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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
The last story was the best story for sure. That and the Irene Adler one. I do prefer the stand alone novels but this was also great.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated
I've known these stories for most of my life, but this was the first time I'd taken the time to read them. Brilliant stuff, truly deserving of the "classic" treatment.
"'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact...'"
"'On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see.'"
"'On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see.'"
It is so much fun to get back into mysteries again, it's been too long. A fun, quick, light read with 12 short stories that can each be read in about an hour. So much fun and had only read one of the stories before. I feel so much like Watson where I am just not as observant as I wish I was. It is so nice to see how Holmes' mind works as he goes through a case and his process in solving them. Sometimes it feels a little too convenient, but it is believable and entertaining all the same.
A Scandal of Bohemia: 4/5
The Red-Headed League: 2/5
A Case of Identity: 3/5
A Boscombe Valley Mystery: 3/5
The Five Orange Pips: 3/5
The Man with the Twisted Lip: 4/5
The Blue Carbuncle: 3/5
The Speckled Band: 3.5/5
The Engineer's Thumb: 2/5
The Noble Bachelor: 3/5
The Beryl Coronet: 3/5
The Copper Breeches: 3/5
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
* “Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see.”
* “Depend upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.”
* “when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
* “It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
* “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen.... And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.”
* “Depend upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.”
* “when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
* “It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
* “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen.... And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.”
A classic. I have read these stories before, and was thrilled to find the audiobook version, read by Sir Derek Jacobi, at my library.
Conan Doyle's characters really come to life, and Sherlock Holmes maybe my favorite character in all of fiction. His deductions are amazing, but the truly amazing thing is that after Holmes explains how he came to his conclusions, they seem incredibly simple. The evidence is all there, but it takes a unique mind to piece it together.
I've always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes, but it was so interesting (and hilarious) to read these stories after watching the incredible modern-day adaptation by Steven Moffatt and Mark Gatiss. Now I am dying to see Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman acting out some of these stories. I can just imagine them staring at each other for hours in a dark room waiting to reveal the mystery of the speckled band, or questioning the goose dealer in Covent Garden in the Blue Carbuncle. Their portrayals of Sherlock and John really added a new facet to my listening of these stories.
As to the audiobook itself, Derek Jacobi does a fantastic job reading the adventures, with different and amusing voices for each character. The short story format was perfect for listening in the car, and made my car trips much more enjoyable!
Conan Doyle's characters really come to life, and Sherlock Holmes maybe my favorite character in all of fiction. His deductions are amazing, but the truly amazing thing is that after Holmes explains how he came to his conclusions, they seem incredibly simple. The evidence is all there, but it takes a unique mind to piece it together.
I've always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes, but it was so interesting (and hilarious) to read these stories after watching the incredible modern-day adaptation by Steven Moffatt and Mark Gatiss. Now I am dying to see Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman acting out some of these stories. I can just imagine them staring at each other for hours in a dark room waiting to reveal the mystery of the speckled band, or questioning the goose dealer in Covent Garden in the Blue Carbuncle. Their portrayals of Sherlock and John really added a new facet to my listening of these stories.
As to the audiobook itself, Derek Jacobi does a fantastic job reading the adventures, with different and amusing voices for each character. The short story format was perfect for listening in the car, and made my car trips much more enjoyable!
I found that this collection of short stories somewhat suffered when compared to the longer Sherlock novels. Limiting each to around 20 pages didn't give the stories time to breathe or for any in depth mystery to be set up. Still, it would be a great read for a commute or similar.