Short on Plot, Good for Snorts

From StarMag

Review by DAPHNE LEE

THE SILLY SIDE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

By Philip Ardagh

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 64 pages

(ISBN: 978-0571227587)

THE NOT-SO-VERY-NICE GOINGS ON AT VICTORIA LODGE

By Philip Ardagh

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 64 pages

(ISBN: 978-0571223572)

Philip Ardagh has produced two books that I recommend to anyone who occasionally enjoys being rather silly and frivolous. Both are filled with pictures irreverently captioned by Ardagh and both made me snort, quite piggishly, with mirth. I came across The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes first, although it was the second to be published. This volume comprises the original Sherlock Holmes illustrations from The Strand Magazine.

Ardagh has strung these pictures together to make a story, of sorts. There’s no real plot and no point (except to make the reader giggle). Holmes is made out to be quite mad and his relationship with Watson is presented in a rather dubious light. It’s all in the captions, but it also helps if you have a bit of sick imagination.

The other book, which I demanded from the publisher after reading Silly Side, is The Not-So-Very-Nice Goings On at Victoria Lodge. Here the illustrations are from The Girl’s Own Paper, chosen and arranged to tell a ridiculous, but nevertheless intriguing murder mystery.

I’d never really noticed how grim the people in Girl’s Own Paper illustrations look until I read Victoria Lodge. Everyone looks grave or disapproving, insulted or just plain miserable.

This makes the pictures ideal for the sort of silly nonsense Ardagh creates.

I’ve read both books several times and laughed a great deal each time. You can race through both in less than half-an-hour. So, no, you shouldn’t pack them to read on a long flight. Just have them ready for those times when you are in dire need of a laugh.

Silly Side and Victoria Lodge may also inspire you to hereafter caption every picture you see.

Magazines and the dailies will be full of your scribbles and your friends will be in hysterics over the most boring and mundane news photographs, thanks to your witty captions.

Or ... you may be told not to quit your day job. Well, if that’s the case, another peek into these books will cheer you right up!

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