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A review by becca_g_powell
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
2.0
This book was not awesome. The idea itself is kind of cool (the protagonist in present day is solving the mystery of where Arthur Conan Doyle's lost diary is, while ACD is solving a mystery that is recorded in said diary. The book switches back and forth between the two.) However, neither the contemporary or the historical mystery is that brilliant. They're not BAD, but I didn't find myself marveling at the cleverness of the author. In a mystery about mysteries, plot is everything and this one fell flat. The big "twist" at the end (heavily foreshadowed) felt contrived (as well as being less than mindblowing). The final resolution of the contemporary story seemed silly and wasn't consistent with what we knew about the characters or the diary.
There is one redeeming chapter, "A Death in the Family," or something like that, that consists mainly of Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker discussing the death of their friend Oscar Wilde. The conversation subtly echoes the conflict at a point where literary history diverges - as the Victorian moment is coming to a close, modernity is rising. Bram's character, like his Dracula, indicates a willingness to herald in a new literary era, while simultaneously being frightened of it's prospects. He rejects the cold, barbarous past for the more brightly lit future, while conceding that "the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere 'modernity' cannot kill."
Conan Doyle, however, needs Victorian England. It's the only place Sherlock can really survive, and he is defined by it.
Wilde is another case, as he, and his works, are deeply rooted in the Victorian Era but unlike Sherlock, never seem to "fit" very comfortably within its confines.
The shades of character that Moore gives to these historical figures weaves these more global social and literary conflicts subtly through the book in a very interesting way.
However... one interesting chapter doesn't make a novel. The subpar plot and widespread flat characterization in the kind of book that really should turn on an interesting plot made this whole thing kind of a flop for me.
There is one redeeming chapter, "A Death in the Family," or something like that, that consists mainly of Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker discussing the death of their friend Oscar Wilde. The conversation subtly echoes the conflict at a point where literary history diverges - as the Victorian moment is coming to a close, modernity is rising. Bram's character, like his Dracula, indicates a willingness to herald in a new literary era, while simultaneously being frightened of it's prospects. He rejects the cold, barbarous past for the more brightly lit future, while conceding that "the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere 'modernity' cannot kill."
Conan Doyle, however, needs Victorian England. It's the only place Sherlock can really survive, and he is defined by it.
Wilde is another case, as he, and his works, are deeply rooted in the Victorian Era but unlike Sherlock, never seem to "fit" very comfortably within its confines.
The shades of character that Moore gives to these historical figures weaves these more global social and literary conflicts subtly through the book in a very interesting way.
However... one interesting chapter doesn't make a novel. The subpar plot and widespread flat characterization in the kind of book that really should turn on an interesting plot made this whole thing kind of a flop for me.