Word: sherlockian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...sufficient literary merit or sheer entertainment value to make a mystery addiction seem respectable. This year's leading entries come from two old hands at humor, one regaining his form after several lean years, the other moving on to complex sociological terrain. Also affording special pleasure are a Sherlockian pastiche from an elder statesman, the eagerly awaited return of two detectives whose creator prefers plumbing the darkest of psyches, a couple of hard-boiled escapades centered on the trade in illegal immigrants, and two nightmare imaginings that unfold underground...
Umberto Eco's novel was a deliciously complex academician's joke: a multiple- murder mystery set in the Middle Ages and starring a Sherlockian monk with the mind-set of a modern semiotician. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud's pale "palimpsest" of the novel opts instead for rolling around in the muck, blood and superstitions of primitive societies -- a sort of Quest for Friar. Annaud goes about his task with the self-satisfied air of an anthropology professor shocking the freshmen out of their complacency. His reversal of the tale's priorities dulls its point and dims the mature, intelligent presence...