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Benedict Cumberbatch, In Transition: An Unauthorised Performance Biography

By Lynnette Porter

Reviewed by Amy Thomas

When I was a young teenager, I was utterly besotted with Prince William. What can I say? While my friends were eagerly snapping up magazines featuring N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys, I bought a short and fairly abysmal unauthorised biography of the royal heir. I didn’t care; it was something. Thankfully, Benedict Cumberbatch fans of any age no longer have to face the indignity of wasting money on shoddy prose.

Benedict Cumberbatch, In Transition is an exhaustively-annotated and impressively-detailed account of a young actor’s career. Some might ask if now is the time for such a book, releasing arguably nearer the beginning of his acting career than the end; however, the transitional aspect gives the tome much of its interest. Porter purposefully sought to chronicle the rise of an actor who is only just beginning…

July begins the second half of the year, and it’s a good time to start thinking about what to buy for people on your Christmas list. For most Sherlockians, books are always a welcome gift. Two yuletide-themed tomes recently caught my eye.

Sherlock Holmes: Have Yourself a Chaotic Little Christmas by Gwendolyn Frame is a frothy, charming advent calendar of Holmes stories, with one for each day of December. The tales range from serious to humorous, mysterious to comforting. Frame’s Holmes reads like the man as we might see him reflected in the flames of a warm holiday fire–touched with Christmas spirit and good cheer, without the sharper edges of his personality in evidence. The book would be an excellent stocking stuffer, or perhaps an entertaining decoration to adorn a book-lover’s coffee table during the holiday season.

Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman by David Ruffle, with illustrations…

Throughout literature, we’re constantly warned of the dangers inherent in revisiting the past.  “You can’t go home again,” Thomas Wolfe admonishes us.  “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these,’  King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, adding ‘For it is not wise to ask such questions.'” And finally, from another Canon, Victor Trevor’s father has this bit of wisdom: “Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old lovers are the worst.”*  Bill Kirtland would argue that he wasn’t trying to do any of these things. After all, his old lover has become a (celibate) Daughter of St. Augustine, and he himself has made the shift from Army intelligence to life as a private detective. They’re both happy in their current lives; he simply wanted to pay her a friendly visit. Too bad that visit was to Erin, Ohio.

I feel great when my books are released to the public. Sure, it’s a bit nerve-wracking to send my fledgling child of a manuscript into the hands of complete strangers, but it’s also delightful and invigorating. What could be better than that?

Well, it’s an even greater thrill when my stories become e-books, because they suddenly become accessible to a whole new audience. Knowing that people who love the printed page and people who love  e-reader technology can both access what I write is a great feeling.

Imagine my excitement when I found out several months ago that a large print edition of my first book, The Detective and The Woman: A Novel of Sherlock Holmes was going to be printed for those with visual challenges. I was thrilled that yet another audience would have access to my work, an audience that has access to a limited number of printed…

During a recent holiday to the South of France, I took a copy of Barefoot (second edition) along to the beautiful town of Narbonne which features at the start of chapter eleven.

Husband took a photo of me holding it beside the lovely canal de la Robine which I pictured quite accurately when I wrote about it – even though I’d never seen it before.

‘Narbonne was beautiful in the bright early-morning sunshine. The Canal de la Robine shone like a silver ribbon snaking through the centre of the town flecked by the little boats travelling its length towards the great Aude river.’

We also took this picture at Narbonne station, remembering how Red and Jude catch a train from here and travel to Paris where danger and adventure await them.  All that awaited husband and I that afternoon was a very nice lunch and an ice-cream!

If you can filter out the British accent (pardon me, Steve), this is a delightfully illuminating talk with much that is of practical use…please enjoy and share with your friends…

On Saturday I was lucky enough to take part in the live Sherlock Holmes debate 3.  A group of Holmesian experts got together in London and via the internet to debate which was the best story in the original Sherlock Holmes canon.

I argued in favour of The Six Napoleons but faced passionate competition and things did get a bit heated – especially when we started discussing A Scandal in Bohemia.  I think ultimately, the winner of the debate was the canon as a whole because one story didn’t dominate – with such a brilliant and diverse body of work to choose from everyone has their own favourite.

After the initial debate ended, the audience were treated to a master-class in Sherlock Holmes’ method from mentalist Joe Riggs, described as The Real Sherlock Holmes.  Joe is such an interesting character and I recommend his new book – The Real Sherlock…

We began the week with THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES,  Rathbone’s second outing as Holmes, and considered by many (moi included) to be his best, and maybe even one of the best Holmes movies ever made.  We are going to end it tomorrow with DRESSED TO KILL, his last Holmes outing.

Only seven years separate them, but the artistic and personal gulf for the Baz is massive.  

If you doubt that just look. I mean just run these two films  one after the other. You’ll see what I mean? 

It’s not fair or accurate to say it’s just  the quality of the script and production that have declined (DRESSED TO KILL is actually not that badly written at all).  No, Rathbone himself has changed, and not for the better. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, (like HOUND, possibly even more so) has a Holmes you could easily believe…