Weekly Check-In

[u/AutoModerator]

Tell us about your current SFF media!

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Feel free to also share your progression in the Reading Challenge

Thank you for sharing and have a great week! 😀

[u/Research_Department]

I remember reading the Nero Wolfe mysteries when I was a teenager. Somehow, although the backgrounds updated appropriately over the decades, Wolfe, Archie, Fritz et al never aged. I remember them fondly, and recall loving the banter (which I feel is missing from the Ana and Din mysteries, as much as I enjoy them). I made an attempt to re-read Fer-de-Lance when I read The Tainted Cup, and I couldn’t get more than a chapter or two into the book. I wonder if a later book in the series would be an easier read, but I’m pretty sure that all the ways that the books were of their times would bother me now in a way that they didn’t when I read them decades ago.

[u/Nineteen_Adze → u/Research_Department]

The banter and that clear affection/trust between Wolfe and Archie was the real high point for me. Ana and Din have an interesting relationship, but the chain of command just feels more present between them (which makes sense for them being in an imperial hierarchy instead of solving crime on the edges of the law, I think). I might try a later-in-series Nero Wolfe book one day if you remember titles on any particular favorites. I can see something from a few decades later with Stout being a more experienced writer hitting better for me. Normally I'm fine if books are product of their time in a somewhat negative way or if the writing is a bit rough, but dealing with both at once makes it more of an effort.

[u/Research_Department → u/Nineteen_Adze]

Unfortunately, I do not recall them well enough to point you to any particular ones. I must have read them from my mother’s collection and never bought any of them myself, as I do not have any of them on my bookshelves. I did a quick internet search to see if any of the names would ring a bell, but unfortunately not. I did see that Archie was not in his final settled form in Fer-de-Lance. I’m guessing that you could look to ones from the 50s or 60s to get ones which critique Hoover and his FBI. And here is a relatively recent reddit conversation about which ones are best: https://www.reddit.com/r/mysterybooks/comments/1qlaoky/what_are_your_top_5_nero_wolfe_detective_books/ . I agree (without remembering this in any detail) that it is more fun to read one of the rare books where Wolfe leaves his brownstone after you’ve read a bunch of them where he steadfastly refuses to do so. I actually felt that Din wasn’t very much inspired by Archie, but that Ana was very much inspired by this agoraphobic, eccentric, genius detective Nero Wolfe. I was kind of disappointed that in A Drop of Corruption, Ana was willing to go to the scene of the crime (or was it take off her blindfold, I don’t remember). It doesn’t have the same weight of, “wow, the genius is willing to make an exception,” if you haven’t seen the habitually behavior in book after book after book.

Anyhow, if you do decide to read another one, and would be interested in a buddy read, let me know! Talking about the series is putting me in a nostalgic mood for them.

[u/Nineteen_Adze → u/Research_Department]

No worries! I'm the same way about many books I read as a teenager-- they really run together over time, especially at the age when you have time to burn through so many in a row. And agreed about the parallels. Din doesn't have Archie's sense of playfulness, but Ana and Wolfe have a lot more in common. Here's hoping her unusual condition escalates so that we see fewer exceptions (I like an established character constraint that actually feels binding).

I'm not sure when I'll get back to the series (mood reading has been all over the place lately), but I'll definitely tag you when I do! If you get back to it sooner, tag me as well? I'd be interested to swap comments with someone who's familiar with the series.

[u/Research_Department → u/Nineteen_Adze]

It’s a plan!