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I read Dorothy L. Sayers' first Lord Peter Wimsey novel this year for the first time and I loved it! Prior to that, I was already a great fan of the BBC's radio adaptations of her novels starring the wonderfully charismatic Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter. I also had the great pleasure of viewing the three television adaptations with the graceful Edward Petherbridge and the admirable Harriet Walter. I therefore resolved to make my way through the whole of the Lord Peter books in chronological order. There are only 11 complete novels and 4 short story collections but I thought that it would be fun to set up an informal challenge. This will hopefully keep me focussed and will also serve as a place for a review of each book as I complete it.
If you'd like to join me, the more the merrier! Help yourself to the button above and link your reviews and/or posts back to this page (http://rochester-reader.blogspot.com/p/as-my-whimsy-takes-me.html) as well as a comment on this page so I can add your review.
Please add your name and blog (if applicable) to the Mister Linky at the bottom of this page so we can keep track of participants.
You can join me in a chronological reading/re-reading of the books or just dip in and out during the year. It's quite informal but a review of the books you read would be appreciated.
I hope to learn a lot more about Lord Peter - and to savour the wit and intelligence of Sayers' prose - by reading these novels. I look forward to sharing thoughts and opinions with you and to enjoy a crime writer that has so far elluded me.
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| Dorothy L. Sayers |
Books (in order of publication):
1. Whose Body? (1923)
2. Clouds of Witness (1926)3. Unnatural Death (1927)
4. Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) [Short Story Collection]
5. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
6. Strong Poison (1930)
7. Five Red Herrings (1931)
8. Have His Carcase (1932)
9. Hangman's Holiday (1933) [Short Story Collection incl. non-Wimsey stories]
10. Murder Must Advertise (1933)
11. The Nine Tailors (1934)
12. Gaudy Night (1935)
13. Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
14. In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) [Short Story Collection incl. non-Wimsey stories]
15. Striding Folly (1972)
Optional (books by Jill Paton Walsh):
16. Thrones, Dominations (1998) [unfinished manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsh]
17. A Presumption of Death (2002)
18. The Attenbury Emeralds (2010)
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| Ian Carmichael as Wimsey and Glyn Houston as Bunter (circa 1972) |
Duke Of Denver: Armorial Bearings
Arms: sable, three mice courant argent
Crest: A domestic cat, crouched to spring, proper
Supporters: Two Saracens armed, proper
Motto: I Hold by my Whimsy or As my Whimsy Takes Me
Badge: a noose
Source for above: http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Duke_of_Denver::sub::Armorial_Bearings
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| Edward Petherbridge as Wimsey (circa 1987) |
Challenge Participants
Please add your name and blog (if applicable) to the Mister Linky below. Thank you!
Please add your name and blog (if applicable) to the Mister Linky below. Thank you!
REVIEW LINKS
5 Mar - Whose Body? - Audrey at Books as Food provides an entertaining review of her re-reading of the first Lord Peter novel, complete with humourous quotes and stylish photographs!
25 Mar - Whose Body? - Bev at My Reader's Block has an indepth and insightful review of her re-read of this novel, which provided fresh appreciation of supporting characters.
22 May - The Nine Taylors - Bev at My Reader's Block has a thoughtful and descriptive review of the 11th book in the series, which a lot of fans regard as one of DLS' cleverest puzzles.
25 May - Clouds of Witness - Bev at My Reader's Block has another great review, this time about the second novel in the Lord Peter series.
12 comments:
I just read (and enjoyed) The Attenbury Emeralds, and that made me want to read (or maybe re-read) the originals, at least the one's I've missed! So I'll try to join in.
Hi Audrey. Welcome to the Challenge! I look forward to reading your thoughts and sharing opinions about the books.
What a wonderful idea! I don't think I qualify for the challenge as such, I've read all of these books uncountable times. They're amongst my favourite, I think Gaudy Night is terribly romantic (speaking as a Latin scholar, you'll see why), and A Busman's honeymoon is, besides its other merits, truly insightful about the adjustments one has to make as a newly married couple (or newly living together these days).
I do have a question for you, though: would you recommend me watching the films? I don't quite dare, as I love the books so much and have such a clear idea of Peter and Harriet in my mind.
I hope you'll enjoy reading your way through, and I'll drop in from time to time to read about it!
Hi Zeralda and thank you for visiting my blog!
Thank you for your thoughts on the books - you make me want to read them straight away!
I've seen the three Peter/Harriet films and I thought they were very good and atmospheric. The first one (Strong Poison) took a little while to get in to and warm to Harriet but it flowed smoothly after that. I particularly enjoyed Have His Carcase.
That's the best I can do for you as I watched these before reading the first book and I already have a different Lord Peter in my head when I read.
Perhaps you could try YouTube for a few snippets of the first film and see if it appeals?
Thank you for your wishes and compliments. I hope you can pop by again soon and please feel free to comment :-)
I'm in! I adore Lord Peter. I've read everything except the latest by Paton-Walsh. But I do have that one and will probably throw it in as well. I'm all about a challenge that gives me an excuse to re-read some of my favorite books.
Welcome Brittanie and thank you for joining the Challenge! I aim to have my first review up shortly after Persephone Reading Week.
Everyone: please don't forget to link any posts or reviews to the comments here so that I can add them formally to the Challenge page. Thank you! I hope you're all enjoying your Wimseys... I'm itching to dive into the second book in the series :-)
Bev: Welcome and thank you for joining! I look forward to reading your posts :-) I'm also quite curious about the JPW books and might move onto those after reading all the DLS.
I just stumbled upon your blog while clutching my mug of tea and exploring virtual lanes and byeways.I was following links as my fancy dictated...and found myself on your doorstep (so to speak) I have long enjoyed DL Sayers books and just recently completed the JPW Attenbury Emeralds.. I would in the past have avoided follow on's by different authors like the plague! but this one really worked for me and now I'm just in the mood to reread the Lord P stories. I love the radio plays and enjoy the audios versions too. Ian Carmichael was an entertaining Wimsey but Edward Petherbridge seemed truer to the Wimsey in the books ...to me at least :0)
So may I join please!
Welcome Val! How lovely to have you on board :-) I am so glad to hear that you enjoy the 'sequel' as I may well try them when I am bereft of Sayers' novels. I am also uncertain of follow-ons but they can sometimes work, depending upon the author.
So glad to have found another fan of the plays :-) I look forward to your thoughts on your re-reads. Off to visit your blog now...
As you may know, I'm reading only the Bible for Lent right now, but that will end on Easter Sunday. I'd love to read more by Dorothy Sayers, so add me to this Challenge! I'm off to put it on my Challenge list tab, and I'm already looking forward to it! Thanks for the great challenge idea.
Welcome Bellezza! So good to have you on board! I look forward to reading your reviews/thoughts in due course :-)
I was going to try and re-read all of the books in order, but with the number of challenges I've enthusiastically signed up for, I think I'm just going to go ahead and give you my review for The Nine Tailors (read this year, but early). Here it is: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/01/nine-tailors-review.html
Thanks, Bev. I have only signed up for a handful of challenges and am finding even that number, well, challenging :-) Thanks for the review. I have added it to the list on this page.
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