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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
brilliant, absolutely brilliant, sherlock holmes is a character that i aspire to be as half as smart and observant as he was, the book is just a collection of short detailed adventures or cases as it should be stated, were as usual, with his wit and the extra details, holmes manages to aolve a case. some adventures are better than others, but all are amazing !
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Having never read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories before (but having watched them in one way or another many times), this was a great introduction to the storytelling manner of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Plus the illustrations are wonderful!
2016: In summary, “You have degraded what should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales.”
2018: Okay, so I may have drafted out a plan for how I was going to review this. It involved reviewing each story as a singular tale, and ranking them in order. In retrospect I wish I had, for it would make it much easier to return to those I consider to be superior to the others. As it is, those which stand out are A Scandal In Bohemia, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb. The second of those was the only one which I had no recollection of at all, and the final one I only remember that it involved a strange, circular room and an accent. The Speckled Band is, needless to say, my favourite for reasons I couldn't explain, but the others are close by.
2018: Okay, so I may have drafted out a plan for how I was going to review this. It involved reviewing each story as a singular tale, and ranking them in order. In retrospect I wish I had, for it would make it much easier to return to those I consider to be superior to the others. As it is, those which stand out are A Scandal In Bohemia, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb. The second of those was the only one which I had no recollection of at all, and the final one I only remember that it involved a strange, circular room and an accent. The Speckled Band is, needless to say, my favourite for reasons I couldn't explain, but the others are close by.
It took me the better part of a year to finish this audiobook due to a combination of forgetting my audible password, having data issues, and just being generally bored by the cases in this novel. It doesn't stack up to the way I feel about A Study in Scarlet. or any of the other full length Sherlock novels.
Perhaps it is just me, and my personal preference, but when the mysteries are delivered in these bite-sized chunks, I find them less engaging and striking and so I did not enjoy this collection very much. Going forward, I have resolved to only peruse the SH full novels and maybe dawdle on back to the collections at a later time; specifically picking the "best of" to read.
Perhaps it is just me, and my personal preference, but when the mysteries are delivered in these bite-sized chunks, I find them less engaging and striking and so I did not enjoy this collection very much. Going forward, I have resolved to only peruse the SH full novels and maybe dawdle on back to the collections at a later time; specifically picking the "best of" to read.
This was the epitome of a 3-star rating for me. I neither loved nor hated it. It was just okay. It was written in a way that it was easy to set it down and not pick it up for a few days, as each of the twelve chapters is a completely new story with only Holmes and Watson constant throughout. I found it fairly easy to read, but I did have to focus a bit more and it wasn't something I would read with anything else going on in the background. The mysteries, for the most part, were solved only in the last few paragraphs of the chapter and weren't solutions the reader could easily find themselves. When it comes to mysteries, I prefer books that allow you to play the sleuth along with the characters and form your own opinions on how the case may be solved, even if you're not quite correct in the end, but with Sherlock Holmes, most of the chapters let me thinking, "I can see how that makes sense, but never would have gotten there on my own." Just not exactly my cup of tea.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
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 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes #3)
“You see, but you do not observe."
I THE ADVENTURE OF A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
• Opening line, "To Sherlock Holmes she (Irene Adler) is always the woman."
• “You see, but you do not observe."
• "“I have no data yet. 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."
• landau- a 4-wheeled carriage with a roof divided into two sections that can be lowered, thrown back or removed
II THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
• billet- 1 2 appointment, position
III THE ADVENTURE OF A CASE OF IDENTITY
• Opening line, "“My dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes, as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, “life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent."
• ""Depend upon it there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.”"
• Last lines, “And Miss Sutherland?”
“If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.”
IV THE ADVENTURE OF THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY
• assize- 1 a judicial inquest 2 pl the former regular sessions of superior courts in English counties
V THE ADVENTURE OF THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS
pip- 1 one of the dots used on dice and dominoes to indicate numerical value 2 a small fruit seed (as of an apple)
VI THE ADVENTURE OF THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP
mendicant- 1 begger 2 often cap : Friar
galvanize-to stimulate as if by an electric shock (~ public opinion)2 to coat (iron or steel) with zinc
• disguises
VII THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE
carbuncle- a painful inflammation of the skin and underlying tissue that discharges pus from several openings
VIII THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND
fain- adj 1 'archiac' : glad; also : inclined 2 being obliged or compelled; adv 1 with pleasure 2 by preference
• "He squatted down in front of the wooden chair, and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention. “Thank you. That is quite settled,”"
• "a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek."
IX THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB
X THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR
• distaff- n 1 a staff for holding the flax, tow or wool in spinning 2 a woman's work or domain 3 the female branch or side of a family; adj 1 maternal 2 female
impetuous- 1 marked by impulsive vehemence (an ~ temper) 2 marked by force and violence
XI THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET
stern- 1 severe, austere ('I've misdefined this word.') (~ taskmasters) 2 stout, sturdy (~ resolve)
lucid- 1 shining 2 mentally strong 3 easily understood
tenable- capable of being held, maintained or defended.
• "“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
XII THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES
• disputatious- argumentaive
indignation- anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy or mean
• "fresh from the fogs of Baker Street."
“You see, but you do not observe."
• Opening line, "To Sherlock Holmes she (Irene Adler) is always the woman."
• “You see, but you do not observe."
• "“I have no data yet. 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."
• landau- a 4-wheeled carriage with a roof divided into two sections that can be lowered, thrown back or removed
II THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
• billet- 1 2 appointment, position
III THE ADVENTURE OF A CASE OF IDENTITY
• Opening line, "“My dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes, as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, “life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent."
• ""Depend upon it there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.”"
• Last lines, “And Miss Sutherland?”
“If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.”
IV THE ADVENTURE OF THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY
• assize- 1 a judicial inquest 2 pl the former regular sessions of superior courts in English counties
V THE ADVENTURE OF THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS
pip- 1 one of the dots used on dice and dominoes to indicate numerical value 2 a small fruit seed (as of an apple)
VI THE ADVENTURE OF THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP
mendicant- 1 begger 2 often cap : Friar
galvanize-to stimulate as if by an electric shock (~ public opinion)2 to coat (iron or steel) with zinc
• disguises
VII THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE
carbuncle- a painful inflammation of the skin and underlying tissue that discharges pus from several openings
VIII THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND
fain- adj 1 'archiac' : glad; also : inclined 2 being obliged or compelled; adv 1 with pleasure 2 by preference
• "He squatted down in front of the wooden chair, and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention. “Thank you. That is quite settled,”"
• "a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek."
IX THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB
X THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR
• distaff- n 1 a staff for holding the flax, tow or wool in spinning 2 a woman's work or domain 3 the female branch or side of a family; adj 1 maternal 2 female
impetuous- 1 marked by impulsive vehemence (an ~ temper) 2 marked by force and violence
XI THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET
stern- 1 severe, austere ('I've misdefined this word.') (~ taskmasters) 2 stout, sturdy (~ resolve)
lucid- 1 shining 2 mentally strong 3 easily understood
tenable- capable of being held, maintained or defended.
• "“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
XII THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES
• disputatious- argumentaive
indignation- anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy or mean
• "fresh from the fogs of Baker Street."