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edithcita's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
charly_charlot's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
emilyb_chicago's review against another edition
3.0
At this point, this story feels vaguely familiar even if you haven't read it previously. The story itself is still quite enjoyable if you can get past the older feel of the wording. I got both the ebook and the audio and found listening was very easy.
dyno8426's review against another edition
3.0
Sherlock Holmes' wit in this Gothic landscape serves to accentuate his preference to rationality over emotions. Gothic elements in fiction inspire emotions like fear and thrill through degrees of human passion. Death, madness and psychological anomalies are characteristic tropes. I like to think of it as a darker shade of romanticism. Even Sherlock Holmes remarks in this story:
“There can be no doubt that Mr. ... exercised an influence over her which may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both, since they are by no means incompatible emotions.”
The author employs this effect strikingly to elevate in the readers Holmes' attitude towards those events which would inspire extreme emotions of fear, reverence or hatred in usual characters. ACD’s narrative is expectedly engaging and the mystery is interesting. But I mainly liked it for these dark tones which lend it a signature different from the usual steampunk style adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
The setting of Sherlock's adventure this time are the distant, lonely, rocky desert of Devonshire Moors, which I can only imagine from the general landscape imagery that I have of northern England - wrapped in fog and always damp with dew and rains. Add to it a scary, almost devilishly personified (another Gothic attribute) bog which swallows people and warns people with its unpredictability. Here, a local myth is brought to life through murders by a savage hound went loose in town. People are obviously believing in and scared of the fiendish hound persisting and killing people across generations. So, fear is the key feeling which ACD's gothic style evokes consistently throughout the story using the motifs of natural elements turning exclusively supernatural. The way it does this is through Watson's narrative.
Watson, while being sharp, modern and proactive, is very much like the readers. They perceive everything through Watson's eyes and every grim aspect of Devonshire's landscape becomes an agent of fear and premonition of something bad and evil through Watson, and ultimately the readers. Every speculation of his becomes readers' speculation. Since he is a step ahead common people but two behind Holmes', we witness keenly the facts but they are shrouded with mystery and complexity of almost unreal proportions due to our subjective perception and emotions coming into play.
Sherlock's attribute in his eventual triumph, as everybody knows, is his unflinching dedication to logic and axiomatic derivation. It is his thread of rationality that helps everybody find their way through the maze of delusion and inherited disbelief against the criminal mastermind, usually equalling Holmes' calibre. Sherlock's adherence to natural laws and deductions from observations is always pacifying against the disruptive emotions of fear and hatred that usually clouds judgment of common folk. In a story like this, where the entire premise is supported by a solitary myth, shows the power that emotions have on humans - how it works as a puppeteer for our psychology by distorting facts and observations from our senses and heightening them to degrees in our imagination. All of this is based on irrationality and commands choices which usually lead to the downfall of the victims in such cases of extreme action.
This story accentuates the contrast between the two mindsets even more so from the perspective of the ultimate villain. Like Holmes', he is the one who calls the shots by exploiting the same fear which he has mastered to some degree. He controls his emotions and strong feelings even when faced with hurdles which even his most capable opponents like Holmes might throw in his way. He displays the same perception and understanding of human psychology which keeps him ahead in the game. Sherlock follows it with a better pursuit and command over his mindset in the face of adversity and eventually wins over it in a misstep by the villain.
There is always a coolness in Sherlock compared to his agitated and passionate counterparts, including Watson occasionally. That comes from the lean and mean focus on facts that Sherlock demands from himself. Every fact is for the appetite of his mind and none for his emotional gratification. He becomes a composed anchor in the turbulence of human passion, even for the readers who share the emotions of his situation. After every observation that Holmes makes with the same detachment from emotions, every dark and sinister aspect of events or human character becomes obvious and natural - the whole is reduced to the sum of its parts. "Elementary" becomes the adjective for everything that was earlier exaggerated to frightening degrees. Conclusively, the former gloomy landscape, a symbol for the darkness of human nature and subdued spirits, becomes lively and hopeful once again in the light of knowledge.
“There can be no doubt that Mr. ... exercised an influence over her which may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both, since they are by no means incompatible emotions.”
The author employs this effect strikingly to elevate in the readers Holmes' attitude towards those events which would inspire extreme emotions of fear, reverence or hatred in usual characters. ACD’s narrative is expectedly engaging and the mystery is interesting. But I mainly liked it for these dark tones which lend it a signature different from the usual steampunk style adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
The setting of Sherlock's adventure this time are the distant, lonely, rocky desert of Devonshire Moors, which I can only imagine from the general landscape imagery that I have of northern England - wrapped in fog and always damp with dew and rains. Add to it a scary, almost devilishly personified (another Gothic attribute) bog which swallows people and warns people with its unpredictability. Here, a local myth is brought to life through murders by a savage hound went loose in town. People are obviously believing in and scared of the fiendish hound persisting and killing people across generations. So, fear is the key feeling which ACD's gothic style evokes consistently throughout the story using the motifs of natural elements turning exclusively supernatural. The way it does this is through Watson's narrative.
Watson, while being sharp, modern and proactive, is very much like the readers. They perceive everything through Watson's eyes and every grim aspect of Devonshire's landscape becomes an agent of fear and premonition of something bad and evil through Watson, and ultimately the readers. Every speculation of his becomes readers' speculation. Since he is a step ahead common people but two behind Holmes', we witness keenly the facts but they are shrouded with mystery and complexity of almost unreal proportions due to our subjective perception and emotions coming into play.
Sherlock's attribute in his eventual triumph, as everybody knows, is his unflinching dedication to logic and axiomatic derivation. It is his thread of rationality that helps everybody find their way through the maze of delusion and inherited disbelief against the criminal mastermind, usually equalling Holmes' calibre. Sherlock's adherence to natural laws and deductions from observations is always pacifying against the disruptive emotions of fear and hatred that usually clouds judgment of common folk. In a story like this, where the entire premise is supported by a solitary myth, shows the power that emotions have on humans - how it works as a puppeteer for our psychology by distorting facts and observations from our senses and heightening them to degrees in our imagination. All of this is based on irrationality and commands choices which usually lead to the downfall of the victims in such cases of extreme action.
This story accentuates the contrast between the two mindsets even more so from the perspective of the ultimate villain. Like Holmes', he is the one who calls the shots by exploiting the same fear which he has mastered to some degree. He controls his emotions and strong feelings even when faced with hurdles which even his most capable opponents like Holmes might throw in his way. He displays the same perception and understanding of human psychology which keeps him ahead in the game. Sherlock follows it with a better pursuit and command over his mindset in the face of adversity and eventually wins over it in a misstep by the villain.
There is always a coolness in Sherlock compared to his agitated and passionate counterparts, including Watson occasionally. That comes from the lean and mean focus on facts that Sherlock demands from himself. Every fact is for the appetite of his mind and none for his emotional gratification. He becomes a composed anchor in the turbulence of human passion, even for the readers who share the emotions of his situation. After every observation that Holmes makes with the same detachment from emotions, every dark and sinister aspect of events or human character becomes obvious and natural - the whole is reduced to the sum of its parts. "Elementary" becomes the adjective for everything that was earlier exaggerated to frightening degrees. Conclusively, the former gloomy landscape, a symbol for the darkness of human nature and subdued spirits, becomes lively and hopeful once again in the light of knowledge.
yamiita's review against another edition
5.0
ya lo había leído hace bastante tiempo así q m volví a sorprender.
la verdad q lo volvería a releer es muy adictivo y no te das cuenta del paso del tiempo porque te quedas super inmerso en la lectura
la verdad q lo volvería a releer es muy adictivo y no te das cuenta del paso del tiempo porque te quedas super inmerso en la lectura
chri5ti's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
a13xander's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
3.25
Out of the three novels I’ve read so far I’d rank this one last. In my opinion it was slower paced and didn’t have the same intrigue as the previous two.
I would highlight that in the beginning there was the whole midterm of wether or not the whole ordeal was supernatural or not and that provided a twist that wasn’t in the other entries.
However I didn’t feel as engaged as I did in the other stories and the characters weren’t as endearing aside from Sir Henry Baskerville and a little bit Mrs Stapleton.
I would highlight that in the beginning there was the whole midterm of wether or not the whole ordeal was supernatural or not and that provided a twist that wasn’t in the other entries.
However I didn’t feel as engaged as I did in the other stories and the characters weren’t as endearing aside from Sir Henry Baskerville and a little bit Mrs Stapleton.
brianabcr's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
sydney_k's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
4.5