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A review by book_concierge
Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes by Michael Sims
3.0
Subtitle: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes.
This is an interesting biography / history of Conan Doyle’s life as a young man. The reader learns of the people and events that influenced and inspired him when he created his most famous character: Sherlock Holmes. There was the professor in medical school who had trained himself to keenly observe a patient’s demeanor, clothing, and general appearance and from those observable “clues” infer the man’s occupation, background, and even marital status. And there were the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, Emile Gaboriau and others, on whose foundations Doyle built his own style.
I also found it interesting to learn of the publishing business in this era, and stunned to discover that Conan Doyle had to basically sell his copyright in order to get that first Holmes mystery published.
This is an interesting biography / history of Conan Doyle’s life as a young man. The reader learns of the people and events that influenced and inspired him when he created his most famous character: Sherlock Holmes. There was the professor in medical school who had trained himself to keenly observe a patient’s demeanor, clothing, and general appearance and from those observable “clues” infer the man’s occupation, background, and even marital status. And there were the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, Emile Gaboriau and others, on whose foundations Doyle built his own style.
I also found it interesting to learn of the publishing business in this era, and stunned to discover that Conan Doyle had to basically sell his copyright in order to get that first Holmes mystery published.