tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post8471948855002649962..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: Sting of DeadTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-31605202577110102082018-01-26T20:18:04.997+01:002018-01-26T20:18:04.997+01:00Well, it obviously took me some time to read your ...Well, it obviously took me some time to read your review, but I agree with everything you say, especially with respect to Maximilien Heller's (thin) relationship to Sherlock Holmes, which I'd rather ascribe to common ancestry (Dupin and Lecoq) than direct influence. Sadly ours seems to be minority opinion since even Jon L. Breen opined that Doyle might have borrowed from Cauvain.<br /><br />Regarding French mystery fiction scholars, I'd like to say that not all of them fit the depiction I gave ten years ago. Some of them are every bit as serious and credible as the best of their English-speaking candidates: people like the late Thomas Narcejac and the well-alive Jacques Baudou come to mind. Some others, on the other hand, are less trustable either because they're biased or not well informed enough. You also have to bear in mind that the traditional mystery is not popular with French critics, so enamoured of noir as they are, hence their eagerness for anything that might undermine the genre's "primogeniture". That's why for instance some of them are trying to build a case for Balzac or Paul Féval as the ancestor of modern crime fiction in lieu of Poe: Hey, their stories had crimes and detectives (and no puzzles, which is highly convenient)Xavierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05702919450638993709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-13177004904805832662017-03-14T14:03:42.666+01:002017-03-14T14:03:42.666+01:00Honestly, this title is of slightly less interest ...Honestly, this title is of slightly less interest to readers who simply want a good, intricately plotted and well clued detective story, because it was published in 1871 and the plot shows the dawn of the Golden Age was still half a century in the future. So you have to keep that in mind. <br /><br />That being said, it's still better than most of the modernistic garbage that has been published since 1960s. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-69357421739861089152017-03-14T13:26:26.341+01:002017-03-14T13:26:26.341+01:00Thanks for the review, and it's always nice to...Thanks for the review, and it's always nice to know that there are more LRI titles I've yet to purchase and read. :D How would this title fare vis-a-vis the other LRI titles? Or with respect to a reader who just wants a good mystery, and is not overwhelmingly interested with observing the genesis of the genre?Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03389512470283015279noreply@blogger.com