Rex
Stout is the author of numerous mysteries, but my favorites feature his rotund,
cerebral detective, Nero Wolfe. The details of Wolfe’s birth rival those of any
romance novel. Rumor has it, his parents were Sherlock Holmes and the one woman
who met Holmes’s match, Irene Adler. (See: Arthur Conan Doyle’s Scandal in Bohemia.)
The
anecdote is supposedly substantiated by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Great O-E
Theory” which compares the vowels in “Sherlock Holmes” and “Nero Wolfe”. The letters appear in the same order for both
names. Fun, but hardly conclusive.
What
endears me to Nero Wolfe is his love of Orchids. He raises the exotic flora on
the rooftop of his abode, a brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street. Though much
less active than Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe also does his detecting (or in the
word of Poe, ratiocination) with his gray matter.
Wolfe
adamantly refuses to leave his dwelling or change his routine to “facilitate”
an investigation. Of course, he has Archie Goodwin to support his work, much as
Sherlock has “my dear Watson.”
Vowels;
gray matter; man Friday; addictive contact with “O” plants or derivatives - could
there be more compelling evidence
that the two detectives are related?
Believe it or not, I'm not familiar with Nero Wolfe, but connection to Holmes bears investigating. Will check him out!
ReplyDeleteFood for thought here. I'm still trying to get over the loss of the perfect Holmes actor. His replacement is far from ideal.
ReplyDeleteI like the new Holmes, both the BBC version and the American version.
ReplyDeleteOld favourites are Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett. The nose, the thin face, dark hair, arrogant air.
Perfect.
The New Woman definitely has a different twist. Trust the BBC.
My 2 favorite male detectives of all time. They were both so perfectly portrayed by their biographers.
ReplyDelete