Now since I'm sure you're itching to hear all about my insipid life, here's my excuse: I am a hard-working individual wrapped up in my studies and, being the devoted college student that I am (hahaha...) I am contributing my time to massive chapters of reading about the American Revolution, British colonialism on a global scale, and the movement of nomadic tribes in ancient India- all of which are so much more interesting than Nancy Drew. (That was a joke, if you're not so adept at catching my pathetic attempts to bring humor to an otherwise monotonous blog.) Although being the nerd that I am, I also refuse to skip a single lecture since I enjoy them so much; maybe this is why every other college student seems to have ample free time in comparison to me. Point is, this is going to be one crazy quarter and consequently Nancy Drew is taking the backseat of her own blue 1960s convertible Mustang (I've always wanted to drive one of those, by the way- and when I say 'by the way' I in no way mean that comment was relevant, because it wasn't). So I'll read and post when I have time, but there's no telling when or how often that will be, since the Aryan migration into the Indus River Valley is consistently calling my name.
For now, here's a half-baked post on my old favourites from the Nancy Drew series...
11. The Clue of the Broken Locket
This was (I think) the second of the original hardcover books that I read (the first being #40, The Moonstone Castle Mystery, of which I remember very little except for a castle named after shiny stones). I really liked the basic storyline in this book- unfortunately, after looking the book up on Wiki, I'm not entirely certain what that storyline was. I recall that half a locket was pretty much all the evidence Nancy had to go on; there was a shipwrecked boat (not a ship, but a boat) or something; there was a red-headed girl named Cecily who needed their help, and another red-headed girl who bore a strikingly similar appearance that sort of popped up every now and then; and I remember something about people illegally reproducing and selling vinyls. Oh, and a treasure randomly appeared in someone's wall at the end. That's about it. You probably can't imagine how this was one of my favourites, considering I don't remember a whole lot about it (and truth be told, I'm not even sure all of that is correct anyhow). Just take my word for it.
13. The Mystery of the Ivory Charm
Here's one that I kind of had to like- after all, the plot revolved around a teenaged boy from India and delved into Indian culture and customs. And how often could I find a good young adult mystery that incorporated that part of my own culture? Straight answer: never, until I read this one. It was magical to me that not everyone in the book was pasty white, and that's saying quite a lot about earlier Nancy Drew books. Of course, the best part was when an elderly Indian man (or woman? Can't remember) had a premonition and told Nancy that in her next life she would become a Maharani (for those of you who aren't desi, a Maharani is the wife of the Maharaja, the Sanskrit term for 'great King'). What this guy/chick didn't know is that Nancy Drew is almost invincible. Don't be expecting a new Maharani for a while.
Off-topic note: As I was researching past Maharajas in India, I discovered that the king in Travancore from 1758-1798 was named (hold on to your hats!) Sri Padmanabha Dasa Vanchi Pala Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma Dharma Raja Kulasekhara Kiritapati Manney Sultan Maharajah Raja Rama Raja Bahadur Shamsher Jang. Imagine naming someone that now [even minus the titles]- poor kid would be taking the SAT and find that by the time he's finished writing his name, the test is over. So much for a perfect score! Now, back to real stuff...
25. The Secret in the Old Attic
This was sort of the perfect Nancy Drew book for me: a creepy attic, a cute little girl, a piano that plays on its own, old sheet music hidden underneath the wallpaper in the mansion, a fake skeleton that falls out of a closet and scares the shejeebus out of a maid... it was thrilling and each chapter made me thirsty for more. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent every recess during school hours crouched on a bench, engulfing one electrifying sentence after another until I'd read every last word in the book. Which sort of sums up my nerdiness pre-Harry Potter (I had not yet gotten into my ridiculously adamant 'Lily Potter is really Nancy Drew' phase.... oh, what painfully awkward memories I have). According to Wiki, the original 1944 version of the book also had a sub-plot in which Ned Nickerson becomes involved with a young woman named Diane and Nancy gets uber-envious. Nice move, Ned- the tables have turned and now you're making Nancy jealous instead of the other way around.
85. The Secret of Shady Glen
I don't have much to say about this one, except that it goes along the same lines as the previous mention- spooky cemetery, a secret hidden in a long-forgotten crypt, an initially perplexing connection to some recent robberies, and a missing treasure of gold. And of course, Nancy gets locked in a stone casket and nearly suffocates- until she finds a false bottom leaving her just enough room to assume a position convenient for lifting the heavy lid of the tomb. Which was naturally expected of the dead person that should have been buried there.
122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion
Like the two above: haunted mansion, gold treasure. But this one was set in San Francisco, which thoroughly excited me since I grew up in the Bay Area. After reading this book I jabbered on about it for a few weeks to anyone who would (pretend to) listen. Best part of the book is when someone cuts Nancy's brakes- a tremendously dangerous thing to do in San Francisco, which is built almost entirely on hills. But the case must go on, so Nancy lives to see another day.
128. The Treasure in the Royal Tower
You guessed it... more treasure! Wow, Nancy would be swimming in riches (and might in fact make up a good 1/3 of the world's wealth) if she weren't so modest as to refuse monetary gifts in every case that ends in the discovery of a long-lost treasure. This one topped my list as a kid- it wasn't just the castle and the ancient secrets that drew me in so much as the historical fiction side of it. It is, of course, laughably implausible that Marie Antoinette hid away a diamond of immeasurable value in a tower which she 'frequently visited' while she lived in France; said tower was later moved to a random castle in Wisconsin of all places. Speaking of, how would one move an entire tower across an ocean? I'll bet they tipped it over into the water, gave it a push, and hoped for the best. But back to the point: once I learned that Marie Antoinette had actually been a queen in France and really did have her head lopped off, I started to quite like the idea of pulling real people from history into the imagination-constructed realms offered in a book. Which further led me to embrace history, a subject which before I tried to avoid. What I'm getting at is another of those cheesy points you saw me make in the Bluebeard Room post- I feel as though I would never have discovered history to be so fascinating if it weren't for Nancy Drew. This book brought to the table more than just a mystery, but it also served up the suggestion that there is a personal side to history, and I can't imagine what I'd be studying every day if I hadn't discovered this enthusiasm in knowing about the past.
154. The Legend of the Emerald Lady
I re-read this one and was shocked at how short it was. As a kid it must have been exciting, but I guess the fact that I read it so slowly made it more of a mystery to me since it took a while to get through all of the incidents and the clues Nancy follows from an ancient letter. Reading it again, it just went by too fast- it felt like the mystery hadn't even started, and all of a sudden here's the culprit and here's the treasure. But I recall loving the setting (a run-down mansion, the site of what had once been a sugar plantation, in the Caribbean) and the very subtle hint of romance between Nancy and Ned- a walk on the beach in the moonlight. Sooo sweet.... And as usual, Bess' love interest turns out to be the culprit. I find it funny that it always turns out like that- Bess seems to attract some really shady guys. I've got a feeling that when she gets married it won't end well- unless the invincible Nancy Drew can show once again that she doesn't miss a trick, and saves her friend seconds before the 'I do's' are said. But at some point Bess is just going to have to tell her bestie to quit throwing her boyfriends in jail.
There are definitely more I could talk about- but considering I have some homework due tomorrow that I haven't started.... well, I've procrastinated enough. But you can rest assured that I thoroughly enjoyed this form of procrastination above any other.
I'll be back eventually with my many random comments on another installment of the Nancy Drew series. Stay tuned!
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