Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Oct 02, 2011

Kwesi 章英狮 rated it:

Sherlock Holmes become popular for decades and most of his adventures had been adapted to movies, graphic novels, animation and books related to him. But who's this guy who created the best detective of all time? Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scottish physician and a writer, created one of the best classic detectives. He was born weak when he was young and become alone most of his life but writing is never a hindrance on his part.

He was inspired to write Sherlock Holmes when he practice his More...

8 comments like (23 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2011

Jacob rated it:

Oh, Sherlock Holmes, where have you been all my life?

"Abstinence works!"
--Rick Perry

Murder! Intrigue! Theft! Blackmail! Here, in two novels and 36 stories, are some of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as recorded by his trusty friend and sidekick Dr. John Watson, from their first fateful meeting to Holmes's apparent death and surprising return, and beyond--featuring murderous Mormons, Klansmen without Konscience, mysterious American ladies with mysterious pasts, More...

8 comments like (23 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Mike rated it:

This is the first of a two volume set containing all Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s published works featuring Sherlock Holmes. Collected here in order of original publication, this first volume includes the first two novels (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four), followed by the first two collections of short stories (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes) and ends with the third novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Overall, it a wonderful collection featuring some of the More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Alison rated it:

It's amazing how much English literature became less dense between Austen, Dickens and Thackeray to Doyle. I admit I was avoiding reading this because I thought it would take the same level of time and commitment as a Dickens novel, but I was (pleasantly) surprised by how much easier it was to read.

I really enjoyed reading this compilation of four of Doyle's Holmes novels. It's easy to see why so many people love Sherlock Holmes and the books are so widely read.

However, More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Kathy rated it:

Since 8th grade I have been head over heals for Holmes. I guess I just like moody intellectuals. It is so intertaining to watch him demonstrate his superior intellect again and again. I am really glad I picked these up a B&N. It's great to have all of Sherlock Holmes in two volumes.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2011

John rated it:

While not exactly what I would call compelling reading, this is a nice collection of stories that are probably best enjoyed over breakfast, or perhaps on the subway ride to work. I know it's sacrilege, but I find Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories to be a bit underwhelming, though completely readable. They are expertly written, but very dry (after the British style of the day) and the setting up of each mystery usually takes about three times as long as the subsequent investigation and rendering More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Hope rated it:

Since I’ve been reading this off and on since February (yeah, that’s right, ten months!), I’ve forgotten a lot of particular criticisms and compliments for individual mysteries. So, although I can’t be exactly in-depth with this, I can account for the general, over-all feel of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

When I first started reading, I found it difficult to picture Holmes and Watson as younger men. They’re in their mid-30s, probably, but for some reason the tone of the book makes t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2008

Chris rated it:

Usually, I foolishly use all 10,000 available characters to ramble on pointlessly about lackluster fare including Owen Brookes’s “Inheritance”, Michael Hornburg’s “Downers Grove”, and Jack MacLane’s “Just Before Dark”; pedestrian trash with little substance that no one is ever going to bother reading, much less reading reviews on. These books are generally short and pointless, but I always have some tangent I feel I need to rap about, wasting my time and yours as well (the latter isn’t such a b More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2007

Jason rated it:

You wanna know why I love Sherlock Holmes so much? Really? And why I've read every novel and story Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote concerning the character, as well as many of the modern adventures and nearly all the film and TV adaptations? Because Sherlock Holmes is a magnificent a--hole. Seriously; because he's brilliant, and haughty, and doesn't affect a false modesty to appease any of the dimwitted swarm around him, and is actually rewarded for this in Conan Doyle's Victorian London world, in More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Geetika rated it:

Well, i am still due the second volume but this won't prevent me from writing a review for volume 1

To be honest, i am a dieheart sherlock Holmes fan and hence i am all praises for it. It is brilliant piece of work for people who basically enjoys the intelligent reading where while you reading your mind is also at work with the famous protagonist.

What makes it different from other novels or stories of the same genre is its basic approach toward the logic and inference. Th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2012

Heather rated it:

This is a collection of the Sherlock Holmes stories in order.

My summation: I like it.

It's classic literature. It's enjoyable to read not just for the stories contained within, but because of the tone and way its written. Watson narrates the goings on of Sherlock Holmes from his own perspective and it very much gives off that sort of feel. It's his perspective so we see what HE sees, and not necessarily what Sherlock sees... or rather... deduces.

Its always a fun t More...

0 comments like

Jul 27, 2011

Kate rated it:

Hardly the best thing written under the sun for a number of reasons:

-Occasionally dull passages, especially the entire back story to a Study in Scarlet

-Horrible blatant racism that can be attributed to the times

- The difficulty of the reader to only see through Watson's eyes... you always wind up feeling like it's impossible to understand Holmes.

But, for all the strikes the friendship that lies in between all of the mystery and crime is what makes the series interesting so far. Watson and Holmes More...

0 comments like

May 13, 2011

Kaydern rated it:

A delight to read! I suppose there are a reason some books become classics, and after reading it I can certainly see why the adventures of Sherlock Holmes are one such thing.

"The Hounds of Baskerville", unsurprisingly, is my favorite. "A Study in Scarlet" is the first of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories, and it's clear he doesn't have the pacing perfect yet. I was pretty confused when we jumped to Utah after the first part, and I was seriously More...

0 comments like

Jan 30, 2012

Christina rated it:

I'd read most of these stories already, but there were a few I needed to say "I've read them all!" I enjoy Holmes and Watson immensely. I don't get as put off Holmes' personality as many people do because some of his more bombastic-sounding statements strike me as merely Victorian rather than the product of a very difficult genius (maybe it's because I've read so much Dickens? I don't know). I'm not saying he isn't a genius, but he's definitely a product of his era. He even gets downri More...

0 comments like

Sep 19, 2010

Allie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jun 18, 2011

Mary Anne rated it:

It's not often that I can thank Barnes & Noble. So thank you, Barnes & Noble, for having a fantastic classics section in general and, specifically, two volumes devoted to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

I've never read any of Sherlock Holmes before. The funny story is that I saw the film (the 2009 version, directed by Guy Ritchie, and featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson) and was confused by two things: Sherlock Holmes has some boxing ability, a More...

0 comments like

Mar 02, 2011

Aaron rated it:

Okay, this volume compiles the first five published Sherlock Holmes in one collection.

I have rated each individual work like so:

A Study In Scarlet -- 3 stars
The Sign of Four -- 4 stars
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- 4 stars
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -- 3 stars
The Hound of Baskervilles -- 5 stars

This averages out to four stars.

The first selection segueways into a third person section that I don't think quite works. T More...

0 comments like

Oct 01, 2010

Sydney rated it:

Wow, there is a reason why these stories are so enduring. Everyone is familiar with at least some of Sherlock Holmes stories, or at least some of Sherlock Holmes' characteristics - he is the master of deductive reasoning - an eccentric man always accompanied by his long-suffering sidekick and friend Watson. But you realize when you read his stories (and there are many of them - more than 750 pages worth) that movies are still being made about this guy because the stories are really very well w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Adela marked it as to-read

I've only read A Study in Scarlet from this collection, which was my intention. I'd lean toward 4 stars but I can't say how the rest of the book turns out. I definitely want to read the rest of the book--which totally suprises me--but not right at the moment. I've always been anti-Sherlock Holmes. Turns out he's not so bad after all.

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2011

Toni rated it:

4 stars, why? The obvious, far too repetitive. I'm sure that when these where written they were wonderful works, most all of them. But alas, for the current reader they are far too repetitive, going through all of Holmes' methods every story. This begins to become tedious work reading about the exact same thing over and over again, understandably.

Overall though the stories where quite interesting, each giving insight into the brilliant mind of Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson. Hol More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 17, 2011

Kayla rated it:

I'll admit my interest was first piqued by the 2009 depiction of Holmes and Watson by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, but wow, these stories are entertaining. I love Holmes; for me there has rarely been a character I have found so beloved or identified with so readily (though it was more for his odd habits than his insightful observations). Each story in this volume follows a pretty standard formula of getting the case, investigating, and then solving (most of the time) but for some reason, it r More...

0 comments like

Mar 07, 2011

Heather rated it:

I read some of these a long time ago with Brandon, then just finished the rest on my own. I love Sherlock Holmes! His methods are so fascinating and entertaining, and I enjoy the writing style. I do think, though, that often Doyle was less concerned with accuracy than with sensationalism in the way he portrays other cultures. His depiction of Mormons in A Study in Scarlet was all you could expect, I suppose, from someone who had only heard rumors that had traveled across a continent and ocea More...

0 comments like

Aug 31, 2011

Jati rated it:

I've read this a very long time ago. both volumes were one of my first english language books and remain my favourite. i've probably read every single one of these stories over 60 times. in fact, im sure of it.

there's a reason why these stories are considered timeless classics, and holmes's science of deduction remains mesmerizing so long after these stories were first published.

i have to admit though, the short stories in this first volume was better in my opinion comp More...

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2011

El Galan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like

Feb 24, 2010

Kgreene rated it:

I love this book. Sherlock Holmes is such a well-known character purely from a name-recognition basis, but then when you read the stories and learn the extent of his idiosyncrasies you're introduced to a whole new man. I can't wait to continue on to Volume II...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 31, 2008

Sam rated it:

Such great stories. The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson slowly come alive as each case opens and closes. The longer more detaile cases keep you hanging on until the last page! Excellent!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Ari rated it:

First: This is the longest book I've ever read, I'm fairly certain.

In other news, this is was quite entertaining. At some points, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law popped into my head, but those were fairly forced guest appearances. I had no trouble seeing the characters independent of what Hollywood has made them out to be, which I always consider a success both on the author's part, and a little on my own.
The only time I considered taking a break from these stories was about ha More...

0 comments like

Aug 31, 2011

Dustin rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jul 21, 2011

Nathan added it

Sherlock is quite the complex character with many good/bad traits and is perhaps the most observant and quick-witted asexual man's man in history. I'm being concise and am forgetting many other aspects of the writing of Watson and Holmes as Arthur Conan Doyle inventively writes from both p.o.v.s and takes the reader for a headspin of mystery and pieces it together well before the reader has a clue and succinctly wraps it up neatly step by step that even a novice reader can comprehend how a crime More...

0 comments like

Dec 11, 2009

Kinga rated it:

This was one of my favorite books. I enjoy reading mystery books because while you are reading it you try to figure out what's going to happen. It gives more and more clues that make you want to read till the end. This is exactly how Sherlock Holmes is. He is a great detective I love the way he finds the clues and puts them all together. In these books, it's fun to try to put the clues together yourself even though you might be wrong. Sherlock won't stop till the end. This book just keeps you ha More...

0 comments like