The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Ratings285
Average rating4.3
Although the book lacks the immersive component I seek in novels, each story is intelligently narrated enough to provide an interesting read. Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as a real life hero, a person with almost supernatural powers of deductibility capable of solving the most puzzling criminal cases.
There is not much character development here and all the stories follow the same formula: a case is presented, Holmes investigates it, then he presents his solution describing how the smallest of details when combined with his knowledge and skill can dispel the most obscure of mysteries.
Os contos são muito chatos. Acho que para Sherlock ser bom precisa de uma história inteira, se não não funciona.
This was a good read. I had read some of the stories before and some of them were made into episodes of the BBC version of Sherlock. I kept seeing Benedict and Martin in the roles, not Basil and his sidekick.
I was on the edge of my seat with most of these tales, and can now say I have an appreciation for Sherlock.
Certain characters work better in certain media. I'm sure there's some complex, deep McLuhanesque reason for that, but for me it's just a feeling I get - adapt the character into the wrong media and they end up looking like they're wearing someone else's shoes. Spider-Man, for example, works best in comic books; Batman in film.
Sherlock Holmes is a creature of the short story.
The stories here are perfect examples of what makes Holmes a classic character; problems come to his door, and no matter how bizarre or complex they seem, he manages to squirrel out a solution, sometimes within minutes, through the simple application of logic and reasoning. They're beautiful stories, in a way, with a clarity like crystal.
A nice collection of short mysteries solved with all the flare we expect from the legends of Holmes and Watson. The best in my opinion being “The Scandal in Bohemia” where we meet the only woman to outwit the great detective, “The Five Orange Pips” involving the possible ruin of the KKK, and “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet” where we see the good in bad people and the bad in those seen as good.
This was really fun! I bought this back in my BBC Sherlock days when that show was still decent. I figured it was high time to experience the real deal. As far as “classic literature” goes, this one definitely holds up and is very easy to get through with not-so-dense language and even some humor thrown in (mostly from Sherlock's sass). The mysteries made every short story feel like a game. I didn't really do a good job at guessing what would happen because I've always kind of sucked at predicting plot twists. On the bright side, things are more entertaining when you don't see them coming a mile away.
The best part of the anthology was definitely Sherlock himself and his partnership with John. Having only a knowledge of the BBC, Robert Downey Jr, and Disney Sherlocks, I was kind of comparing how successful each adaptation was along the way. I felt like ACD's Sherlock was far more suave and courteous than BBC's Sherlock but that might have to do with the Victorian setting. He definitely came off as more of a lovable eccentric than a “high functioning sociopath” but there were a few savage moments. It's pretty hilarious how he's constantly praising Watson and then making jabs about how he's completely oblivious to all the clues. He's also pretty blunt and cold to people when they're boring or no longer interest him because they're mystery's been solved. He had some line about hating invites to “social” events and I could relate lol.
I wouldn't really say any of the mysteries stood out as a “favorite,” I feel like were all at about the same level entertainment-wise. I was pretty alarmed by how gory the final one was (The Adventure of the Copper Beeches). It was even weirder when I picked up The Hound of the Baskervilles immediately after this and they both had giant dogs tearing open dude's throats. That's very specific, Arthur!
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
A Scandal in Bohemia
3.5 ⭐
The Adventure of the Red-Headed League
3.5 ⭐
A Case of Identity
3.5 ⭐
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
4 ⭐
The Five Orange Pips
4.5 ⭐
The Man with the Twisted Lips
4 ⭐
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
4 ⭐
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
4 ⭐
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
2.5 ⭐
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
3.5 ⭐
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
3 ⭐
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
4 ⭐
This was the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories that I read! I was quite surprised by how short each of the mysteries were, and how fast they flew by. But I did enjoy them. I loved seeing the deduction at work, and it was iconic finally reading about the duo. From the speech I could easily tell that the BBC casting for the series had been done so well. I felt like the endings were a bit too abrupt at times, and sometimes the stories felt quite short. I did like what characterisation I read, but I didn't fall head over heels in love with either Holmes or Watson like I expected to. Loved the plots to the mysteries and the solving of them though!
Not particularly exciting as they're all short stories, but quite well written and Sherlock Holmes is always cool.
I don't know if subconsciously I had heard these stories before, but the mystery in a lot of these mysteries didn't seem so mysterious.
If you remove “someone impersonating someone else” and “we know who did it and why, the only surprise is the specific details of the murder that you can only kind of guess at with the detail provided” then you rule out the vast majority of these stories.
But to be fair ‘Scandal in Bohemia' was great, and I may be coming in with grandfathered expectations.
I'm really happy I gave Doyle a second chance because I quite enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if it was the lack of Sherlock or that I wasn't in the mood at that time but I read The Hound... last year and I didn't enjoy it very much. I might give it another go some other time.
This collection of short stories, on the other hand, was very entertaining. As any other recollection, there were some stories I loved (A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Red-Headed League and The Adventure of the Speckled Band) some that I enjoyed (A Case of Identity, The Five Orange Pips and The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet) and some that were just fine (The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches).
But basically, I liked reading the different Sherlock/Watson interactions throughout the book very much. I went into this book expecting something similar to the relationship Poirot and Hastings have and was pleasantly surprised to find that our Baker Street boys, as Mark Gatiss called them (I freaking LOVED his introduction! You can tell that he adores the world of Sherlock Homes and he made me want to read more stories), actually care about each other.
I loved how Doyle created the Sherlock character as well. He's got an amazing amount of traits and little details that make him such a complex character. I loved reading about Sherlock's mannerisms and also about the disguises he used in the different cases.
In conclusion, I'm very pleased to have given Sherlock another chance. I'm going to continue reading as well as collecting the BBC Sherlock editions because I think they are gorgeous!