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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
This is another quick read. 190 pages, and I read it in two nights (staying up too late the second night to finish). Michael Dibdin takes the details of the canonical Sherlock Holmes stories and skillfully fits them into this unconventional interpretation of Holmes and Watson. If you're a fan of Holmes, you'll feel quite at home...until you don't, and then it will be too late to back out of the story.
A fun read. I do feel he tried to let himself off the hook by saying Conan Doyle wrote stories with inconsistencies that the reader doesn’t notice as they’re swept along. Unfortunately I noticed the inconsistencies in this novel.
I really enjoyed this book - lots of twists and turns, and exciting plot lines, and I loved the Jack the Ripper link. Wasn't entirely sure about the value of the ending but still a great read.
This book is so suspenseful, it caused me some degree of anxiety. It was worth it. This story is quite the opposite of boring; it is a thrilling tale, well told. John Watson is somewhat unreliable as a narrator, but not nearly as unreliable as...he...could be. (That's about all I can say without spoiling the whole thing.) It's fascinating and horrifying and I'm glad it's non-canonical.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hated, hated, hated this book.
To be perfectly fair, I was fourteen or fifteen when I found this on the shelf at the public library. I was a recently-minted Sherlock Holmes fan, and had been devouring [b:The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes|76234|The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356466159l/76234._SX50_.jpg|73754], so I was eager to read anything that had "Sherlock Holmes" anywhere on the cover. So this depth-plumbing horror was my very first Holmes pastiche, and probably a bit "mature" for me at that particular stage in my reading life. I consider it possible that someday, maybe, I might give it a second read. But that day would have to be a long wasy still from now. Even fifteen years later I still feel indignant and wronged when I think of where Dibdin took my beloved Holmes.
To be perfectly fair, I was fourteen or fifteen when I found this on the shelf at the public library. I was a recently-minted Sherlock Holmes fan, and had been devouring [b:The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes|76234|The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356466159l/76234._SX50_.jpg|73754], so I was eager to read anything that had "Sherlock Holmes" anywhere on the cover. So this depth-plumbing horror was my very first Holmes pastiche, and probably a bit "mature" for me at that particular stage in my reading life. I consider it possible that someday, maybe, I might give it a second read. But that day would have to be a long wasy still from now. Even fifteen years later I still feel indignant and wronged when I think of where Dibdin took my beloved Holmes.
As a teenager I read the entirety of my Dad's Sherlock Holmes volumes, poured over every Strand drawing and fell a little bit in love. I read this and was so angry I wrote the author hate mail. I don't think my mum let me post it. I'm pretty sure I actually cried.
This book is treason. If you are an aspiring author let me tell you this - just because you have an idea doesn't mean you should write it.
I think Moffat and Gatiss make reference to it in the latest TV version of Sherlock Holmes. I think the bits where Sergeant Donovan is saying that he's a freak and one day he'll get bored of just detecting murder are hinting at the idea this book puts out. Anderson calls him a psychopath. But
Don't get me wrong. Holmes doesn't understand emotion. I do think he's a sociopath of sorts. He can't sympathise like the rest of us can and I have never bought the idea that he has Aspergers. He can act and mimic incredibly accurately and that wouldn't fit with Aspergers. He would fight to get to the solution, he would jilt someone without realising that they'll be upset. He'll even kill someone without a qualm if it suits. But he's not a sadist. Nowhere in Conan Doyle's stories does it show him deliberately inflicting pain for the fun of it.
This book is treason. If you are an aspiring author let me tell you this - just because you have an idea doesn't mean you should write it.
I think Moffat and Gatiss make reference to it in the latest TV version of Sherlock Holmes. I think the bits where Sergeant Donovan is saying that he's a freak and one day he'll get bored of just detecting murder are hinting at the idea this book puts out. Anderson calls him a psychopath. But
Don't get me wrong. Holmes doesn't understand emotion. I do think he's a sociopath of sorts. He can't sympathise like the rest of us can and I have never bought the idea that he has Aspergers. He can act and mimic incredibly accurately and that wouldn't fit with Aspergers. He would fight to get to the solution, he would jilt someone without realising that they'll be upset. He'll even kill someone without a qualm if it suits. But he's not a sadist. Nowhere in Conan Doyle's stories does it show him deliberately inflicting pain for the fun of it.
Despite the title this is not the last Sherlock Holmes story - there are another ten billion out there - create your own character and let Sherlock retire to the library shelves!