Reading the Detectives discussion

I know he's a bit earlier than the 'Golden Age', but in many ways Conan Doyle is the one who started it all. I see we have several Sherlock Holmes fans in the group now, so here's a thread for his creator.

What are your favourite Holmes stories and also are there any particular editions you recommend? I'm hoping to read more of the stories this year so would be interested to know which are the best editions to go for.

I finished reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes a year or so ago. Overall, I think that the short stories are Conan Doyle's strength. However, The Hound of the Baskervilles is his best novel I think.

Thanks, Leslie. I did buy a complete short stories with illustrations a long while back but am not sure what happened to it (my daughter might have pinched it) - and also I think the print size might have been a bit small!

So the Kindle edition you linked to sounds quite tempting. I have read and enjoyed 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' but never got round to all the short stories.

Judy wrote: " I have read and enjoyed 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' but never got round to all the short stories. .."

Personally I think the short stories are better than the book length mysteries. Doyle is able to present the problem, show off Sherlock's acumen, and solve the mystery efficiently and without needing too much filler. More satisfying for me.

I was just looking on Audible at something completely different narrated by Simon Vance and discovered that he has also narrated The Complete Sherlock Holmes: The Heirloom Collection - I'm so tempted, but it's over 50 hours long!

Ruth wrote: "I was just looking on Audible at something completely different narrated by Simon Vance and discovered that he has also narrated..."

You could look into either The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Both have several audiobook editions I believe.

I'm almost at the end of reading one of the Complete works sets. It has been such a fun exciting read, it did take a bit because I read them before bed! I highly recommend them to all-especially this group. Let me break it down because you don't have to read the complete works all at once. There are4 novels and 5 books of short stories.
Novels
1 A Study in Scarlet - the most different one of them all, half the story in the middle is the back story of the people involved in the mystery. It was so different then the main mystery that I thought I was reading a different book. But in the end a great mystery solved by Holmes
2 The Sign of the Four
3 The Hound of the Baskervilles
4 The Valley of Fear

The Short Stories collection -be warned even though they are short and you can read one or two then read another book and pick up whenever-they are addicting and you might find yourself on a reading binge!
1 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
2 The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
3 The Return of Sherlock Holmes
4 His Last Bow
5 The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

I waited so long to read Sherlock Holmes because I was always scared of how big the book was-but wow-once I started I couldn't stop!!! Now go enjoy!

Barbara wrote: "I'm almost at the end of reading one of the Complete works sets. It has been such a fun exciting read, it did take a bit because I read them before bed! I highly recommend them to all-especially th..."

So glad that you finally got to enjoy the whole canon. I first read them all as a teen-ager and do keep coming back to them. Even when one knows the solution to the mystery, they still satisfy.

Barbara wrote: "I'm almost at the end of reading one of the Complete works sets. It has been such a fun exciting read, it did take a bit because I read them before bed! I highly recommend them to all-especially th..."

Thanks Barbara - that's a really useful summary. So is the story of how Watson first meets Holmes at the beginning of A Study in Scarlet?

Ruth wrote: "So is the story of how Watson first meets Holmes at the beginning of A Study in Scarlet? ."

Yes.

Check it out.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/244/24...

Everyman wrote: "Ruth wrote: "So is the story of how Watson first meets Holmes at the beginning of A Study in Scarlet? ."

Yes.

Check it out.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/244/24..."

Thanks Everyman.

Thanks so much for all the info, everyone. Barbara, that list of the novels and short stories is very useful.

I've just downloaded a collection for Kindle - in the end I went for this edition as it includes quite a bit of extra info and looks as if it will be easy to move around the book. Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories: Volumes I and II

I'm just reading A Study in Scarlet- I've read it before, but am enjoying the account of how Holmes and Watson meet and start their friendship.

I'd also forgotten how funny Conan Doyle can be. I laughed at his description of the spins the different newspapers put on a murder, with a Conservative and Liberal newspaper saying exactly the opposite to one another!

Really enjoying the collection and finding the short stories very moreish, as Barbara suggested.

I've just finished the first book of short stories, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and have been slightly surprised by how frightening some of the stories are, veering into the realm of horror at times - although, as I recently read a terrifying non-Holmes short story by Conan Doyle, maybe I shouldn't be surprised!

Would anyone recommend any good online Conan Doyle resources, or books about him?

I'm now on to The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and the first story in this one, The Silver Blaze, is a real standout.

I loved this quote: "Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson — which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than anyone would think who only knew me through your memoirs".

I was also surprised to see that " the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" is a quote from this story - I'd never realised it was a Holmes quote when Mark Haddon's book came out.

I think my favourite Sherlock Holmes short story was "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". I'm not sure why ... I don't know what it is about it that makes it stand out in my memory ahead of all the other works in the Sherlock Holmes oeuvre.

The first Holmes story I read was "The Hound of the Baskervilles"--unfortunately, at too young an age to properly appreciate it. I should have started with the short stories.

I've recently read 'Speckled Band' and must agree it is great. I think I read either 'A Study in Scarlet' or 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' first too, but am now much preferring the short stories to either of them.

It's hard to pick a favorite short story but if I had to I would choose the "The Red-Headed League". My favorite novel is "The Sign of Four".

Ooh yes, The Red-Headed League is excellent. I've also just read another very good one, The Crooked Man, and was surprised to find that in this one he very nearly says the phrase he famously never said, 'Elementary, my dear Watson'! He actually says 'my dear Watson' and then says 'elementary' a couple of lines later.

Intrigued by this, I did a quick bit of Googling and just found an interesting article about the phrase - apparently P.G. Wodehouse first used the phrase in a Psmith book, where Psmith misquotes Holmes!

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.p...

Still reading my way through the canon, and I was very surprised to see that Holmes gets briefly engaged to a housemaid called Agatha, while he is disguised as a plumber, in one of the stories in The Return of Sherlock Holmes! I had no idea that he ever had a sweetheart in any of the stories.

Judy wrote: "Still reading my way through the canon, and I was very surprised to see that Holmes gets briefly engaged to a housemaid called Agatha, while he is disguised as a plumber, in one of the stories in [..."

Wow -- I had forgotten that. Do you remember exactly which story?

It's The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton - a good story, but I was particularly intrigued by this aspect!

I just started reading Holmes and am officially hooked. I don't understand why it took me so long to finally read these works but I am so glad I did because I can't get enough. It's so hard to pick which stories I like best since I personally enjoy them all immensely but I would have to say I enjoy these the most in no particular order
The Empty House
A Study in Scarlett
A Case of Identity
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
The Man With the Twisted Lip
So far these are the only ones I can narrow it down to. I still have some more stories to read so I'm sure that list will become longer. Holmes has to be my favorite detective.

I certainly agree with you about "Empty House" and "Musgrave Ritual". I also like "Three Garridebs" although almost any are good.

Betsy wrote: "I certainly agree with you about "Empty House" and "Musgrave Ritual". I also like "Three Garridebs" although almost any are good."

I haven't read "Three Garridebs" yet so I will definitely look out for that one!

I really don't think there's a bad story in the bunch. I do, though, like the short stories more than the novels.

I've just reread 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and, although I do prefer the short stories, I really enjoyed the novel too and am struck by just how influential it was - its echoes can be seen in several of the Golden Age novels I've read recently.

I'm not sure which my favourites are out of the shorter stories so far, as they are all so good, but I did really like 'The Red-Headed League'.

Judy wrote: "I've just reread 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and, although I do prefer the short stories, I really enjoyed the novel too and am struck by just how influential it was - its echoes can be seen in..."

I agree; while the novels can seem to drag a bit at times, I always find myself enjoying them as much as the short stories. I can't really choose one over the other.

I read the first Sherlock Holmes novel and then stalled, as I did not enjoy it much. I know, I know! My husband is a huge Holmes fan and really hoped I would love them. However, perhaps I gave up too soon and maybe I was younger then. I would like to give him another try at some stage - how do you think it is best to read these? Should you read the books in order, or begin with the novels? Does the order you read the books in matter, do you think?

I think it's best to read 'A Study in Scarlet', the first novel, first since it has Holmes and Watson meeting. But you've already read that one...

After that the stories jump around a lot in terms of chronology, so I think the order doesn't matter too much probably, but I've found it easiest to read through them in order of publication in a collected edition and am really enjoying them! Might be best to try one or two of the short stories which are said to be the best and see if that hooks you. :)

The last short story in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes definitely needs to be read before the first one in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, though, as they follow straight on from one another.

Judy wrote: "I think it's best to read 'A Study in Scarlet', the first novel, first since it has Holmes and Watson meeting. But you've already read that one...

After that the stories jump around a lot in terms..."

Yeah I agree. The only novel I think that is important to read first is "A Study in Scarlet", the rest, as Judy says, jumps around chronologically. I also suggest reading a couple of short stories before hand, there are so many to choose from so maybe one will peak your interest so the rest of the novels won't be a drag to read!

That's interesting. Maybe I will try a couple of short stories, or re-read A Study in Scarlet, as I read that ages ago.

Judy wrote: "I think it's best to read 'A Study in Scarlet', the first novel, first since it has Holmes and Watson meeting. But you've already read that one...

After that the stories jump around a lot in terms..."

I agree that it's best to read the first chapter or two of A Study in Scarlet early on, but I think the second half of the book is incredibly weak and has nothing to do with Holmes and Watson, so I would read the start of that, then move on to the short stories. It does, I think, help to read them generally in order since there is some character development, particularly in Watson's life.

A Study in Scarlet was basically ignored when it first came out. It wasn't until the short stories started coming that it got attention.

I always struggle with short stories, but I know that during the GA, so many of 'our' authors wrote for magazines. They were bread and butter for Agatha Christie, certainly. I suppose books were expensive, and usually most readers used libraries to source them, whereas they purchased magazines?

Short stories in magazines, whether mysteries or not, used to be very common both in the UK and in the US. A reader could read a short story in a magazine while waiting in a doctor's office for example. So I think their popularity wasn't just due to the monetary cost but also the time involved. And remember, magazines fulfilled a lot of the functions that TV does now - celebrity gossip, fashion & advertisements, puzzles, etc as well as news.

I think Doyle's writing seems to be especially well suited to short stories, with the puzzle being posed and then the brilliant solution. Once I'd read a few stories and got myself hooked, I then decided to read through the canon in order!

The novels feel a bit padded by comparison with the stories and I'd have to agree with Everyman that the beginning of 'A Study in Scarlet' is much better than the end.

The same applies to The Valley of Fear where again there is a lot of back story which doesn't involve Holmes, though I thought the second half of that one was much better. Must say I absolutely loved the first few pages of that novel, though, which has a lot of very funny interchange between Holmes and Watson.

When I finish reading the Holmes stories, I'll have to seek out Doyle's other books too - would anyone recommend any of his other stories/novels?

Answering my own question... I just found this page about Doyle beyond Holmes, which mentions some titles that sound quite interesting:
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/books/sherl...

I'd forgotten that he wrote The Lost World, which was the inspiration for Jurassic Park - not sure if that appeals to me so much, though.

I'm in no way a Holmes expert, but I think his novels were a way for him to express his other literary "talents". In what I have learned about Doyle, he wasn't fond of Sherlock and thought he had more to offer, so I think the novels reflect his experimenting with something besides Sherlock...maybe.

Rebecca wrote: "I'm in no way a Holmes expert, but I think his novels were a way for him to express his other literary "talents". In what I have learned about Doyle, he wasn't fond of Sherlock and thought he had m..."

Yes, he saw himself as a serious novelist, and thought Sherlock, while it paid well, wasn't serious writing and interfered with his ability to write real books. He would have been distraught to see how Sherlock has taken over almost his whole literary persona!

Hahaha! So true!

Very interesting! It seems as if he couldn't tear himself away from the character, though, as he kept writing more stories after Sherlock had supposedly retired... but maybe that was pressure from the publisher.

Has anyone read a good biography of Doyle? He seems to have had a fascinating life so I'd be interested to read one.

I love biographies of authors, Judy. Am currently reading a book about Lewis Carroll and it is absolutely fascinating.

I would say pressure from the publisher and the public. People wanted more Sherlock Holmes ... they still do.

Judy wrote: "Very interesting! It seems as if he couldn't tear himself away from the character, though, as he kept writing more stories after Sherlock had supposedly retired... but maybe that was pressure from ..."

Actually, pressure from the public. They wouldn't let him stop writing them!

I think Christie had a same thing with Poirot. She got a bit fed up with him, but sometimes characters take on a life of their own, don't they?

Recently finished the complete works of Sherlock Holmes; a bit sad it is all over, but already looking forward to a re-read. I can't believe it took me so long to finally pick up Sherlock but I am so glad I did.

They are great stories!

Rebecca wrote: "Recently finished the complete works of Sherlock Holmes; a bit sad it is all over, but already looking forward to a re-read. ."

They are just as delightful on re-reading. I've probably re-read some a dozen times or so over my lifetime and still go back to them, especially for a book to take with me while waiting in the doctor's office.

Roisin wrote: "They are great stories!"

I agree! Most entertaining mysteries I have read in a long time. I could not get enough!