The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read, Chapter 87- In which Murphy and Strike both do the right thing.

The plan for today's installment was Chapters 87 and 88.  But, there is so much to love about Spaghetti in Sark that I'm going to devote the entire post to that. I'll try to cover Chapter 88 on Sunday

The evening in the Old Forge B & B (authentic pictures, by the way!) is my favorite chapter in the book, perhaps the first time since Christmas Eve (Chapter 41, the end of Part 3!) that Strike and Robin seem genuinely well-suited to be more than platonic friends. Ironically, the fact that he chooses not to try to take them to the next level here is exactly what makes it so clear that he is the right life, as well as professional partner for her, Just as so many Strike fans were tempted to go out and buy a bottle of Narcisco after the Ritz, this chapter inspired me to try to prepare spaghetti carbonara for the first time.  I don't think it's as popular a dish here as it is in Europe; our restaurants tend to be very cautious about the potential for undercooked eggs. 

A Collection of Mind-blowing Speculations and Connections: Thoughts on The Hallmarked Man and Sleep Tight, Evangeline (plus one amazing anagram!)

There have been a lot of new bits of information sparking even more new ideas popping up on all sorts of Strike-related social media over that last couple of weeks, from Reddit to Twitter to assorted blogs and podcasts.  I wanted to make some notes here (primarily so I don't forget the original sources) and add my own thoughts to some of them. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-Read, Chapters 84-86: RFM's most jerk move, and why Strike avoids the same mistake. Plus: Frozen peas!

Chapter 84 is pretty short and mainly consists of what, for me, is RFM's most jerk move in the entire book. We've known he was an alcoholic since TIBH; we had to expect he would fall off the wagon at some point and when he was caught, he at least had the decently to show some remorse and acknowledge that Robin would be 100% justified in leaving him. I can have some compassion for him over the vodka. What I can't abide is him acting like he can call Robin up any time of day, regardless of her work schedule, and expect her to have a heart-to-heart with him over their lost baby. 

Pizzas eaten, Strike and Robin emerged half an hour later from the Bel Air and set off up the Avenue beneath a sky still threatening rain, and following the verbal directions given to them by the helpful barman.

They find the house with no problem and spy the gardener who is almost certainly their quarry, but Strike has to approach him alone (despite the clear evidence that the DeLion brothers are a potentially violent sort) because RFM picks that moment to call and try to determine, yet again, Robin's precise degree of emotional distress over an ectopic pregnancy that occurred almost three months earlier. 

A Little Strike Chick Humor: Plus, an invitation to share any funny fan creations that you know of.

 

One of the best parts of being part of a fandom is getting to laugh about your favorite, or sometimes least favorite, aspects of your favorite series. It's why people come up with nicknames for characters like Matthew "Flobberworm" Cunliffe, Sarah Shagsalot, the Kimphomaniac and the SE Files' ludicrous moniker for the Sweary Therapist of Sleep Tight, Evangeline, Dr. Broccoli. A few Halloweens ago, there was a series of very funny adult costume memes created for Strike characters. 

When I was trying to create an AI image of the famous Christmas charm bracelet, I decided to also create the worst possible charm bracelet Strike could have given Robin.  I know I have seen a few other fan creations online, such as completed employee satisfaction reviews, posted in various online venues. 

So, last week, I responded to the call from The Strike and Ellacott Files to submit pictures of chickens that looked like Strike's assorted girlfriends, I got a little too enthusiastic about the endeavor, and wound up getting asked to submit a guest blog post, which you can find here.  Check it out; the article includes a few more of my thoughts on fan-created parody materials, as well as a few other links to some funny fan-fiction and character twitter accounts. 

If you know of any other good, fan-created Cormoran Strike humor pieces that are available on the internet, please drop a link in the comments.  I've love to have a centralized location for sharing, while we wait for Sleep Tight, Evangeline. It's going to be a long wait, and those of us determined to read the depressing Longfellow poem many need an antidote. 

In the meantime: 

Subscriptions and comments are easier for some on the Substack version of this blog. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read; Chapters 80-83: From dog bite to a pizza in Sark.

I started this Real-Time Re-Read with the goal of covering The Hallmarked Man at roughly the same time of year in which the story played out from November 2016 to April 2017.  I intentionally timed it so my Christmas Eve post would correspond to the bracelet gift.  Now, by luck, I've hit on another post in which the dates correspond exactly, and on another holiday. So, happy Valentine's Day, dear readers and please don't think of that dreadful Longcaster son when I say it. 

“Jesus fucking Christ – what was in that bottle?" gasped Strike, who hadn’t put on his seatbelt, being unable to see, tears flooding from his eyes.

Though it doesn't start off that way in Chapter 80, we will actually wind up with the first happy Valentine's Day we've ever seen in an JKR/RG book, thanks, not to that stuffed pooch from RFM, but to Lennon, the attack dog* who has just taken a chunk out of Strike's thigh, prior to being pepper-sprayed by Robin.  As our pair races away from the scene of the incident in a car, a very strong  echo of the punch Robin took to the face in the American Bar unfolds, but is gender-reversed, with Strike the one trying to both staunch his bleeding and soothe his rapidly swelling eyes, while Robin apologizes and does as much as she can to comfort him. 

Strike Nine is "Sleep Tight, Evangeline": Who are the Whiskey Shambles and what could this mean?

Some lucky super-Strikers were able to meet "Robert Galbraith" in person (in his J.K. Rowling persona, of course!) and got a sneak peek at the title of Strike Book #9:  

To say this title is a surprise is an understatement.  Sleep Tight, Evangeline is the title of a song by a relatively obscure American band, the Whiskey Shambles, whose repertoire is described as 

Hollering tales of murder, debauchery and long dark Saturday nights of the soul. Stripped raw, bruised and cracking a bloody, split-lip grin, the Shambles deliver a loud, belligerent style of demonic hill-stompblues that almost... but not quite, betrays an air of subtle sophistication lingering just around the edges.  "Rough garage rock & dirty basement blues that kicks you right in the gut bucket."

This hardly sounds like a soundtrack for a Cupid and Psyche story.  More on the group, and the song, below. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read, Chapters 76-79: The bad dogs of Valentine's Day

Strike’s anxiety about the results of the DNA test had become acute by the fourth afternoon without news, so he called Bijou while walking towards the shabby street in Holborn where the vanished Jim Todd, or Todd Jameson, as Strike now knew him to be, had lived until very recently.

Bijou now seems not nearly as eager to get the results as she was previously, and, when he calls her in Chapter 76, reminds him that the company probably doesn't process tests on weekends. After annoying Robin by saying he wants to put surveillance on Lord Branfoot in hopes of discovering his covert film studio, he goes off to interview Jim Todd's neighbors, where he learns someone else has already come calling for Todd, sometime the previous week. We get yet another of the instances---there are several in the book-- of witnesses to Ian Griffiths failing to note that the man is only five feet tall, while noticing other details like his glasses and his limp.