Old Books, New Readers discussion

Greetings, readers! This month's book is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Put on your sleuthing caps and jump into adventure with us for this month's discussion. While your reading, here are some interesting points to ponder:

1. How do you think Holmes would be different if not for his addictions?
2. Did you spot a recurring theme in the stories, with parents and inheritance? Why did you suppose Doyle chose that topic?
3. What would you have liked to have seen differently if these stories were recounted by Holmes instead of Watson?
4. There are a dozen different stories in this collection. Which is the best, and why?
5. Were you able to guess any of the outcomes?

Don't let that limit you - chat it up and enjoy!

The parent/inheritance theme was very popular in the period. Look how many Edwardian and Victorian novels revolve around it.
There is at least one Holmes adventure recounted by Holmes himself. It is not entirely successful; Doyle clearly was more comfortable with Watson's voice. Also, it is easier to =describe= the actions of a superintelligent character than to write superintelligent.

#3
I think, the readers wouldn't be able to understand a single sentence! Holmes's threads of thought are intelligible only to himself! He took great effort and I think, sometimes was quite impatient and annoyed having to explain to Watson EVERYTHING!

I am very happy with this group's reading choice, because with all the movies and tv-series many people are forgetting the source! And I still think, the Sherlock described in the books is the best version of him!

#1: addiction
No, don't think Holmes would be different. I think his use of opium without consequence is an artistic liberty. He has other quarks also that just does not make sense in the real world.

He is in great physical shape, but never exert himself in exercise and training.

He thinks of his brain as an attic where he wants only knowledge and information pertinent to his sleuthing. No clutter allowed. We want to be well rounded in our knowledge.

In Holmes's world you can or he can deduce a lot from little or nothing. In our world, we would end up with many possibilities.

And this is what makes the literary world of Sherlock Holmes so enjoyable. His experiences and adventures may not be realistic, and that is ok.

Ok so I am four stories in and I am having trouble staying motivated. I will post more to follow but maybe I am just not a short story person. I like a little more story to get into. This is surprising because I was thinking I was really going to like this:(

#3. I think if the stories were in Holmes voice it would make it difficult for me to like him as a character. Watson is likable and his voice is someone I wouldn't mind having a conversation with. I think Holmes would be hard to relate to and I wouldn't care what he had to say. I could only stand being told how dumb I am for so long.

Totally agree Angela. Plus bragging about oneself gets old really fast also!

Angela wrote: "#3. I think if the stories were in Holmes voice it would make it difficult for me to like him as a character. Watson is likable and his voice is someone I wouldn't mind having a conversation with. ..."

I agree, Angela. Sherlock is not a social or likable person, and he's not really supposed to be, looking at the way he treats Watson and others at times.. Watson is like his translator, giving us the interesting stories and conclusions without the condescension.

#1 I think Holmes is brilliant and the opiates enable that. Most brilliance has to be fed with substance. A sort of freeing agent to allow the creative mind an opportunity to take control. I think Doyle used his drug addicted hero to solve the mysteries because the tame, rational, level headed Watson would never have been able to reach these conclusions in a realistic manner. The discombobulation of an altered train of thought made the assumptions and conclusions more tolerable. (I find these stories so much fun!)

I'm not sure I agree with addictions helping Holmes solve mysteries, but I do agree with you that they make him a more likable character. If he had absolutely no flaws I think he would irritate me. And since you mentioned it a form of self medicating. Hmmmm. If Holmes saw a therapist what do you think he'd be diagnosed with? Though he is competent I would not say he is ever really happy.

Ok folks, time for the rundown. Did yo like it? Finish it? How many stars would you give it. It was DNF for me. Apparently I am not as in love with Sherlock as I was a bright eyed teenager. Oh well maybe I will do better with Harper Lee or Nathaniel Hawthorn. lol

Holmes was more exciting for me as well, years ago. I rediscovered him with the help of my children. But as an adult, I admire him from a distance. And his arrogance just rankles me sometimes. But then, Watson got on my nerves sometimes as well, a kind of benevolent ignorance or some such thing.

I still love Holmes, but I do think you look at him with different eyes as an adult. As a kid, he was this mystery-solving superhero to me, but as an adult, he's a very flawed and fallible human. I don't think that's a bad thing though, and to me, it doesn't make the mysteries less fun - but I love a good mystery story too.

I still enjoy a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but as with so much else in life, a little goes a long way.

His arrogance does not bother me. In real life it would! What I look for in a story vs. what I look for in real life is different. In a story we need some eccentricity that very few could handle in their real life.

Brit, I think you're right about that. Besides, midddle aged women like me probably were not Doyle's main target audience.

I think that's a great point, Brit! There are many characters I enjoy reading about whom I would dislike in reality. I never thought about that!

What fascinates me about Holmes is what is not shown -- essentially any of his interior or emotional life. Watson alleges that he has none. It is impossible for us to accept this. Thousands of novels have been written supplying what is missing.

Here is my review of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It is part of my "catch up challenge" to read books that the readers in this post have already commented upon before I joined OBNR.

This is a very enjoyable read, in part because the stories are short and because all were serialized to be very readable for publication in The Strand (the Life of its day). It is also fascinating the way the character differences between Holmes and Watson play out. For example, in "The Five Orange Pips," Holmes refers to an episode early in their careers when Watson prepared a written analysis of Holmes' strengths and weaknesses. Some areas of knowledge, like astronomy and politics, were "marked at zero" but knowledge of "mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town" was marked as "profound." This tells me there is an odd familiarity between them that links them through both professional courtesy and deep respect. And despite Holmes' commitment to reason and analysis of minutiae, I think he very much admired Watson's dry conclusion that Holmes is a "self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco." Holmes merely says "...a man should keep his little brain-attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it."

I think my favorite stories were "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," and "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet." I liked the first because there is a clear hint of some kind of near-emotional connection Holmes has with whom he calls "the woman," namely Irene Adler. This of course begs for more extensive treatment. I liked the second because of the strong sympathy the McCarthy situation provokes in the otherwise unflappable Holmes, when he says "Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" Finally, I enjoyed the third one just to see Holmes' deductive prowess tested in order to prove his most famous statement at the end: "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

I read this book for my Catch Up Challenge. Enjoyed this book. It was written from Dr. Watson's perspective - which I found interesting. Each chapter is a self-contained separate adventure - so you could pick it up and put it down easily. It was fun trying to guess "who did it" for each adventure.

Diane wrote: "I read this book for my Catch Up Challenge. Enjoyed this book. It was written from Dr. Watson's perspective - which I found interesting. Each chapter is a self-contained separate adventure - so you..."

Yes, I liked that too. Each episode is neatly drawn as its own very distinct story, with few cross-overs to other stories. I think that was a natural consequence of how the stories were published one at a time, and not published together until later.

I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for my Catch Up Challenge 2023.
I'm glad, I finally managed to read this book. I feel that the figure of Sherlock Holmes has attained such a legendary status (with so many re-tellings and adaptations) that it is necessary to read the original source. And what a fun read this was. I thoroughly enjoyed these well plotted stories and was often surprised by the solution of the case at the end.
What struck me, by reading the stories one after the other, is how similar they are in structure. They usually begin with Watson and Holmes in Baker Street, then a client comes to visit and states the case and an initial deduction is made... Not only does this formal structure link the stories but it also creates a sense familiarity - at least that's how I felt.

Angie wrote: "I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for my Catch Up Challenge 2023.
I'm glad, I finally managed to read this book. I feel that the figure of Sherlock Holmes has attained such a leg..."
I like your explanation of the structure of these stories. I think another reason for this structure is simply due to the way they were often published, in monthly or or quarterly journals and magazines. Publishers often demanded this kind of structure to meet their own deadlines and readership interests. .