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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Love this book too as I work my way through the Sherlock Holmes canon. Look at the description of the book, and you'll see why it's an important one. Spoiler alert: The author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tired of writing Sherlock Holmes stories with a want to write things of more importance, kills Holmes in the last story, 'The Final Problem'. I'll have to wait to see what happens next after I finish 'The Hounds of the Baskervilles' (one of my favorite books) before reading 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes'. I'm reading them in the order they were written. :-)
V
V
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can see why those stories were so popular (and still are). Sir Arthur Canon Doyle has created a very interesting and diminutional character. Those short stories added more back stories. And we were able to know more about Sherlock Holmes.
The tones of the stories also are now more mature and darker. I am excited to continue the rest of the books.
The tones of the stories also are now more mature and darker. I am excited to continue the rest of the books.
Truly excellent, Doyle is a master at sweeping the reader in to this world quickly and efficiently. His characters are so engaging and addicting, it is clear to see why the public was so attached to Sherlock Holmes that they could not bear his end.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
While I don't think this is the exact same book that I read, it's the closest I could find. Mine is also an exact facsimile with the original illustrations and a foreword about "The Magic of Sherlock Holmes". I picked it up not too long ago after being led into the bowels of the Morristown Library by a gang of elderly annoyed librarians in search of a "book sale" my father and I saw a small cardboard sign for. There wasn't much to choose from- they were mostly selling romances that people had donated to the library (further supporting my belief that romance novels are, for the most part, disposable). I wanted to get something, though, since everything was incredibly cheap and I had nothing to read. I saw a paperback version of this book tossed in a dusty corner and it seemed as good a choice as any- plus it was $2, and there aren't a whole lot of books I wouldn't buy for that price.
So I went to the scowling cashier with the beehive hairdo and paid for it, then tried to find my way out of the labyrinthine library basement. It took a while. Seriously, you would not even believe the books that some libraries have in their basement. Rooms and rooms of them, some with leather covers and clasps that looked older than the United States.
Once I started reading the book, I couldn't stop. I read as we walked, I read during lunch, I read the entire time during the drive back, then stayed up till some obscene hour finishing one last short story. Hence my placement on the "who-needs-sleep-anyway?" shelf.
I love short stories. When they're bad, you don't feel like you wasted as much time as you would have reading a bad novel. But when they're good, they can pack even more of a punch than the lengthiest of epics. They are a true lesson in how much an author can say in so few words. To me, they are like the gourmet bite-sized appetisers of the books world, the pigs in a blanket, the curry puffs, the potato skins, the strange crunchy things at a foreign restaurant that you're not even sure what they are but they're so damn good you scoop a dozen of them onto your plate and have at it.
This is compilation of the first 12 short stories in which Sherlock Holmes and John Watson first appeared. They are the perfect length, not to mention illustrated- I love any book for adults that gives me an excuse to look at pictures. In reading this, I gained a new appreciation for the character of Sherlock Holmes, and I truly believe that until you've read at least one of Doyle's stories you don't know what you're missing.
The true Sherlock Holmes is not very much like he is portrayed in popular movies and TV shows (none that I've seen, at least) and, in fact, neither is Watson. Before reading this book, I pictured Holmes as a bitter, condescending genius with a fondness for deerstalker hats. While that's right to some extent, the actual character profile is far more layered. He's a restless cocaine and opium addict, often does chemistry in his own little lab, plays the fiddle quite frequently, is very moody, and while he is often difficult and gruff, he's not like the sour, world-weary old man I thought he would be. (Also, he only wears a deerstalker hat once in all of the stories in here. Sometimes he opts for a top hat or bowler but more often than not, he goes bare-headed.)
I was surprised at how much I liked Dr. Watson. He isn't as accustomed to bizarre adventures as Holmes is and he is more easily flummoxed, but it is implied that he's actually a real badass. I mean, he's often armed, he's got a military background, he's the only friend of the greatest detective in Victorian London, and he's got a bullet in his arm that he calls a relic of his Afghan campaign. Much cooler than you thought, eh?
Also, he's got a killer moustache.
The dynamic between the good doctor and the detective is great as they help people from all walks of life and solve a spectrum of crimes from murders to people getting their thumbs chopped off with axes as they hang out of windows*. The setting and illustrations serve wonderfully as world-builders and you truly feel like you're in the stagecoach with Holmes and Watson as they roll along the London cobblestones in the dead of a stormy night.
I really must read the rest of Doyle's short stories, and I'll probably read the novels too if I ever get around to it. If you're a chronic skimmer, my favourite stories in this volume were The Engineer's Thumb, The Blue Carbuncle, The Speckled Band, A Scandal in Bohemia, and The Man with the Twisted Lip.
So there you have it. A review of what are considered the first great detective stories and an ode to what $2 can buy you. If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for? If you've watched any of the movies or series and yet refuse to read any of the books...
...really?
*Not even kidding.
So I went to the scowling cashier with the beehive hairdo and paid for it, then tried to find my way out of the labyrinthine library basement. It took a while. Seriously, you would not even believe the books that some libraries have in their basement. Rooms and rooms of them, some with leather covers and clasps that looked older than the United States.
Once I started reading the book, I couldn't stop. I read as we walked, I read during lunch, I read the entire time during the drive back, then stayed up till some obscene hour finishing one last short story. Hence my placement on the "who-needs-sleep-anyway?" shelf.
I love short stories. When they're bad, you don't feel like you wasted as much time as you would have reading a bad novel. But when they're good, they can pack even more of a punch than the lengthiest of epics. They are a true lesson in how much an author can say in so few words. To me, they are like the gourmet bite-sized appetisers of the books world, the pigs in a blanket, the curry puffs, the potato skins, the strange crunchy things at a foreign restaurant that you're not even sure what they are but they're so damn good you scoop a dozen of them onto your plate and have at it.
This is compilation of the first 12 short stories in which Sherlock Holmes and John Watson first appeared. They are the perfect length, not to mention illustrated- I love any book for adults that gives me an excuse to look at pictures. In reading this, I gained a new appreciation for the character of Sherlock Holmes, and I truly believe that until you've read at least one of Doyle's stories you don't know what you're missing.
The true Sherlock Holmes is not very much like he is portrayed in popular movies and TV shows (none that I've seen, at least) and, in fact, neither is Watson. Before reading this book, I pictured Holmes as a bitter, condescending genius with a fondness for deerstalker hats. While that's right to some extent, the actual character profile is far more layered. He's a restless cocaine and opium addict, often does chemistry in his own little lab, plays the fiddle quite frequently, is very moody, and while he is often difficult and gruff, he's not like the sour, world-weary old man I thought he would be. (Also, he only wears a deerstalker hat once in all of the stories in here. Sometimes he opts for a top hat or bowler but more often than not, he goes bare-headed.)
I was surprised at how much I liked Dr. Watson. He isn't as accustomed to bizarre adventures as Holmes is and he is more easily flummoxed, but it is implied that he's actually a real badass. I mean, he's often armed, he's got a military background, he's the only friend of the greatest detective in Victorian London, and he's got a bullet in his arm that he calls a relic of his Afghan campaign. Much cooler than you thought, eh?
Also, he's got a killer moustache. The dynamic between the good doctor and the detective is great as they help people from all walks of life and solve a spectrum of crimes from murders to people getting their thumbs chopped off with axes as they hang out of windows*. The setting and illustrations serve wonderfully as world-builders and you truly feel like you're in the stagecoach with Holmes and Watson as they roll along the London cobblestones in the dead of a stormy night.
I really must read the rest of Doyle's short stories, and I'll probably read the novels too if I ever get around to it. If you're a chronic skimmer, my favourite stories in this volume were The Engineer's Thumb, The Blue Carbuncle, The Speckled Band, A Scandal in Bohemia, and The Man with the Twisted Lip.
So there you have it. A review of what are considered the first great detective stories and an ode to what $2 can buy you. If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for? If you've watched any of the movies or series and yet refuse to read any of the books...
...really?
*Not even kidding.
Brief introduction to Mycroft, who apparently was originally a fatter lazier version of Sherlock. Was hoping for more (I have watched the show on BBC where Mark Gatiss portrays Mycroft and I love this character).
Even briefer introduction to Moriarty, that leaves you craving so much more from that dynamic relationship.
Even briefer introduction to Moriarty, that leaves you craving so much more from that dynamic relationship.