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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes #3)

by Arthur Conan Doyle

4.17 · rating details · 34,044 ratings · 1,528 reviews

Since Doyle created the immortal Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, no other mystery writer has come close to eclipsing him as the standard bearer in crime fiction. A brilliant London-based "consulting detective," Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and renowned for his skillful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning, and inference to...more

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Published by Naxos Audiobooks (first published October 14th 1892)

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Dec 09, 2008

Trevor rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature, mystery

I’ve been listening to Sherlock Holmes stories in the car and think I’m going to go through and listen to all of them now. I’ve started with The Adventures and have enjoyed it immensely.

There must have been any number of psychological studies performed on Mr Holmes. There is, of course, that wonderful line by Borges in his lectures on Verse in which he says that he believes in the Character of Sherlock Holmes without actually believing in any of the stories in which that characte...moreI’ve been listening to Sherlock Holmes stories in the car and think I’m going to go through and listen to all of them now. I’ve started with The Adventures and have enjoyed it immensely.

There must have been any number of psychological studies performed on Mr Holmes. There is, of course, that wonderful line by Borges in his lectures on Verse in which he says that he believes in the Character of Sherlock Holmes without actually believing in any of the stories in which that character appears. That is such a clever thing to say and I think it is also remarkably true. Although, as with most other true things, I never seem to have too much trouble ‘believing’ in the stories as they are being told.

If I was doing a psychological analysis of Mr Holmes (something, obviously, I’m grossly underqualified to perform – but I feel quite safe, given he never actually existed and even if he did he would be well dead by now and so would be quite unlikely to be adversely affected by any nonsense I might come up with) it would probably have a lot to say about the beginnings of these stories. There is a bit of a pattern to how these stories start. Either a client or, all too often, Dr Watson is presented to Holmes and he makes some remarkable logical deduction about these invariably astonished characters from a seemingly insignificant detail he notices via an article of clothing or their hat.

What I find so psychologically interesting about him doing this at the start of each story is that I can’t help but feel he does this to present himself as the intellectual superior to those around him. The relationship between Watson and Holmes really isn’t the same as that between Boswell and Johnson, despite the constant reference to the similarities. Watson may be the dutifully biographer, but his role is also that of the slightly foolish, but endlessly appreciative audience. It is as if it is only through his reactions that we learn when to gasp and when to applaud with awesome wonder. Watson is the laughing track of his day. But Holmes repeatedly asserting his intellectual superiority at the beginning of each story is fascinating as it also hints at insecurities in his character. He requires reassurance.

He is a flawed character, our Holmes. Rational, empirical but also all too often only interested in ‘people’ for the complex ‘cases’ they present him with. There is also the problem of his drug addiction which he invariably turns to out of sheer boredom - and invariably that is intellectual boredom.

I can’t begin to tell you how surprised I was to find that Doyle was a spiritualist. It is something I found myself remembering as Holmes performs his tricks. Because there is something terribly similar about the tricks Holmes performs and the ‘cold reading’ performed by a spiritualist. His ‘explaining’ often results in his audience saying something like – now it is explained I can see how easy it all is, which then has Holmes complaining he should keep his methods to himself. Except I think there is a deeper significance to him doing these performances – and that is to constantly have his audience wondering what else there is about them he can ‘see’ - what other secrets has he access to?

A lesser character would have ‘mystical powers’ – Holmes achieves the same thing through the force of his intellect. The only wonder is, given our culture’s clear distrust (if not active loathing) of the intellect, how he ever came to be quite so loved in the first place. Perhaps his 'coldness' explains this - perhaps it is because he is the model of the detached scientist that it is alright to like him.

Now, talking of love. My eldest daughter became particularly fond of Mr Holmes about five years ago. So much so that she read all of his stories after we watched many of the BBC TV shows of his works made in the 1980s. One day she had been reading one of the stories in this book and Watson mentions, in an off-hand way, that one can calculate how tall someone is from the length of their stride. And so Fi actually tried this, taking various measurements and doing a series of calculations. It is hard to exaggerate the utter joy children bring into one’s life. They come highly recommended – as do the wonderful stories in this collection.

Oh, and there are a couple of stories where it is mentioned that someone is reading a book with a yellow cover – a mystery/detective story. In Italy detective stories are still referred to as ‘Yellows’. I wonder why these stories tended to be printed in books with yellow covers? I must wiki it at some stage.
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Sep 12, 2008

russell barnes rated it

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Shelves: classics, crime

It's the end of the world and Watson and Holmes, on the cusp of having their brilliant lives snuffed out by the impending doom decide their simmering sexual tension can go no further.
As they remove their clothes, Watson turns around to see Holmes brandishing a tub of Lemon Curd.
"Holmes!" Watson exclaims, "I know what we're about to do goes against God's nature, but what in the name of all that is Holy are you doing with that breakfast condiment?"
To which Hol...more

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Dec 30, 2009

Kelly rated it

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Recommends it for: all Sherlock Holmes or mystery fans

Shelves: brit-lit, fiction, goth-goth-baby, owned, victorian, heard-not-read, 19th-century

So, I volunteer at a library, in what the librarians call the "Popular Library," which consists of the area with the DVDs, music CDs and of course, the audiobooks. The majority of the titles in the audiobook section are romance novels. It struck me as a hilarious idea, and indeed, each of the audiobooks I've stuck in the CD player they have there to listen to for a few minutes has borne that out. Romance novel dialogue is barely okay on the page- can you imagine all that "Oh, FABI...moreSo, I volunteer at a library, in what the librarians call the "Popular Library," which consists of the area with the DVDs, music CDs and of course, the audiobooks. The majority of the titles in the audiobook section are romance novels. It struck me as a hilarious idea, and indeed, each of the audiobooks I've stuck in the CD player they have there to listen to for a few minutes has borne that out. Romance novel dialogue is barely okay on the page- can you imagine all that "Oh, FABIO, your gorgeous quivering member is so BIG! OOH BABY, LET'S DO LIKE THEY DO ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL!" stuff being said out loud? It really is just as bad as you'd think.

This being my only experience with audiobooks, you can understand that I was somewhat apprehensive about listening to Sherlock Holmes on audiobook, especially with stories I'd not read before like this particular collection. I felt like the prose could certainly tend towards the melodramatic and could extremely easily sway into the land of the cheesy, and I was reluctant to see that happen.

However, nothing of the kind was the case. These dramatizations by BBC Radio were almost entirely and uniformly excellent. The radio format suits these tales admirably, and I could just see some family sitting around a radio in the 1930s on the edge of their seat with some of these. I was on the edge of my seat through these as well(in my case the seat was most likely on the subway though, which made for some shocking reminders of reality when the train swung to a stop). Also, it's a great bonus that the guy playing Sherlock (Clive Merrison) has a really sexy voice, and the Watson can really sell a "dark and stormy night" like nobody's business.

As for the stories themselves, there are several really excellent and creative ones in here where one really hasn't the slightest idea where the end is going to come from, or how Sherlock is going to defeat the villain. My personal favorites were "A Scandal in Bohemia" (this is where Irene Adler is introduced, just by the by), "The Red Headed League," (truly delightful and playful plot) "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," and "The Man with the Twisted Lip." The dialogue is fantastic, the plotting moves along quickly and believably, and Sherlock Holmes usually has just enough trouble to make you think that he is human, and each plot is totally solvable once you go back and pay attention to what you missed.

Only quibbles: Has anyone else noticed that Arthur Conan Doyle's marriage plots are kind of boring and all alike? It almost feels like someone told him that he hadn't written enough romance and he threw it in grudgingly to make somebody happy, but was a little too resentful to put any effort into it more than once, and so all the plots kind of sound the same? It's always some girl's annuity that is at issue, always some malicious and poor relative. Really annoying. He also really did seem to think that Americans were a bunch of uncivilized hicks- every American character in here fed some sort of stereotype. I suppose that's not all that surprising when you're writing suspense stories for your home populace about an exotic Other of some kind, though.

Those things don't really bother me so much though, just some observations, in the spirit of Holmes and all.

Listening to The Sign of the Four next!
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Sep 26, 2011

Dante rated it

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Shelves: fiction, imaginative-lit, prose, short-stories, classics, crime, mystery

The stories were very interesting, and I enjoyed most of them. But, I don't know, I didn't find them very satisfying. Maybe I am not really a fan of short stories? Perhaps I'll enjoy the Sherlock Holmes novels more.

There are twelve short stories in this collection. They are a selection of some of the interesting cases recorded by Dr. Watson which he and his friend Sherlock Holmes handled in the latter's career.

A rough sketch of the stories (Spoiler alert!)

A Scandal ...more

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Apr 11, 2009

Erik Graff rated it

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Recommends it for: kids

Recommended to Erik by: Einar Graff

Shelves: literature

I read an old edition of the collected Sherlock Holmes stories sometime around the end of junior and the beginning of high school, starting it one afternoon when home sick from school and finishing it gradually over a space of weeks. The copy was Dad's probably, picked out of his library with some sense of what to expect as I'd at least seen The Hound of the Baskervilles movie with Rathbone by this time.

I wasn't terribly impressed by Doyle's stories. They passed the time, but left ...more

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Nov 29, 2011

Ken Takel rated it

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Nach Buch eins und Buch zwei, hier also das dritte Buch aus meiner Penguin Sherlock Holmes Sammelbox. Statt eines Falles gilt es für die Londoner Spürnase dieses Mal gleich ein dutzend Rätsel zu lösen. Dabei sind die Fälle mal mehr und mal weniger spannend.
Wieder einmal musste ich feststellen, dass ich kein Fan von Kurzgeschichten bin und es auch niemals sein werde. Gerade, wenn man sich in das jeweilige Abenteuer eingelesen hat, ist es schon wieder zu Ende. Da bleibt wenig Platz für Chara...more

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Oct 16, 2011

Aidan rated it

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"Very few literary characters attain iconic status". It's true. Everyone knows who Sherlock Holmes is. But who has read a book about him?
In the book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes he solves many different mysteries. Anything from a scandal involving a king to stopping a bank robbery, Sherlock Holmes is who you see if you need something solved.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did a good job of describing how Sherlock Holmes solves each mystery. I wish he had put more action into the ...more

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Oct 04, 2011

Mona rated it

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Shelves: 19th-century-lit, britain, mystery-suspense, short-stories

3.5 stars.

I read this book in Vol. 1 of the Complete Sherlock Holmes collection, but I'm adding this book separately so my books/pages totals for 2011 will be sort of right at least.

My "quest" to read all of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories continues in 2011. I started this journey back in 2008 with the first two novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four. Needless to say, it is a very slow-moving project and will likely take many years to finish.

...more

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Dec 06, 2007

Amy rated it

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Shelves: library-book, audio-book, fiction

So far this collection of short stories has been marvelous.

"Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" was a gruesome little gem illustrating the strange comic stoicism of British gentlemen.

"A case of identity" was a cruel little plot and I guessed this one! I was so proud of myself. I figured out who the ne'er-do-well was when the client first presented the facts.

"Noble Bachelor" was another one that I had an inkling about from the beg...more

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Jan 29, 2012

Arianne Gor is currently reading it · review of another edition

So far, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is quite intriguing. I like the old-fashioned talk of Sherlock Holmes, and his humor is quite funny as well. What I also like about the book is that it isn't narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself. It is narrated by an outsider, Dr. Watson, who is Sherlock Holmes' closest friend.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is interesting because it is a set of 12 different mysteries that are all creative and captivating by themselves.

My personal fav...moreSo far, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is quite intriguing. I like the old-fashioned talk of Sherlock Holmes, and his humor is quite funny as well. What I also like about the book is that it isn't narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself. It is narrated by an outsider, Dr. Watson, who is Sherlock Holmes' closest friend.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is interesting because it is a set of 12 different mysteries that are all creative and captivating by themselves.

My personal favorites of the book are the Orange Pips, and the story about the governess and the missing woman. I can easily tell why the book is categorized as one of the classics; mysteries are always intriguing to everyone, and mystery stories told well are especially considered well-done. Sherlock Holmes is a character that you can easily visualize, and a character that could easily be a real life person. He has a fun and colorful personality, with all his exceptional reasonings and his amazing thinking skills. I also like the book because it has all the creative mysteries. Mysteries are fun, but not when it is the same story over and over again. Many mystery books are on murders and stolen items. The mysteries that Sherlock Holmes faces are real and interesting, always leading me on to read more.

There are downsides to the book, with Arthur Conan Doyle's complicated wording, and all his old-fashioned language. Sometimes, I don't understand it, and the wording becomes so complicated that I can hardly enjoy the mystery. However, it is the complicated wording that easily tells you what setting the book was written in, and where the book takes place. It also gives character to Dr. Watson, and Sherlock Holmes as well. There are also times in the stories where it lags a bit, where it gets a bit boring and less suspenseful.

Overall, the book is really good, with a refreshing idea of an extremely smart detective. I really don't like books with unrealistically dumb or stupid people, because it just makes me feel disgusted with the book and idea. I like the real, but unreal image of Sherlock Holmes, in his tweed clothes and thinking habits, where he just stares off into space, thinking and thinking about a particular mystery. What I really like about the book are the individual and unique mysteries, the interesting characters, and especially the first-person narrative. I like first-person narrators because of the fact that it sort of gets you 'inside the head' of the person, and it is easier to visualize the situation or scene because it seems like you are actually looking through the eyes of the character.

Sherlock Holmes is an absolutely amazing fictional character, and the stories are simply captivating and the overall book definitely reels you in.(less)

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Jan 27, 2012

Ileana rated it

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I loved it! I will have to read more of Arthur Conan Doyle. He is so quotable...

Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by t...more

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Jan 22, 2012

Arthur Khachikyan rated it

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I chose Sherlock Holmes because I had been wanting to read a good mystery book for a while and had heard great things about this story. Sherlock Holmes is a British, self-taught, scientist who works on mystery cases with his assistant Dr. Watson. Sherlock Holmes is independent from the police and has a very complex mind that sees things with his naked eye that the average human wouldn't realize even if it was in plain sight. Throughout the book, Holmes and his assistant unwrap great mysteries li...more

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Jan 22, 2012

Laura rated it

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My first Bookmooch acquisition and a very pleasant surprise. I cannot easily locate my edition, a collection of short stories for a Book Club publisher, by the look of it.
What is there not to love in a man who says, "it is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London"? Although I have only seen the recent Sherlock Holmes movie, and I have not been following the modernized BBC series, I had an idea of this detective that doesn't correspond with what I find in the book. Cli...more

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Jan 17, 2012

Andrei Biswas added it · review of another edition

When I was choosing a book last week, I found out that the last book of the Pendragon series is not in this school. I was thinking of which book that I could choose that it just hit me. I thought to dig into my past and read one of the best mystery books written: the series of Sherlock Holmes. That led me to write the review for Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes written by the unforgettable author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The book contains a series of stories, ranging fro...more

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Jan 11, 2012

Juan Yan rated it

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“The Engineer’s Thumb” is one of the short stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. “The Engineer’s Thumb” is set in 1880’s where it starts with an Engineer with his thumb cut off and he does not remember how he got injured so he goes to Sherlock Holmes for help in order to find how he got his thumb cut off and Holmes tells him that it was a accident and there was no mystery behind it. Sherlock Holmes knows that it wasn’t an accident but he does not want to tell th...more

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Nov 23, 2011

Mohamed rated it

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The book is about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson in one of their adventures of mystery solving in Victorian England. It starts with a young woman called Helen Stoner seeking the help of Mr. Holmes to unwrap the mystery behind her sister’s death two years ago in Stoke. Moran Surrey suspects that her stepfather wants to kill her to get her money before she gets married, because the will of her dad says that she and her sister should get the money from the stepfather ...moreThe book is about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson in one of their adventures of mystery solving in Victorian England. It starts with a young woman called Helen Stoner seeking the help of Mr. Holmes to unwrap the mystery behind her sister’s death two years ago in Stoke. Moran Surrey suspects that her stepfather wants to kill her to get her money before she gets married, because the will of her dad says that she and her sister should get the money from the stepfather when they get married. Holmes and Watson go to Stoke Moran and spend the night in Helen’s room and they discovered that the stepfather wanted Helen dead and he used a poisonous snake called The Speckled Band to complete the mission but instead of that the snake bit him and killed him.

The book is very interesting and you will lose the track of time when you read it, I highly recommend this book to all kinds of readers.

The book is very intrusting and you will lose the track of time when you will read it, I highly recommend this book to all kind of readers. The book is about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson in one of their adventure of mystery solving in Victorian England. It starts with a young woman called Helen Stoner seeking the help of Mr. Holmes to unwrap the mystery behind her sister’s death 2 years ago in Stoke Moran Surrey and how that she suspect that her stepfather wants to kill her to get here money before she get married, because the will of her dead says that she and her sister should get the money from the stepfather when they get married. Holmes and Watson will go to Stoke Moran and spend the night in Helen’s room and they discovered that the stepfather want Helen dead and he used a poisonous snake called The Speckled Band to complete the mission but instead of that the snake pit him and kill him.

The book is very intrusting and you will lose the track of time when you will read it, I highly recommend this book to all kind of readers.

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Nov 15, 2011

Shayla Silva rated it

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I’ve always had a fascination with mystery stories, and I can honestly say that no one does it better than Doyle. His short stories are adventurous and fun, and incredibly modern for the time period – especially the character of Sherlock Holmes and his skills of deduction. I think it’s impossible to truly get inside the head of such a genius character (it would spoil the illusion) and the stories would most likely take on a different tone, but the narrator, John Watson, serves as an ordinary man...more

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Oct 26, 2011

02mitchh rated it

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It has been an absolute pleasure reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes(on my Kindle, I must admit). I am reminded, in adventure after adventure, that there is no substitute for a sharp mind and careful observation. As I watch the master investigator calmly solve the most "singular" of mysteries through the eyes of Dr. James Watson, I almost want to myself be transported back to 19th century London.

If you haven't read any of Conan Doyle's stories, they are worth reading....moreIt has been an absolute pleasure reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes(on my Kindle, I must admit). I am reminded, in adventure after adventure, that there is no substitute for a sharp mind and careful observation. As I watch the master investigator calmly solve the most "singular" of mysteries through the eyes of Dr. James Watson, I almost want to myself be transported back to 19th century London.

If you haven't read any of Conan Doyle's stories, they are worth reading. In the stories, I grew close with both the detective and his trusty sidekick, Watson. I came to admire Holmes' heroic patience, amazing memory, and sharp wit.

Each of the adventures follows a somewhat similar plot structure. The adventure opens with a look into Watson's or Holmes' personal life. You might hear briefly about Watson's life as a doctor, or get a glimpse of Holmes' tobacco, alcohol, or cocaine habits (yes, the rumors are true--Holmes does cocaine). At some point, Watson ends up at Holmes' pad on Baker Street. Both men are then found lounging, Holmes in his pajamas, both men likely smoking, drinking, and enjoying a meal, usually arms' length from a warm fire.

Watson, the narrator, will then tell us how, in all of his time with Holmes, the case he is about to clarify is the most "singular" one yet. Then one of them will see or hear someone approaching their home; surely, the bell will ring and in will enter yet another all-but-hopeless client. We'll get a detailed description of the client's physical appearance, from the clothes on his or her back to the flushness of the face. We'll also always get an idea of what class the client falls into; most regularly, the clients are from higher classes. The client will give us a detailed account of his or her problems as Holmes and Watson listen intently. It is here that the reader is supposed to do the detective work to piece together clues to solve the case. Of course, most of what the client tells us seems unrelated and insane; Holmes will remind us that the simplest cases are the hardest ones, and the smallest of details often are the most important. (less)

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Oct 17, 2011

Christopher rated it

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Arthur Conan Doyle certainly shows his skills as a great short story and mystery writer in this collection of THE definitive detective of literature: Sherlock Holmes. The stories are engaging and it is both fun and challenging to try to solve the case at the same time Holmes does, even if you fail. But if you start reading this book looking for the same action as was in the recent movie, you will be very disappointed. Most of the pages are consumed by the concerned individual telling the story w...more

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Oct 02, 2011

Erik rated it

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Shelves: badasses, duh-nuh-nuh, ebooks-are-people-too, english, the-list, books-that-are-better-than-friends

This book was so much fun to read. I think the last Sherlock Holmes I read was The Hound of the Baskervilles, and that it was just as enjoyable. During the first few stories, it's exciting to watch Doyle set up complex situations and have Holmes logic them out. They remind me of the riddles my teachers would give us during rainy-day recess. There are never cases with some surprise twist that the audience was given no knowledge of. He always lays out the facts, and then demonstrates just how much...more

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Sep 25, 2011

Tac Anderson rated it

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I'm sad to say that I had never really read any Sherlock Holmes ( I think I read one or two in school but that doesn't really count). And while this is really a collection of short stories it doesn't seem like it because it's just one adventure after another. It's a great read. Perfect for reading while taking the tube to and from work.

The biggest revelation in reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was just how accurate the current movies with Robert Downey Jr are. The real Sherlo...more

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Sep 22, 2011

Jake Kilroy rated it

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Shelves: mystery, classics

Sherlock Holmes is such classic mystery storytelling, you can almost hear the creaking doors and the creeping footsteps as you move from tale to tale. I read Sherlock Holmes as a kid and, now as a twenty-something, the stories strike something deeper in me. Before, I appreciate the stories for the suspense. Now, I feel as though I appreciate the stories for what they gave the world. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave the world the classic setups, the classic twists, the classic surprises. You read the ...more

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Sep 12, 2011

Harmonybites rated it

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Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: classics, crime, favorites, fiction, mystery, short-stories

These are the first Sherlock Holmes short stories--twelve of them--that first appeared in the magazine The Strand from 1891 to 1892. This presents Doyle at the top of his game with Holmes, and it was one of the short stories in this volume, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" that was my introduction to Holmes when it was assigned in school. I'd definitely name that story as a standout, although I think my favorite might very well be the first story, "A Scandal in Bohemia" w...more

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Jul 11, 2011

Jipson.L.J rated it

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I used to read the Sherlock Holmes stories a lot when I was a kid. I read all of them several times, which shows even now when most stories in this book sounded at least vaguely familiar (and I managed to recall the solution to the mystery right from the start in most of them).

I always wanted to come back and re-read Conan Doyle in English (as a kid I read in Russian), and now I found a good opportunity – combining it with a first experience of hearing an audiobook.

Indeed, as...moreI used to read the Sherlock Holmes stories a lot when I was a kid. I read all of them several times, which shows even now when most stories in this book sounded at least vaguely familiar (and I managed to recall the solution to the mystery right from the start in most of them).

I always wanted to come back and re-read Conan Doyle in English (as a kid I read in Russian), and now I found a good opportunity – combining it with a first experience of hearing an audiobook.

Indeed, as with any book, reading it in the language it was originally written in is much more pleasant. The English of Conan Doyle is delightful – combining the prettiness of the refined British jargon of the 19th century with a very readable and lucid style (which can’t be said about many books by British authors of those times).

The “Adventures” is a set of 12 short stories built on top of the same template – someone comes to Holmes, complains of a problem. Holmes listens and usually forms a solution right away. Sometimes, it takes him another day or two of searching around to solve the problem. Even though it’s so simplistic, these stories are a lot of fun to read. Forgive me the comparison, but that Holmes would be one hell of a hacker had he lived today. He loves collecting reference information, does research on topics like cigar ashes and clay types of London areas, and immerses himself in all nighters of chemical experiments. Clearly, he has the hacker attitude.

Another thing I noticed is the “meta”-references of the book to itself. In multiple places, Holmes mentions that Watson is putting these memoirs to writing, and often adds that Watson often exaggerates his (Holmes’s) humble achievements. This way, the book actually refers to itself – which is cool.

If you haven’t read Sherlock Holmes’s stories yet, you must! Age has no meaning here, I believe everyone will enjoy them. If scholar merit is of great importance to you, you can be consoled by the fact that the books provide a pretty good description of the life in London in the late 19th century.(less)

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Jun 22, 2011

Normacarpenter rated it

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Leerme a Sherlock Holmes ha sido toda una experiencia. Me di cuenta de muchas cosas de este personaje y no pude evitar compararlo con el de Agatha, Poirot. Y pues claro, no se parecen en casi nada.
Sherlock Holmes es humilde, no es modesto -Creo que eso es lo único que tienen en común Poirot y él- es demasiado brillante para serlo y por supuesto es divertidísimo, cada frase cada argumento era sumamente divertido de leer, un humor inteligente, claro. Y además, entre la capacidad...more

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Jun 11, 2011

Rosa Folgar rated it

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I don't know that My younger self would have been able to appreciate the stories as much as I did now. Sure I would have like them, but I guess being an adult gives u a different perspectives on people and right or wrong. Yes, Shelock helps people and charges no fee. Yes, he is intelligent and brilliant and a hero to those he helps. But at the same time, he is a rich snob with a cocaine problem and if he decides to help someone out it's only because he needs something interesting to starve off t...moreI don't know that My younger self would have been able to appreciate the stories as much as I did now. Sure I would have like them, but I guess being an adult gives u a different perspectives on people and right or wrong. Yes, Shelock helps people and charges no fee. Yes, he is intelligent and brilliant and a hero to those he helps. But at the same time, he is a rich snob with a cocaine problem and if he decides to help someone out it's only because he needs something interesting to starve off the ennui.

I haven't read Sherlock Holmes since I was in middle school, but even then, I remember being fascinated by the stories. Last night I fell asleep whith the ebook opened up in the middle of story 6 or 7 and had a lucid dream of being in an escapade with him solving the case of the Speckled Band. Tonight (today) I skipped sleep altogether to finish this book. My co-workers will not be happy with grumpy sleep deprived Rosa, but it was well worth the effort.

I am obsessed with everything Sherlock at the moment. I blame the BBC show Sherlock and the movie Sherlock Holmes and The Silk Stocking for my re-newed passion. I guess where embers lie, a fire never dies? He is such a fascinating study of detective work, of reasoning, of idle upper class boredom and drug use! Seriously...who doesn't read these books and become fascinated?

As ever faithful, Watson chronicles Holmes' rather more trivial and interesting cases. My favorits included The Copper Beeches about a governess asking Holmes' advice on whether she should accept a job offer (offending his ego a little), The man With The Twisted Lip which is about a well to do respectable man with no debt who disappears off the face of the earth (making you view vagabonds in the way u always suspected) and because I am romantic at heart, The Bohemian Scandal (hats off to any girl who can impress Holmes for more than the length of a case...sorry Miss Hunter) lol!

I better stop pretending I'm going to get any sleep and might as well get out of bed and get ready for work, but before I do, I have to go download The Return of Sherlock Holmes....and maybe just read one story...(less)

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Apr 08, 2011

Lois rated it

· review of another edition

It is what it is - which is somewhat forumlaic and shallow. Reading this particular book which is a compilation of 12 short stories, oddly reminded me of books I read when I was younger, such as The Babysitter's club, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys - I put it down to the similar forumla style that these modern writers have adopted. I find all of these books, including Sherlock Holmes, to be sheer entertainment but with little depth.

Having said that, I still felt that this book deserve...more

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Mar 19, 2011

Nicholas Whyte rated it

· review of another edition

This is the first volume of Sherlock Holmes stories, and includes several rather brilliant tales of detection - my favourite is "The Red-Headed League", but it also includes "The Speckled Band" and "The Blue Carbuncle". "The Engineer's Thumb" is another good one - even though Holmes' only deduction is the location of the crime, and even that turns out to be too late, it is an effective piece of horror.

However, the collection also includes severa...more

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Jan 22, 2011

Anthony rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, wold-newton, sherlock-holmes

Overall, the collection really brings out certain facets of Holmes' personality. Some of them are repeated in story after story: the penchant for closing his eyes and ducking his head when he's trying to think in public; the habit of having reached a conclusion from the barest set of clues even before the parties involved give him more details. That last part, of course, is what makes him The Great Detective. It's also a bit infuriating for someone brought up on "fair play mysteries."...moreOverall, the collection really brings out certain facets of Holmes' personality. Some of them are repeated in story after story: the penchant for closing his eyes and ducking his head when he's trying to think in public; the habit of having reached a conclusion from the barest set of clues even before the parties involved give him more details. That last part, of course, is what makes him The Great Detective. It's also a bit infuriating for someone brought up on "fair play mysteries." The most important details of most of these cases tend to get noticed by Holmes when he's off-screen rather than when Watson is with him to show how Holmes got to that detail.

The other facet of Holmes' personality that really shines through in these stories is his attitude towards women. Much is often made of how Holmes refers to Irene Adler as "The Woman," and how she is the only woman who ever earned his respect because she outsmarted him in one particular case. I've seen many a review talking about how misogynistic Holmes is, that he veritably hates women. But in story after story in this collection he goes out of his way to protect women, whether it be physically (by warning Violet Hunter to stay away from a situation Holmes would not let any sister of his get involved in) or emotionally (by helping men who have wronged women pay their dues without the women being further emotionally injured). I can't say I approve of Holmes' decisions in every case where a woman's feelings were in danger of being hurt, but I can say that I find it an interesting aspect of his character. (And speaking of Ms. Hunter -- at the end of the story in which she appears, she seems to have gained high respect from both Holmes and Watson, and this time for not outwitting Holmes but matching him detail-for-detail.)

There are a few classic tales in this particular collection: A Scandal in Bohemia introduces Irene Adler; The Red-Headed League is just a fun outing; The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb are the most gothic-feeling of the tales; and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches introduces Violet Hunter. The stories I enjoyed the least: The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet seemed forced and The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor felt like a retread of the much more interesting A Case of Identity.(less)

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Aug 30, 2010

Samantha rated it

· review of another edition

This book is a simplified adaptation of three of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, rewritten by Malvina G. Vogel and intended for younger children who may not understand the stories as well in their original context. This book was purchased for me when I was young, and while I enjoyed it very much then, I find myself disliking it quite a bit as an adult.

My main issue with this adaptation is that the perspective of the stories has been changed completely to third-person. There is ...more

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About Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was born as 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 unce...more

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