Dorothy Sayers

Wow. I was way out of the ballpark on that one. I can't explain the connection my brain made, that I thought Heyer wrote Gaudy Night.

Okay, despite my complete wrongitude about the author, I *do* recall (er, that is, I hope I recall) that Gaudy Night is a Peter Wimsey novel, right? And that there's actually a series of Peter Wimsey novels?

So if I read Gaudy Night to complement To Say Nothing of the Dog, would I be confused by Gaudy Night, since it's in a series? Or is it the first of the series?

If you want the full benefit, you should read all of the books with Harriet. Strong Poison, Have His Carcasse, and then Gaudy Night. It's a big of an investment, but you'll get so much more out of Gaudy Night that way.

This is turning out like an interlocking puzzle. To get the full "crossover"-y benefit, before I read To Say Nothing, it would help to read Gaudy Night. But before I read Gaudy Night, it would help to read Strong Poison and Have His Carcasse.

Truly, I'm not going to stop reading To Say Nothing, go read 3 other books (good though they might be), and then come back to To Say Nothing.

And I *totally* realize no one is saying that I *should* or *must* or anything. I'm just amused by it. (And assuming that there's GOT to be *something* that I'd have to read before Strong Poison to get the full benefit of the Peter Wimsey novels. And THEN perhaps a foreign language.... And THEN a cookbook!)

I've often read good things about the Peter Wimsey novels, and one day I might get to them. But now is not the time. If I read Strong Poison, Have His Carcasse, and then Gaudy Night, I'd bet good money that by then I'd completely forget that I was reading them to get back to To Say Nothing.

Thanks, though, folks, for pointing out the links and stuff!

It helps with Gaudy Night if you speak Latin.

t runs away

t but totally not joking

I knew it!!!

t shakes fist (and lexicon) at Dana....

You'll need French if you read Busman's Honeymoon, which comes after Gaudy Night. Sayers assumed her readers were as smart as her.

I don't think it's about smart; I think it's about being educated in the way of her class and time.

I'm pretty fucking smart, but I took Spanish in school

Latin and Oxford traditions, plus French.

They're all wonderful books, but I think there's plenty to enjoy in To Say Nothing of The Dog without them.

eta: Ha! French crosspost.

I'm so confused. I didn't realize To Say Nothing of the Dog required so much prior reading!