BB #24716 / Introduction by Ellery Queen Ballantine Mystery Classic No. 24716 $1.25
Paperback, 289 pages
English language
Published June 7, 1976 by Ballantine Books, a div. of Random House, Inc..
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Blue Carbuncle', and 'The Speckled Band'. Although Holmes gained a reputation for infallibility, Conan Doyle showed his own realism and feminism by having the great detective defeated by Irene Adler - the woman - in the very first story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia'.
The editor of this volume, Richard Lancelyn Green is editor of The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes and The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. With John Michael Gibson, he compiled the Soho Series Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle.
I enjoyed this one. It wasn't scary or anything, like I thought it would be when I downloaded it, and I was a bit annoyed by the unfinished business with the Serpent. And the sexism back when this was written, wow! (See my highlights, lol!!) It was a nice account of a man's life in the future, which oddly enough was supposed to be now! It's amusing to see the technology Clarke envisioned for this time frame!
I have a dim memory of reading this book when I was younger, but since then I’ve seen Sherlock Holmes in countless adaptations: movies, TV shows, comics, video games, and more. Some good, some bad.
And so, I was afraid that these stories would stick to a formula: someone brings Holmes a case; he impresses everyone by noticing impossible details and drawing strained conclusions; insults Watson for not being preternaturally observant; insults Inspector Lestrade for being an idiot; notices that one of the ashes in the fireplace is actually not only from tobacco, but produced by Javanese cigars, and thus the murderer must be blah-de-blah yadda yadda lock ‘em up, the end.
So I was glad to see that they don’t. There’s a good amount of variety: Holmes shows up the police (of course); Holmes falls in love; the mystery is not a crime; a locked-door murder outdoors; and more. …
I have a dim memory of reading this book when I was younger, but since then I’ve seen Sherlock Holmes in countless adaptations: movies, TV shows, comics, video games, and more. Some good, some bad.
And so, I was afraid that these stories would stick to a formula: someone brings Holmes a case; he impresses everyone by noticing impossible details and drawing strained conclusions; insults Watson for not being preternaturally observant; insults Inspector Lestrade for being an idiot; notices that one of the ashes in the fireplace is actually not only from tobacco, but produced by Javanese cigars, and thus the murderer must be blah-de-blah yadda yadda lock ‘em up, the end.
So I was glad to see that they don’t. There’s a good amount of variety: Holmes shows up the police (of course); Holmes falls in love; the mystery is not a crime; a locked-door murder outdoors; and more.
Of course, like a lot of Victorian writing, some parts have not aged well. There’s a good amount of sexism, though thankfully no racism that I noticed. It’s easy enough for a modern reader to write off these flaws as the stories being a product of their time.
I must say that I much preferred this over the previous two books – which, to me, seemed to drag on for way too long at points –, even though I would have perhaps liked fewer but slightly longer stories instead. It often appears to me that the stories conclude rather abruptly, and thus longer stories might have helped mitigate this. It took me about 20-odd minutes to finish each chapter – and thus, story – and lengthening this to perhaps 30 or 40 minutes would've made this book even better.
Nevertheless, the quality of aforesaid stories is extraordinary and it was a very engaging book I was nigh-unable to put down. I am most definitely looking forward to reading the upcoming book.
These were a lot of fun.
72 hours of casual listening lasted 2 months. Great stories I never would have read. You get to hear people say “the plot thickens” unironically.
Fry’s narration is up there with Jim Dale, who is the only other narrator I’ve listened to for this long. He has a huge range of voices and his diction and delivery conveys the smallest inflections.
The only cons I can think of: There are a few stories that follow a random character for 1hr+ to build on their backstory, and those were pretty tough to get through, especially since they’re never on recurring characters. Fry also has excellent forwards, but gives minor spoilers in them.
Great classic short stories (adventure/ detective/ mystery). It's amazing how much the English language has changed over the last 100+ years.
It’s often really hard to review classic literature; simply because it’s already stood the test of time and that makes it difficult to be critical of the book. I’m not really a can of reading a collection of short stories, especially over a few days; but I really did enjoy reading through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’m not sure why I haven’t read more of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels; this is my second and the first being A Study in Scarlet. I think I need to pick up my act and read more of his books; ideally all of the Sherlock Holmes novels.
Sherlock really is a great character, with some interesting quirks. I think at one point I thought he was taking cocaine to get over the monotony of not having a case to work on and then later in the book he was taking it because …
It’s often really hard to review classic literature; simply because it’s already stood the test of time and that makes it difficult to be critical of the book. I’m not really a can of reading a collection of short stories, especially over a few days; but I really did enjoy reading through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’m not sure why I haven’t read more of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels; this is my second and the first being A Study in Scarlet. I think I need to pick up my act and read more of his books; ideally all of the Sherlock Holmes novels.
Sherlock really is a great character, with some interesting quirks. I think at one point I thought he was taking cocaine to get over the monotony of not having a case to work on and then later in the book he was taking it because he was bored with a case. He really has an eye for details and often really impressive the way he solves a case with the details that he discovers. Dr Watson; while you don’t get to much information about him, having him narrate the stories gives these books the extra boost it needs. The unreliable narrator is the perfect way to hide aspects of each case, without having the reader think the author is withholding on purpose.
There is not much I can say against this book apart from the fact it’s a collection of short stories. I feel like each story only gives you a quick glimpse into the brilliance of Sherlock and then the case is solved. I do like the way that this book does flow together without making the reader needing to reset the mind in preparation for the next story. This maybe simply the fact that each story is in the same style and the characters are the same, but when it comes to reading a collection of short stories, this is often what I prefer. I probably should have read The Sign of Four in preparation for this month’s book club read but it will be the next Sherlock Holmes novel I get to.
These twelve shories, each about 30 pages or so in length, were all very engaging. Holmes is both fascinating and amusing, and the tales have a quaintness that is delightful.
A collection of short stories, great for dipping in and out when you have a fair bit of time to kill. Most of the crimes are not only well thought out, but also very ingenious; the only obvious crime is the final 'Adventure of the Copper Beeches'. The criticism of Holmes appearing overly omniscient stands at times, but isn't as detrimental to the stories as some make out.
As I make my way through the Holmes canon, the atmosphere Conan Doyle creates using the characters, their brotherly relationship and their surroundings keeps these books amongst my favourites.
It took me way too long to get through this volume. This doesn't reflect upon the writing, which is excellent, and I've already downloaded the next volume of Sherlock Holmes stories.
You can't really get a better character than Sherlock Holmes. CSI has nothing on this guy.
