What to read in a hospital waiting room
I have a rare congenital eye disease and I have been going to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London for – well, let’s just say over forty years – sometimes travelling a long way to get there. It is an excellent hospital with a world-class reputation and over the years I have spent an awful lot of time there both as an outpatient and an inpatient.
I had an appointment yesterday. I always take plenty to read. It is hard to do any work or to write up my journal with people sitting on either side of me in waiting room, so I always have at least one book with me and it is important to have the right book or books and a newspaper too. Sometimes it can be a long wait. On Friday I arrived at 8.40 and I wasn’t signed off by the clinic until 12. 00. The book that kept me company was Rex Stout’s The Black Mountain. It was a comfort to have old friends like Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin at my side.
Having said that, this is far from being Stout’s best book. It is one of the few occasions when Wolfe leaves the brownstone, in this case to go to his native country of Montenegro to track down the killer of an old friend. As soon as he and Archie leave the New York, the novel starts to go downhill.
There are some fictional detectives who are so closely associated with a particular location that it doesn’t feel right when they are transplanted to somewhere unfamilar. I am one of those who feel that Sherlock Holmes was not quite the same after he left London with its fogs and gaslight to retire to the Sussex Downs. I also prefer the Maigret novels set in Paris to ones that feature Maigret further afield. Similarly in the case of Rex Stout, I’m not reading just for the mystery, perhaps not primarily for the mystery, but to hang out in the brownstone on West 35thStreet. And it is not just Wolfe and Archie. It is the whole case of characters. In the kitchen Fritz is always cooking up a storm, Theodore is tending the orchids on the top floor, and any minute Inspector Cramer is likely to show up in a very bad mood.
It is comfort reading of the highest order and perfect for a hospital waiting room.
8 Comments
Margot Kinberg
March 9, 2019I agree with you, Christine, that Wolfe is far better suited to his brownstone than he is to any other setting. I see your point about Holmes and Maigret, too. As you say, there are just some settings that are integral to the stories. Hoping you had a successful visit to the hospital…
Christine Poulson
March 9, 2019It was fine at the hospital, thanks, Margot. You know, with the brownstone, I really feel I could walk in through that door and know where all the rooms are – even how some of them are furnished. Stout was so good at creating a whole world.
tracybham
March 10, 2019I love this post, Christine. I like The Black Mountain well enough, because I like seeing Archie in a situation where Wolfe knows better how to handle a problem better than he does. But I do like the brownstone setting, with Fritz and Theodore and sometimes the crew of freelance detectives that work with them.
AND my husband has had problems with his eyes for twenty years. Retina issues. and it has been worse lately and we have spent a lots of time lately in waiting rooms and being driven around by my son (I don’t drive and Glen always is dilated) and I always pick a good book to bring. I should keep a Rex Stout on hand for those occasions.
Christine Poulson
March 10, 2019Lovely to hear from you, Tracy. I sympathise with your husband. There have been times when my pupil is dilated too and it is hard to read and I have to wear sunglasses when I come out or risk tripping over paving stones.
I have realised that there are still quite a few Rex Stouts that I haven’t read and I plan to track them down.
moira @ ClothesInBooks
March 11, 2019I hope the treatment went well.
Books for the waiting room is a great topic – I would always take a newspaper with a crossword or codeword as well, but couldn’t contemplate a medical appointment without a book! Usually these days I have a Kindle in my bag, which would have a wide choice of books on it. But if I was picking just one, to be the equivalent of your Stout, I think I would choose a Gladys Mitchell book. She is one of the few major crime writers whom I both like AND haven’t read in her entirety! I disliked her intensely when I was younger (and hoovering up books by all the other big names), so there are many by her that would be completely new, but reliable..
Martin Edwards was writing about Victor Canning, which reminded me that he is another author that I am discovering no. So one of his books would be my second choice…
Both these I think would make ideal waiting-room reads!
Christine Poulson
March 12, 2019Thanks Moira! I was signed off for another six months, which is the best I hope for.
Yes, best to have a VARIETY of things to occupy oneself and last week I made the mistake of not having a newspaper with me.
I felt the same as you when young about Gladys Mitchell with one or two exception (‘The Rising of the Moon’ is excellent), but I haven’t often revisited or revised my opinion. Perhaps I should.
Bill Selnes
March 12, 2019I generally believe that when sleuths leave home they should go on vacation rather than solving distant crimes. Spenser, as with Nero, does not travel well. Either be a global sleuth or a local sleuth.
My wife has major vision problems. I can appreciate the time spent waiting. I try to read but often find my mind distracted by the pending appointment. I hope you are doing alright.
Christine Poulson
March 12, 2019I think you are right, Bill. Of course from the point of view of the author it may have the advantage that they can set the expenses of a research trip against tax, though I somehow doubt that Rex Stout visited Montenegro.
I am doing OK, thank you, and I hope your wife is too. Yes, it is hard really to concentrate on anything in that situation.