The book dialog game

[Daithi]

I thought from the first clue that I might have read it, but the other clues didn't help at all, so I'm starting to think I was probably wrong about reading this one.

[anjirlly]

It's sounding Holmesian to me.

[poohbear_nc]

Oh, you've all read it:

"As for these murders, let us enter into some examinations for ourselves, before we make up an opinion respecting them. An inquiry will afford us amusement."

[Daithi]

Ohh, I know. It's the Murders at the Rouge Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe (apologies if spelled the name wrong).

Edit:
I went and used Google to get the name right (does that disqualify me?). It is--
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"

Rouge Morgue???

[poohbear_nc]

You win - even if your spelling is (somewhat) suspect!
[I don't believe the ape was wearing make-up!]

Take it away!

[HomeInMyShoes]

The Murders at the Roux Morgue?

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

The Murders at the Roux Morgue?

Late! And creative spelling too!

Both of youse need to spiff up your spelling!

[Daithi]

I have to say that "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is one of my least favorite Poe stories, but Poe is one of my favorite authors.

So here is a new quote--

"Well!" I said, after contemplating it for some minutes, "this is a strange scarabaeus, I must confess; new to me; never saw anything like it before -- unless it was a skull, or a death's-head, which it more nearly resembles than any thing else that has come under my observation."

[WT Sharpe]

The Masque of Red Death?

EDIT: Now I Googled: "The Masque of the Red Death"

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The Masque of Red Death?

EDIT: Now I Googled: "The Masque of the Red Death"

Good guess. You're close, but that's not it.

[HomeInMyShoes]

This is getting more and more like Jeopardy. I'll take mistyped answers for 600, Alex.

[Daithi]

Here are a few more quotes--

"Now, if, in place of the unknown characters, we leave blank spaces, or substitute dots, we read thus: the tree thr...h the, when the word 'through' makes itself evident at once. But this discovery gives us three new letters, o, u, and g, represented by ++, ?, and 3."

"I presume the fancy of the skull, of letting fall a bullet through the skull's eye -- was suggested to Kidd by the piratical flag. No doubt he felt a kind of poetical consistency in recovering his money through this ominous insignium."

Luckily, the sole fastenings of the lid consisted of two sliding bolts. These we drew back -- trembling and panting with anxiety. In an instant, a treasure of incalculable value lay gleaming before us. As the rays of the lanterns fell within the pit, there flashed upward a glow and a glare, from a confused heap of gold and of jewels, that absolutely dazzled our eyes.

By the way, this is one of my favorite stories.

[issybird]

The Gold Bug, also by Poe.

I was absolutely entranced by this story as a kid. I recently read Between Silk and Cyanide by one of the premier codemakers/breakers in Britain during WWII, and it was what got him started on codes.

[Daithi]

Right you are Issybird. I think I first read this story in 9th grade when an English teacher let me get away with reading it as a "book". However, I think the teacher knew what he was doing, because I then read pretty much all of Poe's stories even though I was able to only understand some of them as a 14 or 15-year-old.

Anyway, whacha got for us Issybird?

[poohbear_nc]

[Just a side note - for those who loved Poe's The Gold Bug -- try Richard Powers Gold Bug Variations]