Re: (tears) The Men and the Mirror by Ross Rocklynne

Robert Carnegie wrote:

Don wrote:

James Nicoll wrote:

The Men and the Mirror by Ross Rocklynne
>
Determined space cop Colbie chases charmingly roguish pirate Deverel from
planet to planet, into physics-demonstrating trap after physics-demonstrating
trap.
>
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/so-alone

>
"The Final Problem" (Doyle, 1894), has Holmes chase mastermind Moriarty.
It's an earlier case of a criminologist consistently one step behind.
>
<https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Memoirs_of_Sherlock_Holmes_1894_Burt/The_Final_Problem>

>
The opposite in that story - the first appearance
of Professor Moriarty in "canon".  Sherlock Holmes
has been investigating Moriarty's gang, Holmes has
given the evidence to police, and now he merely
needs to stay ahead of Moriarty and to escape
from a revenge attack.  We see Moriarty coming
close to catching Holmes and Watson - both targets
together - but Holmes cleverly defeats him again
and again.  I won't give away the ending.

Think figuratively rather than literally. Moriarty has the initiative.
He's the first to know what he intends to do next.
    It puts Holmes one step behind. Holmes is consistently coerced into
cognitively catching-up in the great game afoot.
    The knowledge of Moriarty's motive sheds little, if any, light on
Moriarty's means and methods. Even the audience isn't privy to
Moriarty's thought process.

In retrospect, the use of "chase" in my first followup was a poor
choice. It leads readers astray. Robert is correct. Moriarty literally
chases Sherlock.

Danke,

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