how East Anglia manages its wetlands these days.

Oh, and there are at least two TV adaptions of Lord Peter that I would like to see and judge but they appear to only be available on DVD for purchase and that seems like a big commitment

I don't remember them super well. The ones with Harriet have Harriet Walter, which is pretty great casting. But the adaptations, especially of Gaudy Night, weren't great.

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This has a pretty good collection of scenes from Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night.

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I remember seeing two different versions - years ago - on PBS and thinking one was acceptable and the other ... meh.

Thanks, Dana! What I have found is a single DVD with the three Harriet titles and other collections of more titles starring Ian Carmichael and if they were streaming I would be happy to rent them one at a time but buying DVDs, I don’t know.

I bet your local library might have copies of those dvds??

Also, brings up something I’ve been thinking about: how do you (or can you even) recommend something that includes things which were unremarkable at the time but which would never fly now? Not so much if they’re prominent/the focus of the book/movie, but if it’s one scene or character who is not main but is still....not ok. I was thinking in particular of like, 80s and 90s movies where gay stuff is made fun of or imitated or the brunt of a joke, or people with disabilities, or whatever, more so than racism, but that too—if it’s throughout, that you can’t just say “skip this book/scene”? Do you not recommend? Recommend but say “I’m aware X is in there and wanted to warn you and say I’m not recommending that part”?

We watched Sixteen candles with Casper when she was maybe 14 and the whole thing is a disaster - I recall cringing at Long Duc Dong at the time, but the plot revolves around date rape! So we basically talked about how we were clueless and/or cringed but accepted that nonsense at the time.

The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books but it requires a little discussion for a child about both race and class. Luckily "this is set a long time ago when X people were not treated equally" goes a long way. On the other hand I tried to read Peter Pan aloud and realized it wasn't worth it.

So I'd say, "I loved X for X reason, but warning, period-typical homophobia," if I wanted to rec something, but also a rewatch/reread can make you decide if it's actually still worth recommending.

Yeah, I haven't entirely figured that out, meara. Library is an excellent idea! I have old fines that have made me embarrassed to show my face there, but maybe I can, you know, pay the fines and get over that