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[READ: December 24, 2022] “An Exciting Christmas Eve; Or, My Lecture on Dynamite”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 24. Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, passed away in 1930. His Holmes story “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” appeared in the 2016 Short Story Advent Calendar, among other places.
This story was so surprising. It was really funny. But it was also technically interesting and rather suspenseful. In short, a great story from the guy who brought s Sherlock Holmes.
Otto von Spee seeks a boring life. He is a scientist and wants nothing more than do his work in peace. He compares his own life to a fellow from his own school Leopold Waldenich, a scientist who professed to be a seeker of adventure.
And yet, while Waldenich studied, seeking excitement, not much happened to him. But during those same years in school, Otto damaged his eyesight studying poisonous gas, got food poisoning, was thrown out a window during a lecture for voicing an opinion that a hotheaded student disagreed with and nearly drowned twice.
Waldenich and his friends also took part in several pranks (like gluing hats to a farmer’s chickens). But it was Otto who was wandering by when the farmer discovered the prank and of course blamed Otto.
Later in the war, Waldenich volunteered to go to the front, was unhurt and came back with glory. Otto meanwhile was in the ambulance corps, never crossed the front and broke his arm tripping over a stretcher.
The background done, we now learn that Otto has studied to be a doctor, but he is renowned for his work with explosives. On a cold Christmas Eve, there is a knock on his door and a woman pleads with him to come look at her husband. He has a giant tumor and has said that he will only have Doctor Otto von Spee.
Otto tries to get out of it but the woman won’t take no for an answer and when they get out to the cab, the woman more or less hurls him inside.
When they arrive at their destination, it is revealed that he has been dragged to this location not to look at a tumor but to give a lecture on explosives to what was clearly a secret murderous organization (“Should you be so ill-advised as to [attempt to summon aid or to escape] you shall become as intimately acquainted with projectiles as you now are with explosives.” I cannot say that this struck me as a good joke, but it seemed to meet considerable favour among the audience).
He tries to put off telling them anything useful, but they are on to him. And finally he hatches a plan that he thinks will help him escape.
The ending remains light-hearted and amusing. I’m curious why he set this in Germany and even included this pretty funny line
You must remember also that I am German and therefore somewhat long-winded.
I may have to read more Doyle beyond Holmes.
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