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Having just breakfasted with Watson (our usual soft boiled egg, toast with marmalade, and tea), I find that it is time to dispense with our first 3 CLUES.
There will be 3 words given as a hint to each Holmes story we (the Baker Street Bibliophiles) will be reviewing next.
Without further adieu, the 3 hints for our very first review are:
Crop. Revenge. St. Bart's
There you have it, intrepid sleuths. Guess away ... what Holmes story may this refer to? Answer will be posted in approximately 2 to 3 days!
Hark! Is that someone at the bell? Pray, Mrs. Hudson, clear away these breakfast things and show our caller in ...
BSB
I have read all the stories, too; but mostly ages ago, so this will be a big refresher for me.
So come on, someone, please try to guess the story ... ;)
Greatly looking forward to the trip!
In the meantime, we thought it would be nice to simply introduce ourselves a little:
4EverBonded (and we could also say, 4EverBakerStreet) ~
I am one of the older members on this site. I grew up in the 60's, early 70's, in the Land Before Time - I mean the world before cell phones, chat rooms, and personal computers. I used to play outside - safely - in my neighborhood, climbing trees, skateboarding, making a tree house, riding bikes (and later on a unicycle), listening to The Beatles, and dreaming of traveling the world with Jacques Cousteau (whose tv specials I adored). Yet one thing was different about me, aside from being the shortest, blondest tomboy around - I nearly always had a book in my hands (yes, even on the unicycle). I have loved reading stories since before first grade and that has been my lifelong habit and blessing. Try reading a book while perched in a tree sometime; it is rather especially relaxing and fun.
Anyway, one day this very middle class, white bread kind of girl went to school and made a Great Discovery. The name was Holmes. Sherlock Holmes.
Yes, I remember quite well my first introduction to Sherlock Holmes. It was in junior high school, I think 7th grade (possibly 8th), in my English class. We were given The Speckled Band to read as a class assignment. I went to the library, checked out a copy, and read it, already intrigued by the cover but having no clue as to Holmes (I hadn't seen any movies yet). I think I was 11 years old.
Well, suffice to say the very English setting, the eerie atmosphere, the grotesqueness of the villain - it just drew me in like a thick London fog. And piercing through this story was an incredibly unique character, the likes of which I had never come across before: a brilliant genius, who lived on Baker Street and called himself a "consulting detective." His noble friend Watson, steady by his side. All set in Victorian England (land of my ancestors).
I thrilled to this story, and loved the way that the cleverness of Holmes was revealed to the reader. The icing on this very satisfying new cake was that I then learned there were TONS more of these stories! Oh the pure undiluted joy, to find a treasure trove so chock-full of more thrilling adventures! Adventures steeped in such heady atmosphere, with fun and intriguing characters. Some stories were short, some much longer. It was like I was given an entire smorgasbord of great literature - a genuine gift I have appreciated all of my life.
Now whenever I travel, or even just around town, I always have a book in my backpack. If I take a longer trip, I nearly always throw in one of my huge volumes of Sherlock Holmes stories. I never tire of them. Grand companions they are, Holmes and Watson ~ ones I treasure and always keep close to me.
"HOLMES AND I"
Much like one of Conan Doyle’s celebrated tales, the history between Holmes and I is one steeped in mystery. Surprisingly, his image is so well known that I can’t say for sure how or when I first picked up a Holmes story nonetheless where I first saw that iconic silhouette of a man with a deerstalker atop his head and a calabash pipe in his mouth. This is due to the fact that Holmes has done something of great rarity, because he is such a renown character that he encapsulates his entire genre and fiction itself. There are so many like him that were birthed by talent long before Sir Arthur, yet Holmes is the one we all instantly recognize. Why is that? It is a question I often ponder in the quite hours. Why, out of all the detectives both past and present is he the identifiable figure upon which we honor with the title of “the greatest detective fiction has ever known?”
To answer that I guess I must first tell you my story, though I must confess it isn’t one full of intrigue and murder in the damp and foggy nights of Victorian England. As I have said, Holmes is a character that I have always known, at a time where I was ignorant of his personality, the content of the stories and what the characters we like. For years I am sure I stared at his silhouette, and never once thought anything of it, and surely never foresaw myself becoming the massive fan I am today. So to give an estimation, my official start with Holmes was likely in a bargain bookstore. At the time I had aged quite well, and having always been the more mature margin of my age group I was a reader and enjoyed jumping into other worlds with characters that interested me. As with any trips of mine to look for books, I wandered between the aisles for a long period of time until my eyes fell upon the spine of an interesting collection. It was some book collection featuring a dozen or so Holmes stories, and on the front was the classic image of the eponymous character in a deerstalker looking intriguingly mysterious. That image was forever stuck into my head from that moment on, and I guess I have to thank the dear Sidney Paget for that. With every book that catches my gaze and alerts my senses, I pick it up and at this moment I was not only enamored by the tangible book itself, but also the seductive smell of the pages, enticing me to read them. It may shock you to hear it, but I didn’t but the book that day. Looking back, I can’t understand why I didn’t, but maybe I felt at that moment that I was too young and unprepared to handle the classic literature incased between the front and back cover of the book and so I placed it back.
As fate would have it, I had grown up a little since that young boy wandering the book section and had read a few classics by the time I was deep into my high school years. I read Stevenson, Fitzgerald, Harper Lee, and Wells amongst others, but the one that really got me interested in classics was Dumas and his “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo.” While I didn’t pick up on all the substance the novels had to offer due to either my ignorance of some of the history they were set against or the sheer size and intimidation of the texts themselves as I read my way through them, my joy at the rousing adventures in them was unmistakable. Looking for more of those kinds of tales in classic literature was a journey I enjoyed, and I had collected many classic novels that I had read (and some I still have yet to read) by the time I went on an annual visit to my dear grandmother’s one summer some years back. During that visit, as I took a trip to yet another bookstore, fate had her way with me. After scanning the shelves intensely, I picked out some Jules Verne, and before pulling away I also picked out another book, a collection like the one I held in my hands all those years ago. On the cover there was a picture of a man in what seemed to be a life or death struggle with an adversary whose back was turned from my view. The man whom I could see seemed to be in control of the fight which appeared to be staged on a ledge near a waterfall, and had hawk-like features with an impressive chin and was dressed in Victorian garb. That’s right, he was the famous Mr. Sherlock Holmes. And so, it was that summer that I began to really get into the novels and who the character was. I was enamored with Holmes and Watson, mystified by “The woman”, entertained by Mycroft, amused by Lestrade and so much more. Doyle’s writing was so masterful, so juicy and eloquently spread. His syntax rivaled that of Shakespeare in my mind, and that is quite a compliment considering his first profession was that of a physician. In addition, Sidney Paget’s famous illustrations impressed my creative mind, and helped me visualize all the great adventures I was leafing through. I spent hours upon hours lounging around and reading, joyed at rereading the mysteries and studying who Holmes was and what made him tick, and felt my heart flutter at even a small mention of Holmes on the TV or by someone near me. I also went beyond the stories and found TV and films adaptions of Holmes, those being the Brett Granada series, the Ritchie films and of course, the masterpiece BBC Sherlock series.
So, with all this in mind, what makes Holmes a character I instantly fell for? Well, there are many reasons, things I could write a book length paper on, but for this instance I will keep it rather brief. First and foremost, I find we connect to characters that we can relate to, and just like Spiderman and Batman before him, that was one of the draws I had with Sherlock. I have always been the reserved type, one not too eager to socialize and not the most approachable chap. I could go so far as to label myself as an “outsider” of sorts, but I have never felt bad about being different and in fact I fully embrace all that makes me unique, like my love of old literature, classic film and my contempt of cell phones, texting and social networking. I had a rough patch in my early teens as well, which could be seen as a state of depression, where I just didn’t feel comfortable with the world around me and quite lost, and I still don’t feel that differently at this present time. I was at a point where I knew my childhood would soon be ending, and society would expect me to go to college, graduate and be a responsible individual with all these various demands to uphold. To be frank, I didn’t know what to expect. The future seemed dreadful and I tried my best to stop time and stay in the present. Granted, as I have aged since then and been through my first year of college, I again see that things are never as bad as they may seem. Regardless, I just wanted to give an idea of my state of mind in my early teens. At that moment in my life I was quite troubled and felt alone in many ways. In this way, I felt a connection to Holmes and how he is often the solitary type, and more a man of action than of words.
And just as Holmes had Watson, I had my own best friend who is quite honestly one of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. My early teens progressing into my later teens weren’t easy at times for me mentally, but every step of the way my friend was there for me. We each have the same interests in not only Holmes and Bond, but also in classic film and cinema in general as well as centuries old literature and I was finally able to have intelligent conversations about everything from politics, religion and more with someone who shared my interests and also my conflictions in life. I am who I am today because of his influence, and none of the money in the world could ever repay that debt I owe him, though knowing him he would say that friends never owe each other anything. It is the duty of friends to do all they can for each other, not because they are obligated to, but because they love the other person who is in need of help. So, realizing the relationship I have always had with my friend, I instantly related to what Holmes and Watson have. Two men not known to be that sociable, both damaged in some way, coming together because they complemented each other and formed henceforth the greatest relationship the world has ever known.
In addition, I have always loved mysteries and thrillers, especially the challenge of unraveling a mystery, so that is yet another thing that has attracted me to the stories. In fact, Holmes himself is an enigma placed in a mystery, wrapped in a puzzle, tied with a riddle and labeled with a question mark. We know everything of his methods, yet nothing of the man save what Watson is able to deduce. That is one of the biggest reasons why I love these stories and Doyle so mcu. He created such interesting characters with such depth and fascination that you can’t help but adore their mystery and who they are. Holmes is eccentric and quite theatrical at times and at others may seem quite uneasy for his beliefs, yet at the end of the day you know that he is a man of the law with a good head on his shoulders. He sees himself as the great protector of London in a way, especially in the case of Professor Moriarty who he was prepared to die defeating if it meant London’s security. There is also a tie-in there with who Bond is, and the sense of duty that they both share as a character trait. I love these types of figures that will step into the line of fire for people or institutions that are of great importance to them, and so I also love that about Holmes. Watson, the other side of this great partnership is also unmistakably amazing all in his own way. He is our eyes, our ears, our view into the mind of Holmes and the criminal battleground that is Victorian England, a period that has always fascinated me (and in part thanks to Conan Doyle). He is the resilient man of medicine, the dutiful scribe, and the caring comrade of the man we all hold so dear in our minds. Together they symbolize just why I have loved them and the stories. They stand for the iron fist of justice, the adrenaline of adventure, the magnificence of mystery and most importantly of all, the power of friendship.
It is quite easy to see that once Holmes is stuck on you, he will never let you go, and for that I am comforted. As the years go on I will constantly be reading and rereading Conan Doyle, reliving these great adventures and containing as much knowledge about them and the characters themselves as my brain will allow before it explodes from exceeding capacity. Rest assured, wherever this crazy world takes me, I will always have some kind of Holmesian text with me, held close to my heart. The endless numbers of stories, novels, essays, texts, and more about Holmes, Watson, Conan Doyle and the rest of the canon and beyond means that the fun is endless. I will enjoy these stories and these fantastic characters for hours upon hours, days upon days, months upon months, years upon years and decades upon decades as my life goes on. To be quite elementary, as Holmes would say, ever since I picked up that collection in the bookstore and he barreled his way into my life, I have never been the same, and for that I consider myself to be eternally grateful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I, for one, was very interested to read about how you came to enjoy Sherlock Holmes and these great stories' influence on your life. It is very nice for me to learn more about you in this way. I can certainly relate to some things you said, too.
Also, you make an interesting note about Holmes and James Bond - both are patriotic to the core, willing to do their utmost and even to die if necessary to save their country (as well as individuals they care about). Both are brilliant and innovative and certainly men of action when action is called for (to put it mildly in Bond's case). Both have influenced my life, too, as well as provided me with countless hours of wonderful entertainment.
I am really looking forward to reading more about our other Baker Street Bibliophiles, our merry band of Holmes reviewers. Thanks to all!
Tea and scones, anyone? I am just in the mood. :)
Also, I realized that we BSB are in at least 3 different time zones! So we will all be posting at different times, too. I think it just keeps things interesting.
What got me hooked on Holmes though, was that something compelled me to read Hound of the Baskervilles. I honestly can't remember what. I probably liked the look of the cover, or quite possibly it was a Grade school reading assignment, although if I had to guess, I think I probably did stumble across it somewhere and was intrigued by the cover. Anyway I couldn't put it down, once I got going. It scared the heck out of me. Best book I ever read to that point in time. The old black-and-white film came on tv around the same time too. The movie version was really well done I thought. So after my experience with the Hound, I just kept working my way through the various Holmes story collections, as I came upon them. I think what was so fascinating about Holmes primarily, was how skilled he was at unraveling clues and solving the mysteries. I used to like how the mysteries would all come together. The fact that the books were written from Watson's perspective helped too, as we the reader could relate to Watson, another mere mortal, trying to keep up with Holmes brilliance.
The great Holmes hook though I think, has always been his trick of deducing so much info, just from a quick once over. That was fascinating stuff for the reader. It was almost like magic, but magic that we got to experience, and then have explained.
I really enjoyed reading about how you came to know and appreciate Holmes. I agree it definitely helped the stories a lot that Watson was the narrator, we got the info through him. I think there were maybe 2 stories where Holmes did his own storytelling and it wasn't nearly as satisfying. Yes, I think the "great Holmes hook" as you say is his blindingly quick analyzing, deducing from minimal facts or a glance so many things that turn out to be true.
Holmes and Watson are a great team, one of the most memorable in literature for sure.
I hope other MI6 members join us to share their own Holmes stories, what their favorites are, how they became a Holmes fan, etc.
She did say that she had no idea if her charactor would return as she only appeared in one of the novels. But her charator was still alive at the end of her particular episode. Godd news indeed! :-bd
Very good news indeed. I wonder if it is true what I heard about her and BC :-?
Not sure? ;)) With her very alluring looks though i would not mind seeing her in a Bond movie!
As Bond stories are often criticised for being all the same I wondered if there are other Holmes stories that are rehashes?
Also is it just me or is Moriarty's status as a legendary villain not borne out in the Final Solution where the guy appears for just 2 pages and we largely just have Holmes say so that he is the master criminal he is supposed to be.
Certainly a far cry from Blofeld.
I agree, Wizard. Although I think the fact that he was the man who killed Sherlock Holmes must have been a huge contributing factor...
It's interesting that most modern adaptations of The Canon retcon Moriarty's villainy and feed him into earlier stories as the mastermind behind the scenes in order to build up his status as Holmes' archenemy. The Jeremy Brett series, the Guy Ritchie films and "Sherlock" have certainly all done this ("Sherlock", in particular)
To those who have been discussing Moriarty's villainy, Conan Doyle only created him to kill Holmes so that is why we don't get more stories leading up to The Final Problem that feature Moriarty's crimes. It wasn't like Doyle had some grand idea to give his famous detective a nemesis. Holmes was keeping him from what he saw as better writing, like historical novels, and so he created Moriarty to kill "the beast." Like most of the supporting cast in these stories from characters like Mycroft to Irene and more (Moriarty included), Conan Doyle doesn't do much with them after their major appearance besides a mere mention after that one story they each largely feature in. Though, in just a couple dozen pages Doyle makes a fantastic villain pop off of the page, and tops anything we got from Blofeld, the only one even coming close being Telly's effort. I think the coolest thing about Moriarty is that he is seemingly just a normal professor of numbers and looks quite harmless, and you would never guess that he was a criminal mastermind. I love how Holmes interacts with him, and how they have this great mental chess game going on all the way leading up to their fight atop the falls. Thanks to brilliant writers, directors and actors Moriarty has since then been THE villain of the Holmes adaptions past and present, and almost always shows up in some capacity or another and in different shades. And since The Final Problem any hero is examined for his "Moriarty", the one villain that tests them more than any other and is truly their arch enemy above all others. I don't think Conan Doyle even realized how big an impact he was making when he was creating Moriarty for the purpose of killing off Holmes, but in the process he created one of the greatest villains to match his hero, and their contentious relationship is one of the most famous in all of fiction.
Oh, wait: only one person so far has tried a guess ... Please, gents and ladies, if you can take a moment do try to figure out which Holmes story we are reviewing first.
Again, the hints are: Crop. Revenge. St. Bart's
I will be posting the name of the story tomorrow, but it would be great if a couple of other people had a go at guessing. Thanks to all!
AND ~ @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7, I do agree with your post re Moriarty and why Doyle created him. I just love that Moriarty has become such an arch nemesis through films.
And you are right, @Sandy, it's so much fun for our intrepid hero (Holmes or Bond) to have an arch enemy, someone clever to match wits with. The films and tv adaptations have really made much more of Moriarty; and I am happy with that.
Dear Wizard (I just like saying that), I think there was not much duplication in the Holmes stories, but you are right about pointing out two of them. I haven't read much criticism or comment about Doyle "retreading" same ideas. But that is an interesting point and one I had not thought of before.
I'll have to guess "A Study in Scarlet." Jefferson Hope is on a mission of revenge and Watson and Holmes meet for the first time at St Bart's. It would certainly be a very suitable place to start!
We tried to be a bit obscure with the hints, yet they are all in the story. ;))
I don't think I will wait until tomorrow to give everyone the title, but I will wait a few more hours (it is nearly 6:00 a.m. in western Japan as I type this).
Anyone else have a go?
"Watson, the criminals defacing London at this current period are so very tiring. Their acts of treachery vary only hither and tither, blackmail and the theft of possessions being the most prominent. They act in such desultory spurts, never with a plot in mind or alibi to reinforce their innocent pleas before the courts should they indeed be found out, and they almost always lead a conspicuous trail of bread crumbs to the source of their very criminality. Yes, the age of great villainy is all but done, I fear."