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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Absolutely loved this. The OG of murder mysteries w/ a fun autistic guy
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
I love Conan Doyle's writing, it is as excellent as ever in this book. A nice little murder mystery, with Sherlock's reasoning for things just blowing you away. I was confused with the backstory interlude but, apart from that, I cannot wait to read more of Sherlock Holmes' adventures.
The first, but not the best, Sherlock Holmes story. I took the advice of other readers and skipped the section about Utah. The story made sense without it.
I'm actually listening to the complete Sherlock Holmes as read and introduced by Stephen Fry ([b:Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection|34429916|Sherlock Holmes The Definitive Audio Collection|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488293263l/34429916._SX50_.jpg|7492217]), but I thought I'd review each book separately.
I'm not super impressed by this first one, but I do love how Holmes is kind of a jerk. "It's elementary, my dear Watson" is probably his most famous line; behind all that is Holmes talking to Watson like Watson's an idiot because he can't connect the dots the way Holmes can. In this Holmes reminds me of Mary Poppins -- beloved literary figure often treated as a hero, but not very nice on the page.
I'm actually listening to the complete Sherlock Holmes as read and introduced by Stephen Fry ([b:Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection|34429916|Sherlock Holmes The Definitive Audio Collection|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488293263l/34429916._SX50_.jpg|7492217]), but I thought I'd review each book separately.
I'm not super impressed by this first one, but I do love how Holmes is kind of a jerk. "It's elementary, my dear Watson" is probably his most famous line; behind all that is Holmes talking to Watson like Watson's an idiot because he can't connect the dots the way Holmes can. In this Holmes reminds me of Mary Poppins -- beloved literary figure often treated as a hero, but not very nice on the page.
This book was meh. I'm more interested in how he did the murder and how the detective reached the conclusion but that's all rushed up we only know the detailed why he did this. Like we didn't need half book about his backstory. Instead more chapters on how Sherlock came to the conclusion would have been more interesting to read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a rollercoaster this story actually is! We all know the story of Dr Watson and Sherlock, and yet I had never actually read the original origin story before. Interestingly the murderer is not part of the set of characters you meet in the beginning, which is funny, because there is thus absolutely no way you can guess "who did it". Then there is the strange interlude in the USA, where we get introduced to the killer. That whole bit is a novel unto itself, and I was really surprised to find it in this classic story - I do also understand why it is never referred to in any adaptations because it is rather strange to have a novel within a novel where both are almost completely separate stories. Nevertheless I did enjoy both of these parts of the story. I also really like how Sherlock is actually pretty normal - he is excessively smart and all that, but he is part of normal London middle/upper society. He is not the outsider that most adaptations make him into being.