Links of Potential Interest
Oct. 6th, 2011 04:25 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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indeedsir_backupHowdy, y'all.
Not a very Wodehouseian greeting, I know, but that's the way we roll in my neck of the woods. I'm a recent convert to the loveliness that is the general Jeevesian universe. I've seen the Fry & Laurie TV version and am working my way through the short stories and some fanfic. Perhaps someday I'll get through the entire canon and feel a need to write some fic of my own. In the meantime, I thought I'd say "Hello" and drop off a couple of links that might be of interest to the comm.
First is a new one that could be useful for background info for writers and perhaps artists. An Op-Ed from the recent New York Times Sunday Review discusses hand signals used by owners and staff of upscale restaurants to communicate silently. I rather suspect that many large manor houses of the type Bertie frequently visits with Jeeves in tow would have had similar means of communication in use by the staff. Even if the examples here aren't perfect due to imperfect era and setting, I thought they might provide food for thought.
Sign Dining
The second link is to an older piece that might have already been discussed here, in which case I apologize for the repeat, but my searching hasn't turned up anything. If anyone is familiar with the comic book series (or the movie) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or with H. P. Lovecraft's tales of Cthulhu, there was a text-only story in an issue of the comic that blends the League and Cthulhu with Jeeves and Bertie's world that is absolutely fantastic.
For those unfamiliar with the other two source materials allow me to horribly oversimplify both.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is, essentially, a super hero league composed of Victorian era literary characters such as Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mina Harker from Dracula, Allan Quartermain from King Solomon's Mines and other books, Dr. Jekyll (sometimes a.k.a. Mr. Hyde) and the Invisible Man from their eponymous novels, and Mycroft Holmes (sometimes with input from his more famous brother). They solve major mysteries, save the British Empire from natural and supernatural threats, and generally set the world to rights. Some members of The League are or become immortal, allowing them to pop up in a J&W story in the 1930s rather than sticking exclusively to their Victorian era origins.
H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu tales are primarily horror short stories about ancient and malevolent gods that came from the stars (some from a planet called Yuggoth) and now lie trapped deep in the underwater city of R'lyeh. They will eventually rise to claim dominion over the earth, typically beginning somewhere around Massachusetts, thanks to bizarre occultic rituals and upon returning will likely drive everyone insane then kill them. Good stuff. Depending on what interpretation of Lovecraft you accept, the Great God Cthulhu and others like him (Water Gods) are truly malevolent and there is another race of gods (Air Gods) who are good who are fighting the evil ones or perhaps they are all one group of gods who are more chaotic and amoral rather than having human conceptions of good versus evil or who knows what. In any case, these various possible groups of malevolent or not gods go by various names including Old Ones, Elder Gods, and Ancient Ones and Cthulhu and his band, whatever band that happens to be, coming back would absolutely mean certain doom and disaster for humanity.
Anywho, the League story of interest for this comm is ostensibly written by "The Rt. Hon. Bertram Wooster" and involves Cthulhu beginning his return, converting Aunt Dahlia's gardens into jungle and stealing Gussie's mind in the process, Jeeves deducing the nature of the demonic threat and calling in The League to save the day, and Bertie never quite figuring out what's really going on but just kind of going with the flow. As with most such mash-ups, the story is infinitely better if you have at least passing familiarity with all three canons, though of course to truly understand The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen you need to be familiar with dozens of canons as it is a mash-up in its own right. Even if a reader isn't particularly familiar with the League, nor all of its source materials, nor Lovecraft's tales, I think this story is completely understandable based on the background I've provided and would still be enjoyable as long as said reader is willing to join Bertie in just going with the flow and is generally OK with science fiction stories, horror stories, and other basic mainstays of speculative fiction geekdom.
I love this little story, but I realize that on the Venn diagram of fans of Jeeves and Wooster, fans of Lovecraft, and fans of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the point of overlap for all three is going to be relatively small. For anyone else who happens to be at that intersection point or crazy enough to give something totally random a try, a complete scan of the story:
What Ho, Gods of the Abyss OMG I love that title!
Not a very Wodehouseian greeting, I know, but that's the way we roll in my neck of the woods. I'm a recent convert to the loveliness that is the general Jeevesian universe. I've seen the Fry & Laurie TV version and am working my way through the short stories and some fanfic. Perhaps someday I'll get through the entire canon and feel a need to write some fic of my own. In the meantime, I thought I'd say "Hello" and drop off a couple of links that might be of interest to the comm.
First is a new one that could be useful for background info for writers and perhaps artists. An Op-Ed from the recent New York Times Sunday Review discusses hand signals used by owners and staff of upscale restaurants to communicate silently. I rather suspect that many large manor houses of the type Bertie frequently visits with Jeeves in tow would have had similar means of communication in use by the staff. Even if the examples here aren't perfect due to imperfect era and setting, I thought they might provide food for thought.
Sign Dining
The second link is to an older piece that might have already been discussed here, in which case I apologize for the repeat, but my searching hasn't turned up anything. If anyone is familiar with the comic book series (or the movie) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or with H. P. Lovecraft's tales of Cthulhu, there was a text-only story in an issue of the comic that blends the League and Cthulhu with Jeeves and Bertie's world that is absolutely fantastic.
For those unfamiliar with the other two source materials allow me to horribly oversimplify both.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is, essentially, a super hero league composed of Victorian era literary characters such as Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mina Harker from Dracula, Allan Quartermain from King Solomon's Mines and other books, Dr. Jekyll (sometimes a.k.a. Mr. Hyde) and the Invisible Man from their eponymous novels, and Mycroft Holmes (sometimes with input from his more famous brother). They solve major mysteries, save the British Empire from natural and supernatural threats, and generally set the world to rights. Some members of The League are or become immortal, allowing them to pop up in a J&W story in the 1930s rather than sticking exclusively to their Victorian era origins.
H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu tales are primarily horror short stories about ancient and malevolent gods that came from the stars (some from a planet called Yuggoth) and now lie trapped deep in the underwater city of R'lyeh. They will eventually rise to claim dominion over the earth, typically beginning somewhere around Massachusetts, thanks to bizarre occultic rituals and upon returning will likely drive everyone insane then kill them. Good stuff. Depending on what interpretation of Lovecraft you accept, the Great God Cthulhu and others like him (Water Gods) are truly malevolent and there is another race of gods (Air Gods) who are good who are fighting the evil ones or perhaps they are all one group of gods who are more chaotic and amoral rather than having human conceptions of good versus evil or who knows what. In any case, these various possible groups of malevolent or not gods go by various names including Old Ones, Elder Gods, and Ancient Ones and Cthulhu and his band, whatever band that happens to be, coming back would absolutely mean certain doom and disaster for humanity.
Anywho, the League story of interest for this comm is ostensibly written by "The Rt. Hon. Bertram Wooster" and involves Cthulhu beginning his return, converting Aunt Dahlia's gardens into jungle and stealing Gussie's mind in the process, Jeeves deducing the nature of the demonic threat and calling in The League to save the day, and Bertie never quite figuring out what's really going on but just kind of going with the flow. As with most such mash-ups, the story is infinitely better if you have at least passing familiarity with all three canons, though of course to truly understand The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen you need to be familiar with dozens of canons as it is a mash-up in its own right. Even if a reader isn't particularly familiar with the League, nor all of its source materials, nor Lovecraft's tales, I think this story is completely understandable based on the background I've provided and would still be enjoyable as long as said reader is willing to join Bertie in just going with the flow and is generally OK with science fiction stories, horror stories, and other basic mainstays of speculative fiction geekdom.
I love this little story, but I realize that on the Venn diagram of fans of Jeeves and Wooster, fans of Lovecraft, and fans of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the point of overlap for all three is going to be relatively small. For anyone else who happens to be at that intersection point or crazy enough to give something totally random a try, a complete scan of the story:
What Ho, Gods of the Abyss OMG I love that title!
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Date: 2011-10-06 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-10-06 11:35 pm (UTC)(And then she was struck by lightning)
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Date: 2011-10-07 12:06 am (UTC)Nice to meet some of the others sharing that center spot, no matter what size it is :)
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