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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Definitive. Audio. Stephen Fry. That is what it took for me to finally read a Sherlock Holmes novel.
I am not sure why I had never picked up Sherlock by Arthur Conan Doyle before the age of 40, but once I did it was a delight to move through this definitive collection narrated by Stephen Fry. I have always adored Fry and his personal introductions to each published book of Doyle’s, helped this novice navigate the history alongside the modern implications of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
In this audio collection, Stephen Fry became the voice of Watson which was a wonderful delight though almost 63 hours of listening time. Completing this collection did require a few breaks on my part over the course of five and half months. I absolutely adored the cadence and rhythm Arthur Conan Doyle employs with Watson’s narrative. It is engaging, illuminating and humorous as Holmes and Watson partake on many an adventure. I preferred the short stories that focused primarily on the cases themselves.
I was grateful to have read the novels and with Fry’s introductions they were more accessible and contextualized for me. As a fan of the newer BBC version of Sherlock I was delighted to find so many fun and interesting tie-ins to the stories directly. I can only imagine how wonderful a superfan would find those shows as there are so many fun nods and references only they would have understood.
It was a great delight to listen to and I am extremely glad I have taken the time to hear these stories and I imagine I will find myself returning to them again in the years to come.
Want more book content? Follow me at thebookwar.com
I am not sure why I had never picked up Sherlock by Arthur Conan Doyle before the age of 40, but once I did it was a delight to move through this definitive collection narrated by Stephen Fry. I have always adored Fry and his personal introductions to each published book of Doyle’s, helped this novice navigate the history alongside the modern implications of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
In this audio collection, Stephen Fry became the voice of Watson which was a wonderful delight though almost 63 hours of listening time. Completing this collection did require a few breaks on my part over the course of five and half months. I absolutely adored the cadence and rhythm Arthur Conan Doyle employs with Watson’s narrative. It is engaging, illuminating and humorous as Holmes and Watson partake on many an adventure. I preferred the short stories that focused primarily on the cases themselves.
I was grateful to have read the novels and with Fry’s introductions they were more accessible and contextualized for me. As a fan of the newer BBC version of Sherlock I was delighted to find so many fun and interesting tie-ins to the stories directly. I can only imagine how wonderful a superfan would find those shows as there are so many fun nods and references only they would have understood.
It was a great delight to listen to and I am extremely glad I have taken the time to hear these stories and I imagine I will find myself returning to them again in the years to come.
Want more book content? Follow me at thebookwar.com
Need to wait until the winter months
There is only one thing missing from your life.
This series covers the complete Sherlock Holmes cannon. And it is a cannon.
Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spun these case studies to a neat formula, there is a randomness and spontaneity to the haphazard plots that keeps each story unique. And the characters of Holmes and Watson are so dynamic and wonderfully flawed that you can almost believe in this preternatural genius and his faithful PR buddy typing out each tale.
If you can get your hands on a copy, check out the radio-play series as done by BBC 4!!
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
BBC 4 Radio Collection
Originally published 1887-1927
BBC Production 1989-1998
Radio play/drama
The BBC 4 radio series captures the stories perfectly. The voice actors are fantastic. The sound effects are perfect. The best part, though, has to be the direction. Every scene is perfectly realized through innuendo and casual observation, and the sound effects fill in the rest. When a narrative is split between characters, there is always perfect cohesion and the scene changes are never jarring.
I don't care to calculate how many hours of my life I've poured into this series -- it really doesn't matter.
Here's a list of all the series and episodes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BBC_Radio_Sherlock_Holmes_dramatisations
This series covers the complete Sherlock Holmes cannon. And it is a cannon.
Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spun these case studies to a neat formula, there is a randomness and spontaneity to the haphazard plots that keeps each story unique. And the characters of Holmes and Watson are so dynamic and wonderfully flawed that you can almost believe in this preternatural genius and his faithful PR buddy typing out each tale.
If you can get your hands on a copy, check out the radio-play series as done by BBC 4!!
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
BBC 4 Radio Collection
Originally published 1887-1927
BBC Production 1989-1998
Radio play/drama
The BBC 4 radio series captures the stories perfectly. The voice actors are fantastic. The sound effects are perfect. The best part, though, has to be the direction. Every scene is perfectly realized through innuendo and casual observation, and the sound effects fill in the rest. When a narrative is split between characters, there is always perfect cohesion and the scene changes are never jarring.
I don't care to calculate how many hours of my life I've poured into this series -- it really doesn't matter.
Here's a list of all the series and episodes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BBC_Radio_Sherlock_Holmes_dramatisations
Dipped in and out over the years, now officially finished. The stories deserve their own ratings really, but Hound of the Baskervilles (obvs) is the standout.
"If in one hundred years I am only known as the man who invented Sherlock Holmes then I will have considered my life a failure." -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#sorrynotsorry
#sorrynotsorry
Stephen Fry is masterful in his reading but I did have to routinely pause and read something else because most of the stories, having originally been serialized, adhere to a structure that becomes a little annoying when it is as repetitive as in this edition. Other than the couple novels, you’ll know what’s coming, structurally, every time; which becomes annoying. So I decided to read other things so the repetition didn’t bother me as much.
Uno studio in rosso ****
Il segno dei quattro ****
Le avventure di Sherlock Holmes ***
Le memorie di Sherlock Holmes ***
Il mastino dei Baskerville *****
Il ritorno di Sherlock Holmes ****
La valle della paura ***** (il capolavoro, secondo me)
L'ultimo saluto ****
Il taccuino di Sherlock Holmes *****
Il segno dei quattro ****
Le avventure di Sherlock Holmes ***
Le memorie di Sherlock Holmes ***
Il mastino dei Baskerville *****
Il ritorno di Sherlock Holmes ****
La valle della paura ***** (il capolavoro, secondo me)
L'ultimo saluto ****
Il taccuino di Sherlock Holmes *****
Phew this is a long read. You would never guess how many actual Sherlock stories there are from Arthur Conan Doyle, but I managed to read them all. Reading them in order definitely gives you a good feel for the rhythm of the story arcs and exposes some of the narrative weaknesses that you wouldn't encounter by cherry-picking stories throughout his oeuvre. Holmes tends to be a withholding ass quite often at the expense of his clients or Watson, which is clearly to add suspense before an eventual resolution. Besides the major novels of The Sign of Four, The Hounds of the Baskervilles, The Study in Scarlet, and The Valley of Fear, the stories very rarely break a mold of a single case at a time with a fairly straightforward narrative. I would have enjoyed more intertwining stories that change up the formula. This problem is more likely a relic of the era and format that his stories were released in.
Overall any mystery lover should at the very least dive into the novels I mentioned above, I highly recommend them.
Overall any mystery lover should at the very least dive into the novels I mentioned above, I highly recommend them.
I have read and re-read this masterpiece so many times that I lost the count. My all-time favourite fictional character.