It’s Wednesday night in Belfast — cheap movie night at the Colonial Theatre, our special art deco movie house located one block from Main Street and six blocks from our Inn. For $4.50, one can see the latest outpouring from Hollywood et al. This past Wednesday we saw Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law – it was many things: an entertaining movie, an action film, a Wednesday night diversion. It was not the Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle. (Okay, I waited through the credits to make sure Mr. Conan Doyle was mentioned as the creator of the character – which mercifully he was). Those of you who read Conan Doyle will know whereof I speak — those who have not read his masterful works, go to the library post haste! I was talking to my 22 year old son, liberally educated in the liberal arts, about this film – he thought Robert Louis Stevenson had written the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories. Well, Stevenson and Conan Doyle lived about the same time and both were Scottish, but all in all I want those megabucks in tuition back!
Side bar: Coincidentally after seeing the movie, I came home to read the day old New York Times, finding a terrific article on Downey’s rendition of Holmes.
Thanks for the plug for the library! Yes, we certainly do have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works here (catalog links follow)
http://tinyurl.com/yhe55q2
and other spin-off works related to Sherlock Holmes
http://tinyurl.com/yamw85o
and Robert Louis Stevenson, too (!)
http://tinyurl.com/ydcg8f5
There’s lots to do in the lively town of Belfast, and none of it is far from your beautiful and historic bed and breakfast. –Steve Norman, Director of the Belfast Free Library (four blocks down the street)