Alice, James Bond, Poirot Sequels

I've just finished reading 'The BeeKeeper's Apprentice' by Laurie King. It is a tale of Sherlock Holmes in retirement working with a young lady who is as independent as himself and they solve a number of crimes some of which are linked. It's worth reading and I will read a few more of them as it has an interesting dynamic between the two people and still has the old-fashioned feel of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writing during a period when the old ways were being replaced by the new.

There are characters such as Alice, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and Hercules Poirot who attract sequels and re-imagining. I have read some and it's hard for newer writers as the temptation can be to update them for modern tastes and this reduces their impact and freshness because you can't have the behaviours and language of these eras on the stage in London for sensitive ears. The titles of some Agatha Christie books had to be changed to avoid offence.  Sherlock Holmes and James Bond comment on racial stereotypes that are now unacceptable so it is hard to find baddies unless they are English.

Another problem is that you can't put your mind into the mind of the original writer to see how they were going to develop the character. Raymond Chandler left notes with ideas for Phillip Marlowe to be married to a society type and living in Palm Springs. I read that book 'Poodle Springs' and thought that Robert B Parker did a great job. Both Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle were conflicted about the characters they had created and the James Bond stories are very little representative of the films as he was a colder and tougher character than displayed on the screen.

There are so many versions and permutations of the Alice stories but I do wonder what Lewis Carroll would have written if he could've been persuaded or inspired to create a third world for Alice to visit and what it would have been like. If he was reborn today I think his writing would be darker and more like J G Ballard than J K Rowling. Maybe Alice would be trapped in a discount supermarket that had been abandoned and forgotten in a failed business takeover so she would have to fashion a life out of what she found there.