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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I enjoyed the stories and they were easy to follow. I kept picturing Benedict Cumberbatch from "Sherlock" as I read, so maybe that made these all the more awesome.
I really wanted to like this audiobook, but I just couldn't get into it. I think this may be a rare occurrence where the actual book would have been more enjoyable.
So happy to have finally finished this one up. Really enjoyed a lot of these stories, many of which I'd never heard of before. There were, of course, some that didn't do much for me, but they were few and far between.
There's definitely a reason Sherlock Holmes has such longevity, and has become a keystone of Western Culture.
Overall, very, very pleased to say that I've now read this.
There's definitely a reason Sherlock Holmes has such longevity, and has become a keystone of Western Culture.
Overall, very, very pleased to say that I've now read this.
I used to read this when commuting back in 2009. My commute changed and I never finished.
I read every short story and novel in 2 weeks, on holiday. Completely worth the read. You get sucked right in to every case.
Amazing, although it's a trek to get through all of them. I'd recommend it though.
Amazing, although it's a trek to get through all of them. I'd recommend it though.
Apparently, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published nine volumes of Sherlock Holmes mysteries during the course of his lifetime. Four novels and fifty-six short stories in five collections. Over 1,300 pages. And after reading all of them, I can positively state that at no point does Sherlock Holmes ever actually say, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” But that didn’t spoil the book for me.
I’d been imagining Sherlock Holmes mysteries to be at once cornball and arcane, a cross between Clue and The Once and Future King: —“Colonel Mustard in the atrium with a candlestick, declaiming, ‘It was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales!’” But actually I’d say they’re more like the cocaine in which Holmes himself occasionally indulges. (Who knew?) I couldn’t quit turning pages; as soon as I finished one story, I was on to the next one. With titles like “The Crooked Man” and “The Red-Headed League,” who could resist? And although according to pop culture, Holmes is a genius and Watson a bumbling idiot, their real characters are more complicated than that and the interplay between them fun fun fun to read.
Footnote: When I first read the preface, “In Memoriam Sherlock Holmes,” by Christopher Morley, I thought it was asinine—like something a fan club president would put at the top of his monthly newsletter. However, about a third of my way into the book, I began consulting it for information on Doyle, his works, and his life; and by the time I got halfway through, I thought it was the most useful, spot-on introduction I’d read, possibly ever. I wish all books had such prefaces.
I’d been imagining Sherlock Holmes mysteries to be at once cornball and arcane, a cross between Clue and The Once and Future King: —“Colonel Mustard in the atrium with a candlestick, declaiming, ‘It was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales!’” But actually I’d say they’re more like the cocaine in which Holmes himself occasionally indulges. (Who knew?) I couldn’t quit turning pages; as soon as I finished one story, I was on to the next one. With titles like “The Crooked Man” and “The Red-Headed League,” who could resist? And although according to pop culture, Holmes is a genius and Watson a bumbling idiot, their real characters are more complicated than that and the interplay between them fun fun fun to read.
Footnote: When I first read the preface, “In Memoriam Sherlock Holmes,” by Christopher Morley, I thought it was asinine—like something a fan club president would put at the top of his monthly newsletter. However, about a third of my way into the book, I began consulting it for information on Doyle, his works, and his life; and by the time I got halfway through, I thought it was the most useful, spot-on introduction I’d read, possibly ever. I wish all books had such prefaces.
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:
Complicated
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
OMG I finally finished this! Four novels and 56 short stories. One thousand, one hundred and twenty two pages of tiny font on large pages. I have been reading this for almost ten years, in between other books, and at times not looking at it for a year or two. But i love the world of Holmes and Watson!