3.92 AVERAGE


“There is no satisfaction in vengeance unless the offender has time to realize who it is that strikes him and why retribution has come upon him.”

Regresar al mundo de Sherlock Holmes después de 15 años ha sido una maravilla. Leí gran parte de las obras de Arthur Conan Doyle sobre las aventuras de sus emblemáticos Holmes y Watson en mi adolescencia y capturaron mi imaginación y fascinación por las novelas de misterio.
Volver a leer esta primera novela, ahora con una mirada adulta, ha despertado cierta nostalgia: son personajes y aventuras que tendrán siempre un lugar especial en mis recuerdos.

Considero que es una buena obra introductoria al mundo de Sherlock Holmes y del arte de la deducción, si bien novelas posteriores tienen un mejor desarrollo de trama y personajes.
El autor nos presenta al doctor Watson y al excéntrico, brillante y (sinceramente) arrogante Holmes. El misterio que tienen que desentrañar es llamativo e intrigante. A diferencia de muchos otros lectores, personalmente sí disfruté del abrupto cambio de perspectiva y escenario en la segunda parte del libro (como lectora sientes que estás leyendo una historia dentro de otra historia y es tan drástico el cambio que hasta pareciera escrito por una mano diferente). Las historias de venganza son una de mis debilidades, así que me encantó conocer la historia de Jefferson Hope y de Lucy y John Ferrier.

Sin embargo, creo que la trama es un poco precipitada en su resolución y con los datos que nos aporta el autor, la lectora no puede por su cuenta llegar a la resolución del caso.

La razón principal por la que no le doy una mayor puntuación es por representación caricaturesca de los mormones / Iglesia de los Santos de los Últimos Días. Entiendo que Doyle se tomó libertades creativas para contar su historia, pero la descripción de los personajes antagónicos es discriminatoria y dañina.

Ha sido un gusto volver al mundo de Watson y Holmes y espero poder seguir releyendo sus aventuras.

Watson, who has just returned from a war in Afghanistan, meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time when they become flat-mates at the famous 221B Baker Street. In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes is contacted by Gregson and Lestrade to investigate upon the murder at Lauriston Gardens and Watson tags along. Holmes is odd, eccentric and a master of deduction — as John Watson claims. The first half of A Study in Scarlet, the most entertaining part of the book, is a finely drawn study of Sherlock Holmes' character, peculiar habits, and methods for solving crime. In the second part of the novel, Doyle's narration drifts from London to North America with the aim of explaining the killer's motives. In truth, I found the transition from the Victorian London to the alkali deserts of the American West a bit confusing at first. Conan Doyle's style and narration is peculiar in this book and it took me some time to get settled after the end of part I.
All in all, the book is really interesting and I am looking forward to reading more from the series.

The parts of the book that hold up hold up incredibly well -- mainly the characters and the dynamic between them. The middle of this book, however, stands out like a sore thumb. You'll know it when you get to it.



Story : ★★
Audio : ★★★★ 1/2

Read my review on my blog.

What a ride. I'm very much enjoying Stephen Fry's narration of the audiobooks. Hopefully, I'll plod through the rest of the books in the series this year as well.

2.75-3

Queria ler uma história de Sherlock holmes e acabei a ler uma história de mórmones. 
Sei que serviu para dar contexto, mas teria preferido um relato no seguimento da história e não uma inserção completa e separada.
A tradução está muito bem feita tirando uma ou outra palavra (ex: trem, que suponho ser “carroça” ou “charrete), mas sinto que a história em si falha em certos pontos:
  • obviamente a atração principal das histórias de Sherlock Holmes é o próprio, graças à suas capacidades de dedução. Mas não me senti cativada pelo mistério. Acho que, para que tal acontecesse, era mais interessante que fosse dado ao leitor várias informações e suspeitos, levar o leitor a pensar que era um e afinal ser outro. É básico, mas resulta. Como acontece nas histórias de Agatha Christie.
  • A inserção da história dos mórmones que já referi
  • O pouco aprofundamento dos personagens e das suas relações. Principalmente entre Holmes e Watson. Sinto que os personagens eram muito “flat” incluindo o principal 

This was my first look at 'Classic Holmes' and it did not disappoint, there's something really lovely and engrossing about Doyle's style of writing, I was left laughing out loud at quite a few bits. One thing I would say is that I have just binge read most of this series and I think they're best read with gaps in between so the formulaic nature of the series is less apparent, that said! I still love this series, in all it's cliches!

Let's say I knew whodoneit. Because BBC Sherlock. But I didn't know there is more to the story. Reading first half I thought this is okay but not enough so many unanswered questions. Then I realized there is second part. Second chapter takes a new angle. I had to cross check many times wether I was reading the same story or not. I was, though, most of it takes place in America.

I loved it. Reading about Sherlock Holmes is a lot better than Watching Sherlock

Very interesting story. I liked it that the second part of the book explained why the murders were committed!

It was an interesting read