Coincidence
Sitting on a plane, reading Conan Doyle's
The Sign of Four.
It's an old second-hand copy I picked somewhere, printed in 1966. It cost me £2.50, judging by the pencil mark on the inside. The original cover price was 3s 6d.
In mid-read, I glance down at my neighbour's lap. He's got an ereader (I don't possess one), and I find my attention momentarily drawn to his little screen.
To my surprise, I discover he is reading exactly the same book as myself. How strange, I think, that these same words written 130 years before should still be being read, albeit on very different media. Low tech or hi tech, Sherlock Holmes has surely demonstrated his universal and even eternal appeal.
Who between these two readers hurtling through the air at 36,000 feet was enjoying the great master more, I wondered. Did it even matter whether he was read on paper or screen?
I was about to quiz my travelling companion about these matters, when I noticed his head bobbing up and down.
The poor fellow had fallen fast asleep.
