Library as Place … or Crime Scene?
Last weekend saw a break from the routine in the reading room, as William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Edgar Allan Poe, and other classic authors came to life. Paint ‘N Patches hosted an entertaining murder mystery — participants were asked to help solve the despicable murder of Marian (of course) the Librarian. Authors were in character and costume, reading and acting their respective parts with great drama (and sometimes hamming it up, especially in the case of the great Bard himself) from the reading room’s upper balcony while Sir Arthur Conan Doyle acted as sleuth and mediator from the floor below.
Imaginations ran high as Dickens and Dickinson were obviously carrying on an affair as they’d been shelved together (ahem, the cataloger coughs, PR and PS are entirely different sections! but I digress) and the fabulous euphemism of the year was coined by Shakespeare, lo these many years after his death: they’d been “bumping bindings” (!!!) Amusing facts were revealed about all of the authors, including Tolkien’s obsession with shiny objects and devotion to his World of Warcraft guild. Nearly the only thing all of the “classic” authors could agree on was their universal derision of J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series, which they all agreed should be removed from their presence and reclassified to a “juvenile” library.
Shakespeare in particular had plenty of words for Rowling and went on at great length (in his many arm-waving balcony-held soliloquies) to goad her, incorporating some works of Monty Python into his repertoire (“your father smelled of elderberries!”) and at least once telling her to “suck it!” The Bard was always amusing but perhaps never so wide-ranging in flinging his epithets as at Sweet Briar on this night.
The students attending obviously had a great time traipsing through the library gathering clues from the authors, finding out various tidbits about their relationships with each other and the librarian. ***Spoiler alert*** As it turned out, Charles Dickens had been carrying on a dalliance with Jane Austen long before he met sweet, naive Emily Dickinson. He continued to see her while he was with Emily, and Marian found evidence of the two-timer. Jane and Charles together planned Marian’s demise in the reading room. Shakespeare’s manhandling arrest of Dickens was something to behold.
We sincerely hope P&P continues the tradition, though maybe the librarian doesn’t always have to be the victim…? Hmmmm.
Categories: Pop Culture, Sweet Briar College, Uncategorized
I am soooooo sorry I missed this. I love a good mystery.