This last week I watched the two recent Guy Ritchie interpretations of Sherlock Holmes. After the first film, I picked up my husband's copy of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and began reading. The first story in the collection is the "Scandal in Bohemia," which immediately brought to light a couple of passages that were directly quoted in the film. That kind of careful treatment of originals is nice, but I bemoan the fact that Irene Adler seems so much more intriguing in the writings than she does in the two films. What a shame that the filmmakers did not see the potential of the character and instead settled for little more than a feisty doll. Perhaps there is not enough room for a well-rounded female character in a bromance slash Bond-type steampunky romp of this sort. But that is ok - Ms. Adler is not ubiquitous in the hundred-year old writings either.

I will continue reading ACD's stories about the razor-sharp, coke-snorting sociopath, before I move on to that nineties recooked version by that elusive Russian writer B. Akunin (get it?). I remember the first editions of these nine or so books selling out in Moscow within a couple of days after going on sale. I was totally hooked on them, too. What was there not to love? The late nineteenth century in Russia lent itself just as much to steampunk as London. And so Akunin's initially unlikely hero (I vaguely remember him wearing a corset out of insecurity about his body) opens a remarkable fun exploration of that latter day imperial society that registers seismic shifts in its politics - be they assassinations or demographic changes - yet chooses to ignore them. I don't recall whether there is a Irina Orlova (again, get it?) anywhere in the story, but I can't wait and check...the comparison of these two master detectives should be fun!