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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes #5) 1902
• Read by Steve Donohue. Already reading aloud another book,The Bible, but 'Why not read from holy scripture?'
• Sherlock Holmes to Dr. John Watson, "It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light."
• asperity- roughness : harshness of temper
• Eliza Barrymore, "“Yes, sir, my name was Selden, and he is my younger brother. We humoured him too much when he was a lad, and gave him his own way in everything, until he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and that he could do what he liked in it.""
• "is Frankland’s daughter.” “What? Old Frankland the crank?”
• almoner- a person who distributes alms (something given freely to relieve the poor)
effigy- a crude figure of a hated person
• Steve, "If we start faulting mystery novels for their contrivances, we'd be here all day."
• Sherlock Holmes to Dr. John Watson, "It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light."
• asperity- roughness : harshness of temper
• Eliza Barrymore, "“Yes, sir, my name was Selden, and he is my younger brother. We humoured him too much when he was a lad, and gave him his own way in everything, until he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and that he could do what he liked in it.""
• "is Frankland’s daughter.” “What? Old Frankland the crank?”
• almoner- a person who distributes alms (something given freely to relieve the poor)
effigy- a crude figure of a hated person
• Steve, "If we start faulting mystery novels for their contrivances, we'd be here all day."
A decent read but underwhelming as far as Sherlock Holmes stories go. The majority of the story follows Watson, which when I think back was a strange plot choice, not just because it was boring and he had almost no clue what was going on, but because some of the choices made by him were so ridiculous it actually became quite embarrassing. At one point Watson and the baron decide to go and hunt a mass murderer in the woods with only big sticks for protection. They find him, chase him, run out of breath, go home and then agree to let him jump on a boat to South America in a few days time. You know, hoping he’s changed his mental disorder since being in prison for a few months?? Believe it or not, the mass murderer in the woods was actually a red herring and there was ANOTHER murderer living round the moors?! Crazy, I know. When Sherlock did eventually show up again, there was very little classic Sherlock deduction going on which is what everyone reads these books for, so I was quite glad to finish it and was in desperate need to pick up Poirot for that hit of constant uncertainty and confusion until the very end. All in all, slightly amusing but mostly disappointing. I’ll get over it.
What a marriage, Conan Doyle and Fry!
Baskervilles has never really grabbed me or held my attention as other Holmes stories ('Scarlet', 'Adventures of...', 'Return of...'). This is the first time I've felt properly engaged with this book, and it's all down to Stephen Fry's quite brilliant narration. What a vocal talent!
Baskervilles has never really grabbed me or held my attention as other Holmes stories ('Scarlet', 'Adventures of...', 'Return of...'). This is the first time I've felt properly engaged with this book, and it's all down to Stephen Fry's quite brilliant narration. What a vocal talent!
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow. I honestly think this is the best Sherlock Holmes book I have read so far. It was suspenseful. It was dark. It was kinda scary. Loved it!
I really liked how the story went from Watson's usual way of telling the story from hid diary-like writing, to telling the story from a few letters to Holmes. It was a nice change.
The characters were more complex in the story. A few of the details I had figured out ahead of time, but not too much, so a lot was still a surprise.
I definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to read anything Sherlock Holmes!
I really liked how the story went from Watson's usual way of telling the story from hid diary-like writing, to telling the story from a few letters to Holmes. It was a nice change.
The characters were more complex in the story. A few of the details I had figured out ahead of time, but not too much, so a lot was still a surprise.
I definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to read anything Sherlock Holmes!
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Probably my favourite Sherlock book so far. Low-key ship Watson and Sherlock
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No