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The Adventures and the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The illustrations for this series were created by Scott McKowen, who, with his wife Christina Poddubiuk, operates Punch & Judy Inc., a company specializing in design and illustration for theater and performing arts. Their projects often involve research into the visual aspects of historical settings and characters. Christina is a theater set and costume designer and co...more
Hardcover, 576 pages
Published
October 1st 2004
by Sterling
(first published 1924)
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Oh, Holmes. I know you can be a miserable bastard but I love you so. Even though the actual crimes and solutions are not overly interesting, your nonchalant badassness and cutting wit when solving crimes keeps me coming back. Also, you're best in short stories. Novels allow Doyle too much time to write long, boring descriptions. I love you the most when you're short and snappy. And you're so much better than all the derivative brilliant but flawed (and often misanthropic) investigators on TV now...more
Sherlock Holmes is possibly the greatest of literary detectives. He is certainly the one who has penetrated deepest into the public consciousness, a position in which he has been firmly lodged for over a century now, with no sign of departing any time soon. This volume is a compendium of two collections of short stories and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Holmes fits the short story genre perfectly, with setup, analysis and denouement all coming swiftly, one after the other.
It's been many years s...more
It's been many years s...more
Dec 03, 2012
Paul
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
mystery lovers
Shelves:
crime-and-mystery
this book is wonderfull
i love Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson they are what true mysterys are about. Sherlock is a peculiar fellow he sees the smallest details in every case he takes on. He dosent work for scotland yard he is a consulting private detective people come to him and he helps them always beter then the police because the police have to go off facts and evidence Mr. Holmes goes off his instinct and like i said the smallest details maby it would be the ash of a pipe or the tobacco smel...more
i love Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson they are what true mysterys are about. Sherlock is a peculiar fellow he sees the smallest details in every case he takes on. He dosent work for scotland yard he is a consulting private detective people come to him and he helps them always beter then the police because the police have to go off facts and evidence Mr. Holmes goes off his instinct and like i said the smallest details maby it would be the ash of a pipe or the tobacco smel...more
Found this book on the shelf during vacation and enjoyed running through many of the stories. I enjoyed the short procedural format and clever plot construction.
I was intrigued that part of the fun within the stories is not just that Holmes is able to out-think the police and other 'establishment', but there is also the sense that merely disagreeing with the official account of things is itself a bit scandalous. There's an interesting balance of the desire for gentlemanly discourse, which Holme...more
I was intrigued that part of the fun within the stories is not just that Holmes is able to out-think the police and other 'establishment', but there is also the sense that merely disagreeing with the official account of things is itself a bit scandalous. There's an interesting balance of the desire for gentlemanly discourse, which Holme...more
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Feb 09, 2012
Danya
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Mystery-lovers must-read!
Recommended to Danya by:
Lubna Zantouti
The Adventures and The Memoirs, both consist of a combinations of short stories that follow some of Sherlock Holmes's adventures. told as a journal of his friend's, Watson. who accompanied him in most of the missions.
This is the first time I read a book that contains different short stories. I only read one at a time. And went through other books between them. There wasn't that grip that makes you read on to get to the end. But I enjoyed most of the stories anyways.
This is the first time I read a book that contains different short stories. I only read one at a time. And went through other books between them. There wasn't that grip that makes you read on to get to the end. But I enjoyed most of the stories anyways.
I had just seen the newest take on Holmes starring Robert Downing, Jr and Jude Law and began to wonder if the plot resembled the canon do Doyle' cranky detective. I have read and loved "Hound of the Baskervilles" For many years.As I began to read the earlier novels and short stories, I have been thoroughly enthralled by the characterizations, the plots, and the historical backgrounds.
I seldom find myself in tears over a read, but at the climax of "Valley of Fear"', I wept for the gallant Birdie...more
I seldom find myself in tears over a read, but at the climax of "Valley of Fear"', I wept for the gallant Birdie...more
2 likes · like · see review
"It was a confession," I ejaculated.
I'm only 67 pages in and this is the second time Watson has "ejaculated" some statement. Yours.
Okay, read the Adventures and will read the Memoirs another time. So totally satisfying. A bunch more uses of "ejaculated."
I'm only 67 pages in and this is the second time Watson has "ejaculated" some statement. Yours.
Okay, read the Adventures and will read the Memoirs another time. So totally satisfying. A bunch more uses of "ejaculated."
1 like · like · see review
My first encounter with this amazing character was when i was in 3rd std
The hound of Baskerville was the second book that i boorrowed from library.
Holmes is one of my favourite characters from literature.
The hound of Baskerville was the second book that i boorrowed from library.
Holmes is one of my favourite characters from literature.
totally fun and fast fluff read -- but with that air of looking as if you're reading actual "lit"
i love it :)
classic holmes
classic holmes
Sep 07, 2012
Simon
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime,
short-story-collections
Finally, I got around to reading some stories about the famous Sherlock Holmes. This book combines the first two collections of short stories the author wrote about the wily detective.
His amazing powers of observation and reasoning mean that little gets past Sherlock once he turns his attention to it. He constantly assimilates facts and particulars so that he might be able to make use of them at a later date. A knowledgeable amature chemist, no mean boxer and sublime violinist; he is a man of ma...more
His amazing powers of observation and reasoning mean that little gets past Sherlock once he turns his attention to it. He constantly assimilates facts and particulars so that he might be able to make use of them at a later date. A knowledgeable amature chemist, no mean boxer and sublime violinist; he is a man of ma...more
I really enjoyed reading this book, but there were several things that bugged me as well. First, the stories kept referring to other "cases" that weren't in the book that I was supposed to know about.
Second, I am a mystery lover. I try really hard to figure out what is going on before the answer is revealed. In the edition I was reading there were questions at the end. One of the questions was, "Did you figure out the solution before it was revealed?" I hated it because Holmes always told Watso...more
Second, I am a mystery lover. I try really hard to figure out what is going on before the answer is revealed. In the edition I was reading there were questions at the end. One of the questions was, "Did you figure out the solution before it was revealed?" I hated it because Holmes always told Watso...more
We all know of my major crush on one Mr. Holmes. And, after reading the first two collections of the original Doyle mysteries, the crush remains. The Holmes I love, though, is Laurie R. King's, where he is an older man in Sussex, dealing with WWI and the changes of the 1920s, as well as falling in love with his young assistant. I also know Holmes as the much older brother of Enola, in Nancy Springer's brilliant Enola Holmes mystery series.
Because I've read so much King and Springer, I was appreh...more
Because I've read so much King and Springer, I was appreh...more
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I got this tome from the library. It's a compendium of all the stories and has the nifty pen-and-ink illustrations that accompanied the original individually published stories. Having wended my way through the entire book, I feel comfortable saying that one is not obliged to read the complete adventures in order to garner the greatest enjoyment. Recently I saw Sherlock! on Masterpiece and subsequently I watched an old version of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock. Quite a differ...more
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:
A Scandal in Bohemia-- finished 2/25/10 -- 5 stars
The Red-Headed League-- finished 3/23/10 -- 5 stars
A Case of Identity-- finished 3/23/10 -- 5 stars
The Boscombe Valley Mystery-- finished 4/12/10-- 5 stars
The Five Orange Pips-- finished 4/12/10-- 4 stars; loved it up until the ending, very unsatisfying "conclusion"
The Man With the Twisted Lip-- finished 4/12/10-- 5 stars
The Blue Carbuncle-- finished 4/13/10-- 5 stars
The Adventure of the Speckled Band-- finished...more
A Scandal in Bohemia-- finished 2/25/10 -- 5 stars
The Red-Headed League-- finished 3/23/10 -- 5 stars
A Case of Identity-- finished 3/23/10 -- 5 stars
The Boscombe Valley Mystery-- finished 4/12/10-- 5 stars
The Five Orange Pips-- finished 4/12/10-- 4 stars; loved it up until the ending, very unsatisfying "conclusion"
The Man With the Twisted Lip-- finished 4/12/10-- 5 stars
The Blue Carbuncle-- finished 4/13/10-- 5 stars
The Adventure of the Speckled Band-- finished...more
Though sometimes slow, the adventures told from Watson's point of view shows nothing but admiration for the writer's room mate and close friend, the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. This version of the collection contains A Study in Scarlet, the introduction to Holmes, Watson and their friendship, as well as The Sign of Four and all the short stories featured in The Strand magazine as they were originally viewed by Victoria's England - illustrations and all.
The notes of the editor only cover ab...more
The notes of the editor only cover ab...more
I loved these stories as a child, indeed Sherlock Holmes may well be my first childhood hero. I haven't read these stories for years, and it would be interesting to do so now, with the benefit of maturity. Perhaps I may find new things in them. They are certainly a great introduction to the late Victorian era, with echoes of the far-flung empire and the intrigues of pre-War Europe setting the wider scene for the crimes of Londons dark and busy streets.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was obviously written specifically for me by a clairvoyant Conan Doyle. I love the detached, tacitly understood friendship between Sherlock and Watson. As my friend Jenny were chatting yesterday, the subject of a woman-style of writing came up: You know, that stream-of-consciousness prose, with structure enough to keep it from slipping into the poetry genre, mostly biographical or at least obviously rooted in life experience. Zami was like this, and probably Vir...more
Mar 23, 2011
Aimee
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone that likes mystery
I loved this book! It took me a couple stories to get used to the writing. I still need to do the questions at the end of the book, but I didn't solve any mysteries. I'm just like Watson, ""When I hear you give your reasons," I remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance in your process I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.". I guess I see, but...more
I'll look back on 2009 as a year of growth opportunities. Ahem. In the late summer, when I was preparing to move for the fourth time in a year, these Sherlock Holmes stories provided deep solace in the form of complete delight and escape. I read them all in about a week; I wanted them to last longer, but I couldn't stop. I'd wake up early and get a story in. Some days I'd take the book on the train. I'd stay up for *just five more minutes* and look up to see that a half-hour had passed and I was...more
A great collection of short stories narrated by Dr Watson, spanning the career of Sherlock Holmes and introduces both Mycroft Holmes and Professor Moriarty in concise but well developed stories. Really enjoyed reading a story or two and being able to come back to it intermittently. For those who are fans, it is worthwhile revisiting Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson through this collection of stories.
It's Sherlock. Is there more to be said? I first met Sherlock during my elementary days. This was the first mystery book on my bookshelf, and it is still there today. Sherlock takes us along on his adventures of logic, deducing the obvious when the obvious is not so obvious at first glance.
When you exclude the impossible what remains is the truth. Data, data, data—I can’t make bricks without clay. The suspense, mystery, excitement and wonders of detailed observation to form more grounded conclusions.
This took me a LONG time to get through, because I picked up this book pretty infrequently to squeeze in a story between other books, but I am SO GLAD that I have finally read all of these. My first exposure to Sherlock Holmes came in my eighth grade classroom when we were assigned "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Eighth-grader me no likey, but all growned-up me really enjoyed these stories. I should have taken some reading notes on the individual stories, because there are so many and I read th...more
Why did I wait 33 years to read these books?! Every story that Sherlock solves brings and tells a fun new adventure. I had no idea of the abrupt end of his life, but these stories were wayyyy ahead of their time.
Sherlock Holmes is a smart and witty read that transcends time and speaks to all generations of readers. I especially like the humor in this book and think the characters are really unusual and fun to read about. Holmes lives an adventurous life on paper and is truly an inspiration...
I have read all of his complete works twice and listened to the audio books once and thoroughly enjoyed them, though they do get repetitive after the first read.
Scott and I have spent many of our date nights over the past 4 years watching Jeremy Brett and Co. in the BBC productions of Sherlock Holmes. We enjoyed all of them and the Robert Downey Jr. movies and the latest Sherlock BBC TV series. The problem with reading this book was I remembered too many of the solutions as I read each case. I also found that the TV/Movie renditions have exaggerated Sherlock and made him more unfeeling that I think Doyle intended. But, that's media for you.
This is a must-have classic because every stories in this collection are good and entertaining. Beginner to Sherlock Holmes like me won't be disappointed.
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Arthur Conan Doyle was born the third of ten siblings on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was born in England of Irish descent, and his mother, born Mary Foley, was Irish. They were married in 1855.
Although he is now referred to as "Conan Doyle", the origin of this compound surname (if that is how he meant it to be understood) is uncertain. His baptism record...more
More about Arthur Conan Doyle...
Although he is now referred to as "Conan Doyle", the origin of this compound surname (if that is how he meant it to be understood) is uncertain. His baptism record...more
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“It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles.”
—
4 people liked it
“They were admirable things for the observer - excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.”
—
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