Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Slumming Sherlock Holmes

 Last weekend I had the pleasure of watching Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes with my friend Ange . I was very excited for two reasons; firstly because I have an obvious fondness for all things Victorian and finally, because I also have quite a fondness for Robert Downey Jr.



As is typical for any Sherlock Holmes tale, the detective and his doctor friend travel about London in search of clues. One of the places they canvass is the poorer end of London. They walk along narrow corridors framed by tightly packed tenements and filled with beggars, merchants and thieves. Upon seeing the scene I immediately thought to myself, hmmm.... this looks familiar. It was as if the book that I am currently reading was coming to life before my eyes.



Sarah Wise's The Blackest Streets provides some depressingly bleak statistics relating to life in the Victorian slum. For instance, in the book she notes that Old Nichol, one of London's most unfortunate slums, was home to over 2,500 people, four fifths of which were children. The death rate or this community was a staggering 40 people per 1000, twice the national average. This particular neighbourhood contained such convoluted, narrow streets and paths that it was a haven for vagrants and criminals. For these details and more, give it a read!


For a review of Wise's book please visit the Guardian.co.uk website.

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