Review #16: Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson walk into a bar...
BTW, this is not the cover of the copy I read, I just think it's better XD
Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Number of Pages: 376
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Where I Got It: for Christmas
Cost: cover: $5.95
Rating: 9- This Was Pretty Fracking Fantastic
Inside Flap:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the greatest collection of detective short stories ever written. It was these tales penned by Arthur Conan Doyle that first introduced the magical and eccentric character of Sherlock Holmes to the readers of The Strand Magazine. In his consulting room at 221B Baker Street, the master sleuth receives a stream of clients all presenting him with baffling and bizarre puzzles for him to solve. There is, for example, the man frightened for his life because of the arrival of an envelope containing orange pips; the terrified woman aware that her life is in danger and who cannot explain the strange whistling sounds she hears in the night; the woman whose fiancé disappeared on his way to their wedding... and more. Of course, Holmes, with trusty Watson by his side, is equal to these and the other challenges in this splendid collection.
I remember reading a few Sherlock Holmes when I was a kid but not understanding the language or the references. This was before I saw An Ideal Husband at the age of eight and decided to figure out as much as I could about differences in language use between the various forms of U.S./Canadian English and the various forms of U.K. English. I feel ashamed to say that it took me until now to go back to Holmes and Watson but I'm glad I did.
Mind you, I didn't love some of the stories. There were a few that left me thinking "Really? I just read twenty pages for that?", but, on the whole, I loved this set of shorts. My favorites were "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Speckled Band" and "The Beryl Coronet". I tended toward liking the "ride-alongs” rather than the ones where Holmes explains all after the fact.
I love Sherlock Holmes as a character and, like few times before, I have no idea why. I suppose that it's because he very matter of fact and tends to go "Ah", and lead Watson off into whatever mischief he's going to get into without so much as a "by your leave". What I found implausible is that he's a coke head and still manages to function at such a high level but then, fiction is suspending belief and since it's only mentioned once or twice I decided to lay it to the side. Main character-like-author and all that.
Watson I loved even more than Holmes. He seemed to be the straight character tossed in with a high functioning lunatic but, by this time, had seen enough that nothing much surprised him, even when it did.
Guess I'll have to go hunt up Hound of the Baskervilles now.
The Mindless Rabble of Others?
I'm not sure this category can pertain to short stories. Yes, it's different people each time. Carry on.
No, I love YOU!!! *kissykissy*
No, I did not jump on the Holmes/Watson slash wagon.
Exactly Where Are You From?
221B Baker Street.
London.
Leave me alone, I’m Plotting…
This is an iffy category, also. Some of the plots I loved and moved along swimmingly (see above: favorites) and some seemed to drag along until I wanted to skip it and get on with the others.
”Hey, what does this do?” “NO! DON’T TOUCH THAT!!”
Two things: evidence and Sherlock Holmes' brain.
Why? WHY? Oh, the AGONY!!!!!
Nothing to put here besides the aforementioned dragging ones where Holmes is telling it all after the fact. Yes, I know, Watson is putting down these stories after they happened but, again, "ride-along"=awesome.
Awesome excerpt:
"When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying allusion to a band and, finally, the fact the Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines."
"But what, then, did the gypsies do?"
"I cannot imagine."
Next Up:
The Book of Lost Things- John Connolly
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves- P. G. Wodehouse
The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere- Neil Gaiman
Blood Trail- Tanya Huff
Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Number of Pages: 376
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Where I Got It: for Christmas
Cost: cover: $5.95
Rating: 9- This Was Pretty Fracking Fantastic
Inside Flap:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the greatest collection of detective short stories ever written. It was these tales penned by Arthur Conan Doyle that first introduced the magical and eccentric character of Sherlock Holmes to the readers of The Strand Magazine. In his consulting room at 221B Baker Street, the master sleuth receives a stream of clients all presenting him with baffling and bizarre puzzles for him to solve. There is, for example, the man frightened for his life because of the arrival of an envelope containing orange pips; the terrified woman aware that her life is in danger and who cannot explain the strange whistling sounds she hears in the night; the woman whose fiancé disappeared on his way to their wedding... and more. Of course, Holmes, with trusty Watson by his side, is equal to these and the other challenges in this splendid collection.
I remember reading a few Sherlock Holmes when I was a kid but not understanding the language or the references. This was before I saw An Ideal Husband at the age of eight and decided to figure out as much as I could about differences in language use between the various forms of U.S./Canadian English and the various forms of U.K. English. I feel ashamed to say that it took me until now to go back to Holmes and Watson but I'm glad I did.
Mind you, I didn't love some of the stories. There were a few that left me thinking "Really? I just read twenty pages for that?", but, on the whole, I loved this set of shorts. My favorites were "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Speckled Band" and "The Beryl Coronet". I tended toward liking the "ride-alongs” rather than the ones where Holmes explains all after the fact.
I love Sherlock Holmes as a character and, like few times before, I have no idea why. I suppose that it's because he very matter of fact and tends to go "Ah", and lead Watson off into whatever mischief he's going to get into without so much as a "by your leave". What I found implausible is that he's a coke head and still manages to function at such a high level but then, fiction is suspending belief and since it's only mentioned once or twice I decided to lay it to the side. Main character-like-author and all that.
Watson I loved even more than Holmes. He seemed to be the straight character tossed in with a high functioning lunatic but, by this time, had seen enough that nothing much surprised him, even when it did.
Guess I'll have to go hunt up Hound of the Baskervilles now.
The Mindless Rabble of Others?
I'm not sure this category can pertain to short stories. Yes, it's different people each time. Carry on.
No, I love YOU!!! *kissykissy*
No, I did not jump on the Holmes/Watson slash wagon.
Exactly Where Are You From?
221B Baker Street.
London.
Leave me alone, I’m Plotting…
This is an iffy category, also. Some of the plots I loved and moved along swimmingly (see above: favorites) and some seemed to drag along until I wanted to skip it and get on with the others.
”Hey, what does this do?” “NO! DON’T TOUCH THAT!!”
Two things: evidence and Sherlock Holmes' brain.
Why? WHY? Oh, the AGONY!!!!!
Nothing to put here besides the aforementioned dragging ones where Holmes is telling it all after the fact. Yes, I know, Watson is putting down these stories after they happened but, again, "ride-along"=awesome.
Awesome excerpt:
"When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying allusion to a band and, finally, the fact the Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines."
"But what, then, did the gypsies do?"
"I cannot imagine."
Next Up:
The Book of Lost Things- John Connolly
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves- P. G. Wodehouse
The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere- Neil Gaiman
Blood Trail- Tanya Huff