I'm back! Reading this book on the plane with an eye toward later discussion really made the trip fly by. Heh heh. Fly by. Heh.
I'm like you, the meat-shortage makes me think of a WWII-era story--I hadn't known about the postwar meat shortage. The things you learn!
But eating meatless meals, or inferior cuts/types of meat-- that is obviously true suffering.
Yeah, I have to agree--meat, and good/quality cuts thereof, feel much more motivational to Wolfe in my opinion than new orchid benches. Especially given the way we're told repeatedly that when he goes up to the orchids he's really just kind of playing/luxuriating/dabbling, with Theodore doing the real work. (Okay, granted, it's Archie saying that, and he could certainly be criticizing/downplaying Wolfe's role in the thriving of his concubines. *g*)
to me, Zeck, as an archetype, is really more like a pulp supervillain than a typical fictional gangster
I hadn't thought of it that way--I like the way you put it. Even with the tommyguns-at-the-plant-rooms deal from The Second Confession, Zeck doesn't really feel gangsterish to me.
I think this is the first time Archie's had a chat with Wolfe in his underwear.
I think you're right! I certainly would have remembered that. The level of unmentioned intimacy certainly gets me...I mean, we've had pajamas-Wolfe, and barefoot-bedhead Wolfe, and sleeping-in-the-same-room-covered-with-Archie's-blanket-Wolfe. Now, UNDERWEAR WOLFE. \o/
Personally I especially enjoyed this because of its conflict with the introduction to the edition I read, by Randy Russell in 1993. The beginning of the intro, and its central thrust, is "Nero Wolfe gives me the creeps." It goes on (and on) to display a clear and profound discomfort with Wolfe's physicality, talking about "the ravenous Wolfe" who is "a monster screaming to be fed," whose antipathy for the outdoors is "Draculan", who is "folded inside all that idle flesh". So I like that this book in particular goes even beyond the pajamas (which we have already seen Archie find dazzling and a privilege to behold!) to Wolfe in his underwear, a sight at which Archie has no complaints. Take that, Randy Russell!
Although, if you don't mind me waxing on about it, the intro has some further implications that Russell might not quite fully understand. In the course of emphasizing that he DOES NOT want to touch Nero Wolfe, he goes on, "Luckily, I don't have to touch Nero Wolfe to know him. I have Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the Nero Wolfe mysteries, to do that for me." To which I say...to know Wolfe? Or to touch Wolfe? Or...both?
Russell also says: "It is the relationship of these two characters that makes up the heart and soul of Rex Stout's work. I like to think of it as a marriage of men, though I don't always understand how the two of them get along. Archie is normal, after all."
To that, I would say: 1) Seconded, on the marriage, but 2) I think he has been completely fooled by the unreliable narrator, if he's willing to rest on the conceit that Archie is "normal".
Back to the book: as you say, this book has a lot of classic, well-crafted, familiar aspects in it, and I'd include in that list the exchange in which Perrit tells Archie to go sit in the car, and Wolfe puts the kibosh on that in no uncertain terms: "No, sir," Wolfe said emphatically..."I do nothing without Mr. Goodwin. If you confided in me, no matter what, under a pledge of confidence, I would tell it all to him as soon as you left." I never get tired of that ritual, Wolfe demonstrating his trust in/reliance on Archie, in front of Archie.
I notice that when Beulah asks who Wolfe is, Archie answers: "He saved my life once--uh, on a murder charge. I was innocent and he proved it." Has anyone ever written a story in which this was actually the occasion of their first meeting and/or Archie coming to work for him?
Violet's death feels understatedly horrible to me...just enough of a touch of graphic detail ("one bullet had torn through her cheek"), with the spelled-out gasping of "Uh--uh--". It feels hard-boiled-style, whereas some of the deaths in the Wolfe books are much more cozy-style (poisonings especially, of course).
When Archie calls Wolfe with the news of Violet's death, how much do I love that the first thing Wolfe does is interrupt him with "Are you hurt?" THIIIIIIIS MUCH. :D He does this other times, too, and I really adore 1) the relationship touch it gives, but also 2) the undercutting it does to the hard boiled aspects. I do not remember Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe having the man who keeps them interrupt their narration of dames and bullets to check if they're okay. (Speaking of which: to Wolfe, Meeker calls Archie "your punk". I have enjoyed seeing fan authors bring out this undercurrent and its connotations, given how we've seen more than one character make that kind of remark. Just wait till we get to In The Best Families and "Nero Wolfe's little Archie"!)
Back to Wolfe and the primacy of his "Are you hurt?": Archie being Archie, he knows this about Wolfe, and sometimes both relies on it and plays on it. So after the bloodbath out front of the Brownstone, when Wolfe bellows down as if he's irritated at the noise, Archie yells back, "Corpses on the sidewalk in front, and it might have been me!" He doesn't seem shy about announcing to Wolfe in particular, "HEY I ALMOST GOT HURT".
Oh--my notes have reminded me! Before Underwear Wolfe, we have Wolfe not only in his yellow pajamas, but also in yellow slippers "with turned-up toes". I never get tired of the little touches in Wolfe's wardrobe, the elaborations and curlicues.
... it's almost like Archie is RESENTFUL that Wolfe doesn't want to eat him.
HEE. I bet he is! I bet his suggestions for Wolfe eating him were detailed and helpful! I really wonder what Wolfe's reply was, given the way Archie says "it would be best to skip his retort". *g*
"It didn't faze me." LIES, LIES, LIES.
Seeeeeriously. I mean I want to call up Randy Russell and tell him just how definitively Unreliable a Narrator we have here! Hellooooo!
also to take care of "general appearances." ... I assume this means hiding the porn
And the monogrammed kidskin case and the tooled leather cardcase and the other luxurious items Wolfe has showered upon him over the years, which he likes to look at. ♥
And does anyone have any thoughts about the A&E adaptation of this case?
My DVDs are still in storage with most of my stuff, and will be probably for another couple months. Argh! I can't remember it well enough...I think a rewatch is certainly indicated.
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Date: 2013-03-06 01:35 am (UTC)I'm like you, the meat-shortage makes me think of a WWII-era story--I hadn't known about the postwar meat shortage. The things you learn!
But eating meatless meals, or inferior cuts/types of meat-- that is obviously true suffering.
Yeah, I have to agree--meat, and good/quality cuts thereof, feel much more motivational to Wolfe in my opinion than new orchid benches. Especially given the way we're told repeatedly that when he goes up to the orchids he's really just kind of playing/luxuriating/dabbling, with Theodore doing the real work. (Okay, granted, it's Archie saying that, and he could certainly be criticizing/downplaying Wolfe's role in the thriving of his concubines. *g*)
to me, Zeck, as an archetype, is really more like a pulp supervillain than a typical fictional gangster
I hadn't thought of it that way--I like the way you put it. Even with the tommyguns-at-the-plant-rooms deal from The Second Confession, Zeck doesn't really feel gangsterish to me.
I think this is the first time Archie's had a chat with Wolfe in his underwear.
I think you're right! I certainly would have remembered that. The level of unmentioned intimacy certainly gets me...I mean, we've had pajamas-Wolfe, and barefoot-bedhead Wolfe, and sleeping-in-the-same-room-covered-with-Archie's-blanket-Wolfe. Now, UNDERWEAR WOLFE. \o/
Personally I especially enjoyed this because of its conflict with the introduction to the edition I read, by Randy Russell in 1993. The beginning of the intro, and its central thrust, is "Nero Wolfe gives me the creeps." It goes on (and on) to display a clear and profound discomfort with Wolfe's physicality, talking about "the ravenous Wolfe" who is "a monster screaming to be fed," whose antipathy for the outdoors is "Draculan", who is "folded inside all that idle flesh". So I like that this book in particular goes even beyond the pajamas (which we have already seen Archie find dazzling and a privilege to behold!) to Wolfe in his underwear, a sight at which Archie has no complaints. Take that, Randy Russell!
Although, if you don't mind me waxing on about it, the intro has some further implications that Russell might not quite fully understand. In the course of emphasizing that he DOES NOT want to touch Nero Wolfe, he goes on, "Luckily, I don't have to touch Nero Wolfe to know him. I have Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the Nero Wolfe mysteries, to do that for me." To which I say...to know Wolfe? Or to touch Wolfe? Or...both?
Russell also says: "It is the relationship of these two characters that makes up the heart and soul of Rex Stout's work. I like to think of it as a marriage of men, though I don't always understand how the two of them get along. Archie is normal, after all."
To that, I would say: 1) Seconded, on the marriage, but 2) I think he has been completely fooled by the unreliable narrator, if he's willing to rest on the conceit that Archie is "normal".
Back to the book: as you say, this book has a lot of classic, well-crafted, familiar aspects in it, and I'd include in that list the exchange in which Perrit tells Archie to go sit in the car, and Wolfe puts the kibosh on that in no uncertain terms: "No, sir," Wolfe said emphatically..."I do nothing without Mr. Goodwin. If you confided in me, no matter what, under a pledge of confidence, I would tell it all to him as soon as you left." I never get tired of that ritual, Wolfe demonstrating his trust in/reliance on Archie, in front of Archie.
I notice that when Beulah asks who Wolfe is, Archie answers: "He saved my life once--uh, on a murder charge. I was innocent and he proved it." Has anyone ever written a story in which this was actually the occasion of their first meeting and/or Archie coming to work for him?
Violet's death feels understatedly horrible to me...just enough of a touch of graphic detail ("one bullet had torn through her cheek"), with the spelled-out gasping of "Uh--uh--". It feels hard-boiled-style, whereas some of the deaths in the Wolfe books are much more cozy-style (poisonings especially, of course).
When Archie calls Wolfe with the news of Violet's death, how much do I love that the first thing Wolfe does is interrupt him with "Are you hurt?" THIIIIIIIS MUCH. :D He does this other times, too, and I really adore 1) the relationship touch it gives, but also 2) the undercutting it does to the hard boiled aspects. I do not remember Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe having the man who keeps them interrupt their narration of dames and bullets to check if they're okay. (Speaking of which: to Wolfe, Meeker calls Archie "your punk". I have enjoyed seeing fan authors bring out this undercurrent and its connotations, given how we've seen more than one character make that kind of remark. Just wait till we get to In The Best Families and "Nero Wolfe's little Archie"!)
Back to Wolfe and the primacy of his "Are you hurt?": Archie being Archie, he knows this about Wolfe, and sometimes both relies on it and plays on it. So after the bloodbath out front of the Brownstone, when Wolfe bellows down as if he's irritated at the noise, Archie yells back, "Corpses on the sidewalk in front, and it might have been me!" He doesn't seem shy about announcing to Wolfe in particular, "HEY I ALMOST GOT HURT".
Oh--my notes have reminded me! Before Underwear Wolfe, we have Wolfe not only in his yellow pajamas, but also in yellow slippers "with turned-up toes". I never get tired of the little touches in Wolfe's wardrobe, the elaborations and curlicues.
... it's almost like Archie is RESENTFUL that Wolfe doesn't want to eat him.
HEE. I bet he is! I bet his suggestions for Wolfe eating him were detailed and helpful! I really wonder what Wolfe's reply was, given the way Archie says "it would be best to skip his retort". *g*
"It didn't faze me." LIES, LIES, LIES.
Seeeeeriously. I mean I want to call up Randy Russell and tell him just how definitively Unreliable a Narrator we have here! Hellooooo!
also to take care of "general appearances." ... I assume this means hiding the porn
And the monogrammed kidskin case and the tooled leather cardcase and the other luxurious items Wolfe has showered upon him over the years, which he likes to look at. ♥
And does anyone have any thoughts about the A&E adaptation of this case?
My DVDs are still in storage with most of my stuff, and will be probably for another couple months. Argh! I can't remember it well enough...I think a rewatch is certainly indicated.