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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I've kept a copy of this book in the glove compartments of several cars over the decades. If I ever got stuck waiting somewhere, whether it be a job interview, appointment or pickup, I knew I could pick up Sherlock Holmes, start anywhere and enjoy. I've read every story several times but it never loses its charm.
Stephen Fry is unbeatable for audio books. Absolutely amazing
My mom hates children’s TV shows, so while I was growing up, I mostly watched HER shows: “Star Trek: Next Generation” and Granada Television’s production of “Sherlock Holmes”. I think it might be where my weakness for Victoriana and highly intelligent and sarcastic men comes from, because I was head over heels for Jeremy Brett. I apparently asked for a deerstalking hat and violin lessons for Christmas, due to overexposure to the show… But being an industrious bookworm, I quickly got my hands on a copy of the massive “Complete Sherlock Holmes” and kept it as my bedside table book for years: that copy recently fell to pieces form overuse and I had to replace it with a sturdy leather-bound edition.
Besides the obvious emotional attachment I have for these stories, as they have accompanied me as a comfort read since I was about 10 years old, I am always impressed by how timeless the writing is. Unlike his very comical “Lost World”, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave the world a collection of stories that always feel fresh with the Holmesian canon: the prose style is clean and never feels dated, the universality of motives behind the crimes investigated by Holmes still ring true, and the characterization of the famous detective and his faithful companion Dr. Watson has risen to an almost mythical level: readers believed in them at the time of the original publication, and modern readers are dying to believe in them now.
The four novels are slightly longer commitments than the short stories, but they are so well constructed, and often genuinely funny and/or scary, so the hugeness of the book shouldn’t discourage you. I have my favorites, obviously, that I can re-read over and over without ever getting bored:
• A Study in Scarlett
• The Hounds of the Baskervilles
• The Sign of Four
• Scandal in Bohemia
• The Blue Carbuncle
• The Copper Beeches
• The Musgrave Ritual
• The Crooked Man
• The Final Problem
• The Solitary Cyclist
• The Dancing Men
• The Six Napoleons
• The Devil’s Foot
Sherlock Holmes’s investigation taught me that a sharp mind is one of the greatest asset a person can have. He also made the word “exceedingly” part of my day-to-day vocabulary. For any reader who enjoys cleverness and adventure!
Besides the obvious emotional attachment I have for these stories, as they have accompanied me as a comfort read since I was about 10 years old, I am always impressed by how timeless the writing is. Unlike his very comical “Lost World”, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave the world a collection of stories that always feel fresh with the Holmesian canon: the prose style is clean and never feels dated, the universality of motives behind the crimes investigated by Holmes still ring true, and the characterization of the famous detective and his faithful companion Dr. Watson has risen to an almost mythical level: readers believed in them at the time of the original publication, and modern readers are dying to believe in them now.
The four novels are slightly longer commitments than the short stories, but they are so well constructed, and often genuinely funny and/or scary, so the hugeness of the book shouldn’t discourage you. I have my favorites, obviously, that I can re-read over and over without ever getting bored:
• A Study in Scarlett
• The Hounds of the Baskervilles
• The Sign of Four
• Scandal in Bohemia
• The Blue Carbuncle
• The Copper Beeches
• The Musgrave Ritual
• The Crooked Man
• The Final Problem
• The Solitary Cyclist
• The Dancing Men
• The Six Napoleons
• The Devil’s Foot
Sherlock Holmes’s investigation taught me that a sharp mind is one of the greatest asset a person can have. He also made the word “exceedingly” part of my day-to-day vocabulary. For any reader who enjoys cleverness and adventure!
These stories got me through many mornings in college. Read on my phone while waiting in lines or on the bus.
2018 Read Harder Challenge: A classic of genre fiction. Although I won't finish the "complete works" in 2018, I'm counting the first novel, "A Study in Scarlet," for this challenge. I keep thinking about the brain-attic, and all of Sherlock is now in Stephen Fry's voice in my head.
5/30/2018 -- I recently finished the novel "The Sign of Four." This one took me a long time. Memories of it include a very exciting boat chase down the Thames, some fairly racist/colonialist bits, and a fairly good description of how and why Holmes uses drugs (boredom). At one point, they are in a carriage in the London fog, and Watson says something about how he's not affected by the creepy atmosphere because "I am not given to impressions, myself." Ha! Going by that description, I'm 100% given to impressions, at all times.
March 2018 - I'm going through this very slowly on audio, and just finished "A Study in Scarlet."
Thoughts:
1) Although I think I read most of the SH stories in high school, I had no memory of this one being a novel. I kept thinking it was going on pretty long if it wanted to get wrapped up, and then all of a sudden we were in Utah with no explanation whatsoever.
2) Either Stephen Fry's American accent is hilarious, or it's just jolting to hear him switch quickly, but I noticed it every time.
3) After finishing, I re-watched the BBC Sherlock episode "A Study in Pink," with more of an appreciation for how they both used direct quotes, and modernized the story.
4) Ooof, the views of women and Mormons.
5) I've thought multiple times about Holmes' amazing quote about the "brain-attic." It makes me feel so much better about how many facts I've forgotten:
“That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
‘You appear to be astonished,’ he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. ‘Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it.’
‘To forget it!’
‘You see,’ he explained, ‘I consider that a man’s brain is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.’
‘But the Solar System!’ I protested.
‘What the deuce is it to me?’ he interrupted impatiently: ‘you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.”
5/30/2018 -- I recently finished the novel "The Sign of Four." This one took me a long time. Memories of it include a very exciting boat chase down the Thames, some fairly racist/colonialist bits, and a fairly good description of how and why Holmes uses drugs (boredom). At one point, they are in a carriage in the London fog, and Watson says something about how he's not affected by the creepy atmosphere because "I am not given to impressions, myself." Ha! Going by that description, I'm 100% given to impressions, at all times.
March 2018 - I'm going through this very slowly on audio, and just finished "A Study in Scarlet."
Thoughts:
1) Although I think I read most of the SH stories in high school, I had no memory of this one being a novel. I kept thinking it was going on pretty long if it wanted to get wrapped up, and then all of a sudden we were in Utah with no explanation whatsoever.
2) Either Stephen Fry's American accent is hilarious, or it's just jolting to hear him switch quickly, but I noticed it every time.
3) After finishing, I re-watched the BBC Sherlock episode "A Study in Pink," with more of an appreciation for how they both used direct quotes, and modernized the story.
4) Ooof, the views of women and Mormons.
5) I've thought multiple times about Holmes' amazing quote about the "brain-attic." It makes me feel so much better about how many facts I've forgotten:
“That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
‘You appear to be astonished,’ he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. ‘Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it.’
‘To forget it!’
‘You see,’ he explained, ‘I consider that a man’s brain is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.’
‘But the Solar System!’ I protested.
‘What the deuce is it to me?’ he interrupted impatiently: ‘you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.”
This is a classic of Sherlockian scholarship, and a useful resource for any fan of the Great Detective. The only thing I find a bit annoying is perhaps also the most useful thing about the work: Baring-Gould's "chronological" arrangement of the stories and novels makes it rather difficult to find individual stories. Of course, part of the point of that arrangement is Baring-Gould's point of view on Sherlockian chronology. I just appreciate Les Klinger's arrangement of the stories/novels a bit more.
What I've read so far: 10/13
[novels]
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of Four (1890)
[short stories] - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (short stories, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892):
"A Scandal in Bohemia"
"The Adventure of the Red-Headed League"
"A Case of Identity"
"The Boscombe Valley Mystery"
------------
More through 11/13 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (short stories, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892):
[short stories]
"The Five Orange Pips"
"The Man with the Twisted Lip"
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"
"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"
------------
Started the second audiobook volume 11/22
------------
Additionally read 3/1/2013
"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes": (short stories, published in The Strand as additional episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, between December, 1892 and November, 1893):
- The Adventure of the Silver Blaze
- The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
- The Adventure of the Yellow Face
- The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk
- The Adventure of the "Gloria Scott"
- The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
- The Adventure of the Reigate Squires
- The Adventure of the Crooked Man
- The Adventure of the Resident Patient
- The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
- The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
- The Adventure of the Final Problem
"The Return of Sherlock Holmes": (short stories, published in The Strand between October, 1903 and January, 1905):
- The Adventure of the Empty House
- The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
- The Adventure of the Dancing Men
- The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
- The Adventure of the Priory School
- The Adventure of Black Peter
- The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
- The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
- The Adventure of the Three Students
- The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
- The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
- The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
- The Adventure of the Second Stain
Currently in the middle of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.
(novel, published in The Strand between August, 1901 and April, 1902)
[novels]
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of Four (1890)
[short stories] - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (short stories, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892):
"A Scandal in Bohemia"
"The Adventure of the Red-Headed League"
"A Case of Identity"
"The Boscombe Valley Mystery"
------------
More through 11/13 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (short stories, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892):
[short stories]
"The Five Orange Pips"
"The Man with the Twisted Lip"
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"
"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"
------------
Started the second audiobook volume 11/22
------------
Additionally read 3/1/2013
"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes": (short stories, published in The Strand as additional episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, between December, 1892 and November, 1893):
- The Adventure of the Silver Blaze
- The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
- The Adventure of the Yellow Face
- The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk
- The Adventure of the "Gloria Scott"
- The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
- The Adventure of the Reigate Squires
- The Adventure of the Crooked Man
- The Adventure of the Resident Patient
- The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
- The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
- The Adventure of the Final Problem
"The Return of Sherlock Holmes": (short stories, published in The Strand between October, 1903 and January, 1905):
- The Adventure of the Empty House
- The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
- The Adventure of the Dancing Men
- The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
- The Adventure of the Priory School
- The Adventure of Black Peter
- The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
- The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
- The Adventure of the Three Students
- The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
- The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
- The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
- The Adventure of the Second Stain
Currently in the middle of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.
(novel, published in The Strand between August, 1901 and April, 1902)
I've had this sitting on my shelf for years and finally got to it. I don't know where everyone gets, "simple elementary my dear Watson," from, because he never says that exact series of words. If I remember correctly, Holmes only even uses the word elementary about three times. I really enjoyed it, if I had to say something bad about it, it would be the grammar. There are several typos where they left out letters in names after stating the correct spelling of them. It seemed like it was hand typed or copied word for word from an original copy because there were several unnecessary hyphens. Aside from the sometimes distracting grammar, this is a great book.
If you like to make your own guesses based on clues in mystery novels, this might not be for you. Most of the clues remain kept in Homes' mind until either the very end of a case, or very close to the end of the cases.
If you like to make your own guesses based on clues in mystery novels, this might not be for you. Most of the clues remain kept in Homes' mind until either the very end of a case, or very close to the end of the cases.
Sherlock Holmes is a quirky character. I will admit I did not like all of the stories. I found a two or three hard to finish. They carried on to a point of distraction. My favorites were "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".