Valley of Fear Part 1 Ch. 5 - Part 2 Ch. 3
I am impressed. These last few chapters were extremely entertaining, and I now plan to read more of Doyle's work.
I enjoyed the plot twist at the end although I theorized that Mr. Douglas was still alive in the chapter before it was revealed. I have to admit that I am a bit proud of myself for piecing that together. Nevertheless, I am impressed by the way Doyle revealed the various pieces of evidence and the solution he created. Doyle utilized his plot twist in a tasteful way where there was a sense of shock, but it did not feel like the plot twist was only included to bait the readers. It was clever without being too intricate. Doyle included it in a way that made sense to the rest of the story and concluded that part of the mystery in a unique and entertaining way.
Part two appears to be much different from part one in the way Doyle presents the plot. Watson explained in the last few sentences of part one that the two stories would connect. Bodymaster McGinty and Vermissa Valley have already been mentioned countless times in this part. This man and place haunted Mr. Douglas in his dreams and in reality. However, not much has been revealed about the relationship between Mr. Douglas and the Scowrers yet.
Due to the lack of suspense in this part, it feels as if part two is just a prolonged explanation for what occurred in part one. Though this part is not as mysterious, it evokes a sense of curiosity in the reader because the clear connection between the two parts has not been revealed yet.
Like in part one, Doyle's diction and characterization grab the reader's attention in part two. He gives the characters in this part distinct personalities as he did with Sherlock and Watson. In general, the characters in this part seem unpleasant, and the tone is disapproving. For example, Doyle seems to emphasize the innocence of the policemen in any interaction between them and the other men. He also compares the men to animals, mentioning a dog, gorilla, and tiger numerous times. Due to the diction and tone, I am looking forward to reading about what Mr. Douglas' relationship was with these vile men and why he had to flee.
I enjoyed the plot twist at the end although I theorized that Mr. Douglas was still alive in the chapter before it was revealed. I have to admit that I am a bit proud of myself for piecing that together. Nevertheless, I am impressed by the way Doyle revealed the various pieces of evidence and the solution he created. Doyle utilized his plot twist in a tasteful way where there was a sense of shock, but it did not feel like the plot twist was only included to bait the readers. It was clever without being too intricate. Doyle included it in a way that made sense to the rest of the story and concluded that part of the mystery in a unique and entertaining way.
Part two appears to be much different from part one in the way Doyle presents the plot. Watson explained in the last few sentences of part one that the two stories would connect. Bodymaster McGinty and Vermissa Valley have already been mentioned countless times in this part. This man and place haunted Mr. Douglas in his dreams and in reality. However, not much has been revealed about the relationship between Mr. Douglas and the Scowrers yet.
Due to the lack of suspense in this part, it feels as if part two is just a prolonged explanation for what occurred in part one. Though this part is not as mysterious, it evokes a sense of curiosity in the reader because the clear connection between the two parts has not been revealed yet.
Like in part one, Doyle's diction and characterization grab the reader's attention in part two. He gives the characters in this part distinct personalities as he did with Sherlock and Watson. In general, the characters in this part seem unpleasant, and the tone is disapproving. For example, Doyle seems to emphasize the innocence of the policemen in any interaction between them and the other men. He also compares the men to animals, mentioning a dog, gorilla, and tiger numerous times. Due to the diction and tone, I am looking forward to reading about what Mr. Douglas' relationship was with these vile men and why he had to flee.
I agree that the chapters were entertaining and I'm impressed that you already had a feeling Mr. Douglas was alive the whole time. The second part of the book is definitely really different in terms of how Doyle explains the plot because he is totally ditching the suspense and focusing solely on storytelling. I think the second part is intriguing, just not nearly as much as the first part was. I like that you noticed the change in tone which has become a lot more frightening and uneasy; it is a different kind of scary tone than was used in the first section.
ReplyDeleteLike Carly said, kudos on having the premonition that Douglas was alive because that plot twist completely fooled me. I did think that the dumbbell was used to hide something in the water, but I never thought it would hide the assassin's clothes or prove Douglas alive. I agree that Doyle, in the second part, gives the majority of his characters very unpleasant and/or shady dispositions, which I think serves to highlight the overall illegality of the society's actions. McMurdo's brash and aggressive behavior in front of the police, which in context seems extremely rude and almost as if he has a death-wish, is heavily admired by all the goons in the society. That says a lot about the society's skewed morals. Overall, I am very excited to see exactly how Part II connects to the earlier story, and how Douglas became the prey of such a malevolent force.
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ReplyDeleteI'm also surprised that you figured that Mr. Douglas was alive because it had not even crossed my mind. I am also very impressed with the way Doyle revealed evidence, though I never thought of it ever being tasteful or not, and I'm glad that you brought that up! I've also never really thought about how the distinct personalities worked in the story, and I really do believe now that the distinct personalities are what made the story enjoyable--the interactions between the detectives and the interactions of Mr. McMurdo and the people in the secret society have been very enjoyable and evoked a sense of curiosity of how these interactions may lead to the events in part 1.
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