Here is an argument I made for 'Playing the Game'. . . . . . .

To play the game or not to, that is the question.

An informative comment was made at the last meeting ( This was a Harpooners of the Sea Unicorn meeting a few years ago.)about “Playing the Game.” and that persons fear the “pretending Holmes is real” my scare away new members. Playing the Game is best described as imagining that Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson were real people and examining the cases as if they really took place. With that said, let’s make it perfectly clear from the very beginning, 99% of all Sherlockians, or if you prefer, Holmesians, know that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional creation. You decide whether you fit with the 99% or the 1%.

But there is an argument to be made that playing the game takes away from the literary aspect of the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and that we neglect the real genius and the insightful contributions Doyle made with his writing. By making Holmes and Watson real, we help make the creation more than the creator. By ignoring the creator, are we doing ourselves the injustice of missing out on some of his other works and contributions. After all, it is not for Sherlock Holmes that Arthur Conan Doyle earned his title, but instead for the writing he did supporting the Boar War.

I think if we are to decide for ourselves whether or not we want to play the game we must first start by examining why we read and enjoy Holmes.

For me, my adventure with Sherlock Holmes started while care-taking a camp in the remote backwoods of Maine. We had no electricity, so I had no TV to watch or radio to listen too. (Elvis Presley had been dead for two weeks before we got the news.) So reading by lamp was the best form of entertainment in the evening after the sun went down. When I bought the book on my once a month visit to town, I bought it as a way to celebrate my English heritage. I wanted to read some stories from where my family came from. From that first reading till now, the biggest reason I enjoy the tales is the ambience the tales set about the Victorian age and all the trappings that go along with that.

After that first book that contained I believe eleven of the original stories, I was hooked.

It took me a couple of years to complete the collection, and sadly to say, until I joined the Harpooners and learned about ‘Playing the Game”, once I finished the original stories I moved on to tales of Holmes written by other writers (and there is nothing wrong with others writing stories about Holmes.)

Once a member of our august society I learned how Sherlockians break the cases down into examining the details of each adventure for facts and plausibility. As an example: does the math really work that Holmes uses when counting telegraph poles to determine how fast the train is going.

When I examine a tale that I am going to do a paper on, I usually try to find either an historical fact mentioned in the case or I try to explore some Victorian item used or mentioned.

As examples; I have done research on Victoria’s wars as well as having done a paper on the light Bobbies use when on patrol.

As another example; In BLAC a pub is mentioned near the British Museum. In the story it is called the Alpha Inn. When a Sherlockian ‘Plays the Game’ he or she could research if an actual pub near the British Museum named the Alpha Inn actually existed. If one did not, then the Sherlockian could either decide Watson was in error, or continue doing research to find a pub that would have been around at the time of the story that may have been the inspiration for the Alpha Inn.

If we were to look at it from a completely Doylean perspective we would start in the same place, that is look for the real Alpha Inn, and if we did not find it, we would look for the pub that my have inspired Doyle. If Sir Arthur however, did not actually mention the pub that inspired the Alpha than our research in the end would only be theory, much like “Playing the Game.”

If we only look at what is historically provable in the canon we limit ourselves, perhaps missing out on the enjoyment we can get out of ‘reading between the lines’, which I would suggest is the reason we read most fiction.

There have been many books written about Doyle and his methods behind Sherlock Holmes; but I would argue, that much more has been written because we “Play the Game.”, sometimes to the same end.

One of the problems that comes when “Playing the Game”, comes when we lose site of playing “the Game”; when we start what I call ‘Dr. Who-ing” the stories, when they become a reason to dress like Holmes or Watson and pretend. I dare say more people fall into this category that write to the Abby National asking Holmes to solve problems than do Sherlockians in the Harpooners. Several Sherlockian groups in our area have tried to have costumed events and usually these are not well attended. Most of us don’t want to dress up or pretend, but we do enjoy dressing for dinner on occasion and wearing our “English” clothes to meetings (after all, part of the ambiance of Holmes is the British setting). And further, we want to explore the rich world that Sir Arthur created and I feel by exploring it from Watson’s point of view we are allowed to explore a little deeper. Perhaps by “Playing the Game” we are able to more completely immerse ourselves in the ambiance of “1895?” By exploring Watson’s world we are exploring Doyle’s. And from my perspective exploring both worlds is even better!

We can however, by “Playing the Game’, lose site of Doyle’s other works. And that may be acceptable if Holmes is the only Doyle you want to explore.  For me, that did not become a problem. Although I have not read the books by Doyle that he considered his better work, I have enjoyed many of his other works like the Brigadier Gerard tales and well as those written about Prof. Challenger.

We chose in the Harpooners to describe our gathering time as time spent “Playing the Game”, but we have never limited ourselves or our presentations to only the perspective of John H Watson and his writings. Possibly, we might be more accurate if we described our gatherings as being immersed in “1895?” Anything about Doyle, Victorian history or England, along with many other subjects, has always been welcome. You will, however, find very little discussion about Holmes’ love life or Watson’s marriages here, because they are not discoverable facts or possibilities. That doesn’t mean you can’t do a paper on either one of those subjects if you formulate a theory or discover an insight that sheds some light on Watson’s marriages or Holmes’ involvement with the fairer sex. You will find very few Sherlockians that like to “Play the Game” that would invent fanciful ideas or theories for the sake of imagination, but on the other hand those who play the game often try to come up with plausible reasons or theories to explain some of the happenings in “The Canon”. For example, Holmes’ brother Mycroft works for the British government and that has been often cited as a reason for Holmes being able to access information that most “unofficial” personages would not have at their disposal.

“Playing the Game is about discovering facts or relevant data about life in “1895” that might probably explain or help to explain the circumstances or the incidents that occur in “The Canon” that have become the subject of scrutiny or discussion by HSU members.

When ever a writer creates a piece of fiction, he leaves part of himself in some of the characters and places in the work. Most of us see Doyle as Watson, or at least in part. Further, most realize that Doyle’s mannerisms and persona reflected Watson, but Holmes’ intellect and methods were indeed the genius of ACD.

The fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation is so thoroughly examined is a testament to Doyle’s genius, and whether we examine it from Holmes’s and Watson’s perspective or from Doyle’s, deep down we arrive at the same juncture. Even though we might give credit to Watson for “his” writing or to Holmes for “his” intuitive genius, we who “Play the Game” keep our perspective and know that all that is before us is do the intellectual prowess and literary skills of Arthur Conan Doyle. You are just as welcome to discuss Doyle’s literary genius here as you are to discuss Holmes’ deductive prowess – in our hearts, we know it is really the same!

Perhaps in this day and age of role-playing games and computer/TV media, “Playing the Game” may not be the best why to describe why we meet; but none the less, it is phrase that has been passed down through Sherlockiana for many years and although its exact meaning is slightly ambiguous, it is always spoken with a touch of reverence by Sherlockians! The phrase, “Playing the Game,” always carries with it Sherlockians’ deep affection for Holmes and Watson plus (and it is a most important plus) an implicit gratitude to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his creation!