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A review by we_are_all_mad_here26
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer
4.0
When I first picked this book up I did not know it had been originally published in 1974. I wouldn't have known it by the end, either, except I checked. This is a good thing as it means the book sounded like it was written during the era in which it was set, instead of during the era in which it was written.
I didn't so much love the ripping of the rug out from under the Moriarty legacy. On the one hand it did nicely explain the weirdness of [b:The Final Problem and Other Stories|13412597|The Final Problem and Other Stories|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326504300l/13412597._SY75_.jpg|18683940] and [b:The Adventure of the Empty House|8289147|The Adventure of the Empty House (The Return of Sherlock Holmes, #1)|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328323885l/8289147._SX50_.jpg|13137612], two stories which I thought never quite fit with the rest of the canon. On the other hand -.
The perspective it was written from - Watson in his much later years, with N.M. inserting a few footnotes as he "edited," was unique (to me) and enjoyable (also to me). Overall a quick and fairly absorbing read, featuring Sigmund Freud and no direct phallic references whatsoever.
I didn't so much love the ripping of the rug out from under the Moriarty legacy. On the one hand it did nicely explain the weirdness of [b:The Final Problem and Other Stories|13412597|The Final Problem and Other Stories|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326504300l/13412597._SY75_.jpg|18683940] and [b:The Adventure of the Empty House|8289147|The Adventure of the Empty House (The Return of Sherlock Holmes, #1)|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328323885l/8289147._SX50_.jpg|13137612], two stories which I thought never quite fit with the rest of the canon. On the other hand -
Spoiler
Moriarty, nothing more than a math professor all along? It feels so blasphemousThe perspective it was written from - Watson in his much later years, with N.M. inserting a few footnotes as he "edited," was unique (to me) and enjoyable (also to me). Overall a quick and fairly absorbing read, featuring Sigmund Freud and no direct phallic references whatsoever.