For those who have read the books…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Ellery Queen
GoodbyePorkPieHat — 12 years ago(March 12, 2014 01:29 PM)
and I did read many of them in my youth - but that was four decades ago, I have a question.
I don't remember Ellery being as absent-minded as the show portrays him. In fact, I remember him being rather pompous and arrogant. Does anyone else recall it (or recently read it) that way?
So it goes. -
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hachmom-1 — 11 years ago(August 20, 2014 07:56 PM)
It kind of depends on the time period. He's an arrogant, nearly insufferable college grad in the early stories. The 40's, where the Queen stories hit their peak, with the Wrightsville novels and stories like Cat of Many Tails there is more character devolopment and Ellery is more actively engaged in the stories.
The later books,some of which may have been ghost written from plot outlines by Dannay and Lee are more rote again, Ellery is sometimes barely in them.
Compared to say Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin you arent getting a lot of character devolopment.
I started watching the TV show in high school, then I started reading the books. Ellery has always looked and sounded like Jim Hutton for me, and the same for David Wayne.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly areit is our choices -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 11 years ago(January 10, 2015 09:54 PM)
Have you read
Calamity Town
? He really showed a lot of emotion in that book. He falls in love with a young woman, he befriends the family, etc. It's the first of the Wrightsville novels, and the best one in my opinion.
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JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen -
hachmom-1 — 11 years ago(January 11, 2015 01:38 AM)
Calamity Town is one of my favorites, as is Cat of Many Tails and Ten Days Wonder. Most Ellery Queen passes my reader test, I can reread the stories even when I remember who the guilty party is.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly areit is our choices -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 11 years ago(January 11, 2015 09:05 AM)
I love to reread mysteries, even though I know how those mysteries end.
Sometimes if I haven't read them in a long time, I won't even remember who is the killer in the story.
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JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 11 years ago(January 10, 2015 09:52 PM)
In the 1930s books, Ellery seemed to be more like a robot than like a human. In the forties novels (especially
Calamity Town
), he seemed actually human! I think he's one of those characters who went through a lot of changes in the novels as time progressed.
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JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen -
alphabase17 — 11 years ago(January 11, 2015 02:56 PM)
This novel does, indeed, offer a fuller characterization of the writer. By the way, I like the cover for the Polish edition of the book:
http://www.matras.pl/przeklete-miasto.html