Lord Peter 12 and final: Gaudy Night

Welcome to the Lord Peter group, with everyone's favorite of the series: Gaudy Night.

Sorry the thread is late. Got tied up with stuff.

It wasn't really late but I was eager to start. I got the audiobook narrated by Ian Carmichael from the library over the weekend :)

I'll probably start it tomorrow.

This may be the next book I read.

Is anyone else planning to finish up the series next year?

>3 NinieB: I'm planning to read Busman's Honeymoon in January! :)

>3 NinieB: When I looked, there were really only three remaining so I'll read them:

January: Busman's Honeymoon
February: In the Teeth of the Evidence
March: Striding Folly

On the thread where we discussed this, they swapped February and March, but according to the order, it should be this way.

There is a collected Lord Peter short story book entitled Lord Peter but I think many of those, if not all, duplicate some of the ones in the collections we read.

The challenge planner also listed a work called The Documents in the Case in the planning thread, but I haven't found it listed elsewhere.

>5 thornton37814: I have read The Documents in the Case but to my best recollection it isn't a Wimsey book. I think it is one of her few (only?) full-length detective novels that isn't part of the Wimsey series.

Has anyone read the Jill Paton Walsh Wimsey books? I have several of them but haven't read them yet. Any interest in reading those starting in April?

April: Thrones, Dominions
May: A Presumption of Death
June: The Attenbury Emeralds
July: The Late Scholar

>6 leslie.98: MysteryKIT is having a Pastiche challenge in February, see the planning thread, here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/325803#

If those are books about Wimsey done by another author, they should fit the challenge.

Feel free to join us.

>6 leslie.98: Yes and I would advise to steer well clear. They start OK(ish) but The Attenbury Emeraldsone is nasty and cruel to Sayers' creation. Peter looking anachronistic in a post war world is something I wish I had never read.

>8 Helenliz: I was afraid of that - one big reason why they are still unread! Perhaps I will just read the first one (which apparently is based on notes Sayers left) for February's MysteryKIT then.

I’ve read a couple of them and agree that Sayers’ books are better but I found them OK.

>4 christina_reads: >5 thornton37814: Excellent! Lord Peter is the collected short stories but I think some early editions don't have the Striding Folly stories. The Documents in the Case is Sayers' standalone, which I'll read at some point, maybe even this month.

I am about a third of the way through - I guess that I am finally getting over my jealous prejudice against Harriet as I am enjoying her musings when previously I disliked them!

I had forgotten that Harriet runs into Wimsey's nephew while at Oxford - such fun (and I love the telling detail Sayers includes about the fact that despite St. George's superficial similarity to Lord Peter, Harriet detects the signs of weakness even before he unburdens himself on her.

I was planning to join in for this one, but since I've been advised to read Strong Poison and Have His Carcase first, I'll only be able to join in late this month if anything. I'll be looking out for y'all's comments then.

Re continuing this thread next year. I hadn't planned to read the rest of the canon but I could be talked into it. I do have two JPW books, the first two, so I could be talked into reading those too.

I have finished and couldn't wait so read Busman's Honeymoon as well.

>15 leslie.98: I love it! I couldn't wait, either, but I still have a few pages left in Gaudy Night. I am loving it--definitely my favorite. It starts a little slow, maybe, but it's got such great development of the relationship between Peter and Harriet.

I'm in for whatever happens with Lord Peter et al. in the new year and beyond here on LT. So glad I found this thread!

Karen O.

Is Gaudy Night really twice as long as the other installments? The audiobook length seems to be. The description didn't mention a second title. I downloaded it today. I'll finish up my current listen to a Crombie book tomorrow (probably on the way home from work). With only 3 days of work remaining after that, I will need to make myself listen while I'm at home--something I'm not used to doing. Well--it's either that or make myself go on drives. I'm thinking I'd rather stay in comfy clothes.

>17 thornton37814: Yeah, it is quite a bit longer. Harriet dithers.

>18 majkia: Yes, she does, doesn't she?! :)

Karen O.

Well, I've finished Gaudy Night and want to give it a rave review! There's so much here, from the location (Oxford), the characters, the deepening relationship between Peter and Harriet, and Harriet's thinking through her past and future. I'm sure I'll be rereading this one, but for now, I've searched out a copy of the next in the series, Busman's Honeymoon. I'll be sad when I've read them all; but then, I can start them all over again, eh?!

Karen O.

>20 klobrien2: Luckily, Sayers writes so well that the books are fun to read even when you already know the solution to the mystery, making them great for rereading!

This is Harriet’s book more than Peter’s.

And for the first time, thanks to the OED and internet for checking the quotes, I have finished this. Allt those weird Oxford traditions and strange expressions baffled me no end the first time around. I found it a little disturbing, to be honest, all those privileged Englishmen and -women looking down on the lower classes doesn't show them to advantage.

>23 MissWatson: The OED was essential, definitely!

I’ve read most of the Wimsey mysteries before but somehow never Gaudy Night. I was surprised by the heft of the book when I picked it up from the library. I ended up being glad that it was a long book because I didn’t want it to end.

I found this installment tiresome. I think I'm just growing weary of the entire series. 3 more and then I'm done. The end is in sight.

>26 thornton37814: Life is too short, and there are so many books to read. If you aren't enjoying the series, you should switch to something that suits you better right now!

I do find the Wimsey books get bogged down, and the best I can do is just keep moving through until they get interesting again (pretty much skipping things like train tables!). But I have found them enjoyable; I'm reading Busman's Honeymoon right now, and it's a good one.

Best wishes on your next book!

Karen O.

>26 thornton37814: I decided to skip Gaudy Night, as I am not as fond of Harriet as others are.

But I'm glad I revisited some old friends this year, and discovered a Wimsey I'd missed before.