The spirit of the holidays was shared during the festive Alpha Readers’ Christmas dinner when we discussed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Christmas-themed story “The Blue Carbuncle.” New faces appeared for our discussion with wonderful insight about the main characters. The group gathered around the Christmas living room of teacher Ms. Lynne Schoonover and devoured the mouthwatering meal provided by Ms. Margaret Melberg and Ms. Schoonover. Student members were joined by teachers Mr. Eric Barr, Mr. Brandon Sloan, and Ms. Cynthia Michaels. Mr. Davies led the discussion of the relationship of Sherlock and Watson. Their perfect combination creates balance between genius and human nature.
In the story Sherlock reveals near-total insight into a man merely by examining his hat. After searching records and making those he questions angry, he happens to be in the right place at the right time because he drags Watson around with him and together they find the real culprit. Sherlock is compassionate and realizes the impact the action had on the man. The culprit is so frightened by his action that he could never do such a deed ever again. Sherlock shows seasonal mercy and lets the culprit go. At the end of our discussion, we grabbed more dessert (and a little food to go!) and lucky readers received neat prizes through a raffle.
We thank the excellent providers who make the dinners incredible, and a special thank you to Ms. Schoonover for hosting such a magnificent Christmas celebration. We hope to see everyone soon at the next meeting!
