Conan Doyle's Magic Door and the amazing Kipling coincidence

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling have appeared in many posts on here, both separately and together.

These posts attract large numbers of readers. The article about Conan Doyle, Kipling and the Isle of Wight has, rather surprisingly, recently reached the top ten in terms of the number of viewings.

Another article lists some more common elements in the lives of these two great writers. That article was created some years ago; I have since learned of something else that Conan Doyle and Kipling had in common.

The first article inspired by Conan Doyle's Through the Magic Door, which I discovered only recently, introduces the book and lists a few minor topics and references that appear in both his book and my articles. 

This article features a fascinating story that Conan Doyle has to tell about a reputation-saving 'coincidence'. This incident in his life is of interest not only for its own sake but also because Rudyard Kipling had a very similar experience.

More about the Magic Door
While Through the Magic Door contains some relevant and quotable material, Conan Doyle is verbose – he says himself that he indulges in didactic talk and long digressions - his language is rather old-fashioned and much of his commentary doesn't hold my attention.

I said this about Joyce Collin-Smith's book Call No Man Master:

“...her work has a...duality: it is both very interesting and very boring. Some of the content fascinates me and resonates very strongly while some of it means very little so I skip over it.“

I feel much the same about Through the Magic Door!

While I am not for example particularly interested in the lives and works of many of the 18th and 19th century writers Conan Doyle thinks very highly of, some of the other material definitely gets my attention.

For me, one of the most riveting parts of the book is where Conan Doyle tells of his narrow escape from being accused of plagiarism. This story is all the more interesting because it closely matches a story told by Rudyard Kipling.

Two minor incidents involving more help with doors

This blog contains many examples of 'incidents' in my life, both good and bad. 

The most recent article on this subject describes two weird women I encountered around the time of the last Autumn Equinox. These women have recently been balanced by two helpful men. The incidents that they were involved in were very minor, but it is always good practice to acknowledge favours from the universe.

I believe that recording and analysing incidents, good and bad, large and small, has helped to increase the number of positive experiences in my life and reduce the number of negative ones. 

The recent incidents support this belief. I had been feeling under the weather for various reasons at the time; this often results in unpleasant experiences when I am out, but not on these occasions.

The empty office
I had to go to a meeting in a place I had not visited for a while. 

The lights were low and the air was cold – probably to save electricity - and the place seemed to be empty. I struggled to open a fire door to get into the offices, then wondered whether I had come to the wrong floor by mistake.

I felt confused and uncertain what to do. A man suddenly appeared; he was very helpful: he assured me that meetings were always held on the floor below and saw me to the lift. I thanked him for his help.

The security door
I went to collect my laptop from the repair company I had left it with. They had moved offices since my first visit and were now in a different building. 

I really dislike modern security doors with their panel of buzzers, often with semi-legible names. Getting the door open when buzzed in can be a problem, as can finding the right floor and the right office door. In the past I have encountered front doors that won't open, inadequate and misleading signage, inconsistent floor numbering in the lifts and long empty corridors. These things can turn a visit into a nightmare scenario.

However, once again a helpful man who knew his way round the building suddenly appeared. He found the buzzer for the company I was looking for, opened the door and showed me where the lift was. I told him how grateful I was that he had come along at just the right time.

Conan Doyle's Magic Door: great minds think alike!

This article might never have existed if I hadn't decided at the last minute to 'pull' the article about books, reading and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in favour of one about Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. books, which was next in the queue and all ready to go.

The Conan Doyle article was originally scheduled to be published on April 7th, but I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable because two of the quotations in it had no source. They are widely attributed to Conan Doyle, but without any indication of where they originally came from.

I had a strong feeling that I should dig deeper to find the origin of these quotations: it just didn't seem right to release the article before I had done all that I could to find the sources.

I guessed that they might have come from Conan Doyle's letters, but eventually found them in Through the Magic Door (1907), a collection of essays about books, writers and reading. 

I thought that this title was a good coincidence: the Magic Door leads to a world of books, and I had said in the Conan Doyle books and reading article that my first books had magical titles and opened a door to new worlds.

I took a very quick look at Through the Magic Door; I saw immediately that it contained enough coincidences, references to familiar topics and other relevant material to inspire at least one article. Some of the content would have been suitable for the books and reading article, but I decided to publish this in its original form after just adding the quotations' source and to forget the Magic Door until I had finished some work in progress.

Ever since I read that dropping existing activities when something new and exciting comes along is a sign of emotional immaturity, I have been trying not to do this!

I wanted to give Through the Magic Door my undivided attention, which meant first getting some outstanding work out of the way. I returned to the book after completing a few half-finished articles; this post is the result of giving it a much closer look.

Something about Through the Magic Door
The Magic Door is a portal to another world, one that is entered by reading. Conan Doyle gives a tour of his library to an imaginary visitor; he introduces his favourite books and authors and gives his views on many of them. Some of his comments and references stand out because they are similar to material in various articles on here, including the Conan Doyle books and reading one.  

This is quite a coincidence considering that not only had I not read Through the Magic Door until after I had posted the material that we have in common, I had never even heard of it!

Something about being interrupted while reading

While looking for more information about Frances Hodgson Burnett, I came across a previously overlooked short paragraph in her classic children's novel A Little Princess that resonates very strongly:

“Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett was writing about her young heroine Sara Crewe here, but she was surely speaking for herself – and for many other avid readers, including me, who hate being interrupted while engrossed in a book. Some people do indeed react with annoyance when abruptly dragged out of a book they were immersed in: being brought back to reality in this way is often very jarring and disorienting. 

This extract has inspired some thoughts on the subject of being interrupted while reading. This article includes extracts from another classic children's book and has something to say about the motives of the interrupters.

Reading 'is not an occupation'
Some people devalue reading; it is not seen a worthwhile activity. They equate reading books with idling, with doing nothing useful, so they interrupt because they want to see the reader doing something else.

This scene from Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes is a good example of this attitude:

“...Petrova was sitting on the table in the window reading a book...

The bell rang again.

“Ought to be answered.’’ Cook spoke firmly, partly because her word was law in the kitchen, and partly because whoever answered it, it would not be her. She looked round, but everybody seemed busy; then her eye fell on Petrova. Reading was not an occupation. It came in her view under the heading of “Satan finds....”

“Petrova dear,” she said, “we’re all busy; you run up and see who it is.””

Angels and demons in Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood books

This is the final article in the series inspired by Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. books. 

Unlike Anthony Horowitz's little Diamond Brothers stories, which may have inspired a few scenes in Jonathan Stroud's books, the Lockwood books can be extensively quoted from and commented on without much of the main action in the stories being revealed. This means that associated topics such as temptation and glamour can be discussed in detail without spoiling the books' accounts of the young psychical detection agents' exciting adventures and dangerous assignments and the variety of characters they encounter along the way.

I found more commentary-inspiring material in the Lockwood books than I originally expected. Most of it has been covered in previous articles, but there is still a little more to say about falling under the spell of a glamorous image and bright angels who are really dark demons.

Predatory ghosts, cult leaders, glamour, temptations and threats have been featured in separate articles; this article about Penelope Fittes and the 'master' she worships includes all these elements. 

The dark secrets of Penelope Fittes
Towards the end of The Empty Grave, it is revealed that the glamorous Penelope Fittes, who as previously described tempts Anthony Lockwood and his colleagues and shows her true, and very unpleasant, colours when thwarted and rejected, maintains her young and attractive appearance by very sinister means and is herself in thrall to someone with a glamorous image, someone who has all along been in the background helping her with her unsavoury activities. 

Ezekiel the supernatural entity
Penelope Fittes is under the spell of a golden ghost or Visitor called Ezekiel.  

Needless to say, Ezekiel's glittering image conceals an inner self that is the exact opposite of what he appears to be, and he too shows his real, and very unpleasant, self when threatened and defied.

Books, reading, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

There are many references to books and reading on here, not to mention a whole string of articles about public libraries. 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has also appeared in many articles. I want to highlight a few quotations of his about books and reading that I came across recently.

The first quotation, which is from Conan Doyle's Through the Magic Door, speaks for itself; it says it all:

“...that love of books...is among the choicest gifts of the gods.”

Many people who are great readers would agree with this.

Sherlock Holmes says this about himself in The Adventure of the Lion's Mane:

“I am an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles.” 

I too am an avid reader who sometimes remembers small details, even from books that I may not have read for decades. Many of the 'trifles' I recalled from the distant past have appeared in or even inspired various articles.

Another quotation from Conan Doyle's Through the Magic Door comes very close to home:

“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.”

While I will never forget the debt that I owe to public libraries, it really was great to have a small collection of my own books from an early age. 

Ghosts and glamour in Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood books

This is yet another article in the series inspired by Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. books. 

The temptation articles stress how important it is to be wary of people who offer positions of power and to think about their motives. This article has something to say about how important it is to avoid falling under the spell of people and other entities with very glamorous images and to think about what they might be hiding. 

There are questions to ask and lessons to be learned.

Why do some people need to create a very glamorous image? What is behind the alluring façade? What are they concealing below the surface? Is the glittering image all that they have got to attract and influence people with?

Perhaps evil people need glamour in a way that good people do not.

Perhaps glamour, like the Attack-dog Syndrome, is a dead giveaway.

It is essential to understand that many people – and other entities - who at first sight appear to be angels may turn out to be demons!

As with the temptation articles, there are a few references to relevant material in books by other authors.

More about a beguiling ghost
In The Whispering Skull, Lucy Carlyle saves her colleague George Cubbins from the ghost of the evil Doctor Edmund Bickerstaff; in The Empty Grave, George returns the favour by saving Lucy from being destroyed by a glamorous theatrical ghost.

George had been unable to resist the spells of Dr. Bickerstaff and his artefact, but luckily for him Lucy managed to foil the evil necromancer. Lucy however was unable to resist the spell of the Visitor in the theatre; without George’s intervention she would have been lured to her death.

The factors that led to Lucy's vulnerability have already been covered, but there is something more to say about this encounter.