Loading...
138th out of 154 books
—
75 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Patient's Eyes: The Dark Beginnings Of Sherlock Holmes
by
David Pirie
David Pirie gained rave reviews for his screenplay depicting the "real" Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Joseph Bell, in the two part, Edgar-nominated TV series Murder Rooms. Treading that same critically acclaimed ground, The Patient's Eyes is the first in a stand-alone cycle of novels written from Doyle's point of view that include a whole new perspective on the adventures...more
Paperback
Published
by Pegasus Books
(first published 2001)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
217)
I have been looking for a series for quite some time now without any luck. While 'The Patient's Eyes' is the first in a trilogy rather than a series I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading all three books by David Pirie.
Pirie, a longtime fan of Arthur Conan Doyle, writes the fictional memoir of Doyle's early experiences as a medical student of Joseph Bell's at the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Bell is widely believed to be the...more
Pirie, a longtime fan of Arthur Conan Doyle, writes the fictional memoir of Doyle's early experiences as a medical student of Joseph Bell's at the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Bell is widely believed to be the...more
It might have been a better idea for me to read more Sherlock Holmes stories before reading this fictional take on Arthur Conan Doyle and his supposed inspiration, Dr. Joseph Bell. I've read a handful, here and there, over the years, so I recognized Holmes' famed methodology in Bell, but I do wonder if I missed any references due to not being more well-read. I should have read my two complete volumes of Sherlock Holmes stories first, but those are packed away in storage, and this book was sittin...more
"The Patient's Eyes" is the first novel in a series about Arthur Conan Doyle. I inadvertently read the third novel ("The Dark Water") first and although I liked it well enough (4.0), I wanted to begin the series in proper order. The author previously wrote the screenplays for two BBC made for TV movies, "Murder Rooms" and "Murder Rooms: The Patient's Eyes" later shown on PBS in the US. The majority of his career has been as a critic and writer of myster...more
This epitome of apocryphal Sherlockiana (Doyle-iana?) has been reviewed at length by people more accomplished, and by professionals who know how to award marks as well as how to deduce them while reviewing a work. Alas, an ignoramus like me can only go ga-ga (not the Lady, of course) over something if he likes it, otherwise simply forget it and condemn the work (and often the author, as well) to the dungeon. This book belongs to the former category. I loved it, esp. the deeply disturbing images ...more
It's not about Holmes. Wait, oh, it sort of is...??? OK then. It's not as Holmsey as you think, it's more uh Doylinian and Belian...(I made that up on the fly) but it's got Holmes sprinkled in with it. Props to the author for taking a different route then the lousy, burned crispy pastiche, but then again, some parts of it were like Sherlock Holmes looped on replay, given the new name of Bell, cut straight out of the original canon. There's a scene with a cyclist pretty much the same as the solit...more
This novel begins with a disclaimer that not much is known about the early life of Sir Conan Doyle, and goes on to provide Pirie's imagined details. Has anyone read a biography of Sir Conan Doyle? I think it would be fascinating to obtain facts, then observe where Pirie has added his own padding. Much of the novel pertains to a particular patient Doyle treats. Pirie uses a professor of Doyle's (Dr. Bell - real? imagined by Pirie?) to provide instruction in the method we see in Doyle's Sherlo...more
I was a little ways into this book when I realized it was, in part, the basis for an excellent film I viewed last year ("Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle).
David Pirie's debut novel introduces Scots medical student Arthur Conan Doyle to his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell ... and several years later involves them both in a difficult case when Doyle receives a copy of one of his Sherlock Holmes stories with an address annotated in the middle of an illustration. The case closely parallels "The ...more
David Pirie's debut novel introduces Scots medical student Arthur Conan Doyle to his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell ... and several years later involves them both in a difficult case when Doyle receives a copy of one of his Sherlock Holmes stories with an address annotated in the middle of an illustration. The case closely parallels "The ...more
view 1 comment
David Pirie has done a most commendable job. He writes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's days as a med student at Edinburgh University and as a newly minted physician. Moreover he writes about Dr Bell the man claimed to be the model for Holmes.
It's a skillfully written book that catches you up & takes you on a journey of discovery. It challenges the gray matter too with codes and considerations.
Looking forward to reading others by Pirie.
It's a skillfully written book that catches you up & takes you on a journey of discovery. It challenges the gray matter too with codes and considerations.
Looking forward to reading others by Pirie.
One star for being able to write very well in Doyle's voice. For the rest of it -- no. I read my first Holmes book when I was 9, fell in love, and still with all their faults consider them the best fiction I've read. This story seemed familiar somehow, perhaps it was the very good writing in Doyle's style, but it was so very dark and violent that I really won't be reading anything else the author writes.
This book drove me nuts. The plot was so familiar, but I knew I hadn’t read it before. Then it hit me. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a very similar story entitled The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist in 1904. Pirie takes Doyle’s premise and runs with it. I hope all his books aren’t going to be a rip-off of the Master’s work.
It was interesting to think of the Dr. Joseph Bell character in this series was the forerunner for the Sherlock Holmes character. There were many similarities.
There was a jaw-dropping conclusion.
There was a jaw-dropping conclusion.
This was a nice little mystery, though I'm sure I would've gotten more out of it if I had read any Sherlock Holmes, or at least seen the movie, but it was still good with an ending I didn't see coming.
There have been many attempts to emulate Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales—some better than others, none quite up to the original.
David Pirie, a screenwriter, has approached the subject from another angle. See my complete review on Amazon.
David Pirie, a screenwriter, has approached the subject from another angle. See my complete review on Amazon.
Fascinating mystery in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle ... but there are a lot of loose threads left ... a cliff hanger ... ready for part two.
Olivia
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Sherlock Holmes fans, mystery readers
There are hundreds and hundreds of badly written Sherlock Holmes knock-offs out there. This is not one of them. Pirie is a brilliant writer, and has effectively created a novel that feels authentic and true. This is written as if my Doyle, telling the "secrets" of his life before writing Holmes. It's so good that you often find yourself catching echoes of Holmes stories and thinking, "Oh, that's where he got the idea for that story!" Then you suddenly realize, "oh, ...more
Not the best re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes I've ever read, but it was atmospheric and satisfying.
Arthur Conan Doyle and his mentor, and maybe real life inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, are the main characters in this novel. It is Doyle writing his memories of meeting Dr. Bell and one of their earlier adventures. I thought the story was very atmospheric and the ending totally surprised me.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Dodo
marked it as ordered
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
