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A Slight Trick of the Mind
by
Mitch Cullin
Mitch Cullin’s absorbing A Slight Trick of the Mind is an original portrait of literature’s most beloved detective, Sherlock Holmes, in the twilight of his illustrious life.
Holmes—“a genius in whom scientific curiosity is raised to the status of heroic passion”—is famous for his powers of deduction. His world is made up of hard evidence and uncontestable facts, his observa...more
Holmes—“a genius in whom scientific curiosity is raised to the status of heroic passion”—is famous for his powers of deduction. His world is made up of hard evidence and uncontestable facts, his observa...more
Hardcover, 253 pages
Published
April 19th 2005
by Nan A. Talese
(first published January 1st 2005)
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Menguak sisi sherlock yang lebih manusiawi, tentang kehidupan di masa tuanya.. tentang perasaannya terhadap wanita.. Dibuat dengan alur yang melompat-lompat (membuat kita sering membalik-balikkan ke halaman sebelumnya), namun tetap menyuguhkan cerita yang sangat dalam. Sebuah karya lain dari sherlock yang dibuat oleh selain penulis aslinya ini patut dibaca..
Namun tak dapat di pungkiri bahwa banyak pembaca yg kecewa karena kasus yang disajikan tidak terasa kedahsyatannya, penulis terlalu me...more
Namun tak dapat di pungkiri bahwa banyak pembaca yg kecewa karena kasus yang disajikan tidak terasa kedahsyatannya, penulis terlalu me...more
Extremely well-written and interesting portrait of a famous literary hero in his declining years. If you're looking for a mystery, however, turn to one of Doyle's books. Here, the mystery to be unlocked is life's purpose, and Holmes is no better at solving that one any one of us. Even if you never read the book, check out the following wikipedia page describing the musical instrument that takes a central role in the story...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_harmo...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_harmo...
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Shelves:
glass-onion
How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man ?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand ?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be...more
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A pastiche about Sherlock Holmes in as an elderly. There is no difficult crimes to solve here. A brave pastiche, as it describes Holmes falls in love with a woman, but not Irene Adler! Some Sherlockians speculate that Adler is Holmes' true love, while other say that Holmes is not capable to fall in love. But this book tells Holmes deeply madly in love with another woman.
That is why this book only receive three stars from me. Otherwise I could give four.
That is why this book only receive three stars from me. Otherwise I could give four.
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
Many critics enjoyed Cullin's sensitive depiction of one of mystery writing's best-loved heroes, which recalls Michael Chabon's The Final Solution: A Story of Detection (*** Mar/Apr 2005). In this novel, Sherlock Holmes is not the objective and decisive detective we expect, but rather an aging man filled with regret at missed opportunities, particularly lost romance. Reviewers praised the way Cullin plays Holmes against the other two most important characters__Roger, the 14-year-old prot_àg_à at t
...more
In outline it sounds almost like a joke, or something deliberately bizarre: a ninety-three-year-old Sherlock Holmes travels to Japan. Instead, this is a very sad, wistful novel that examines at many angles and with emotional complexity the loneliness and alienation of Holmes' life and the guards he has constructed to keep himself from being consumed by them.
Mitch Cullin's prose is excellent and the novel is quietly structured quite exquisitely, with three storyline unraveling very c...more
Mitch Cullin's prose is excellent and the novel is quietly structured quite exquisitely, with three storyline unraveling very c...more
Mitch Cullin's "A Sligiht Trick of the Mind" is a mesmerizing, wonderfully written, inventive novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. This novel features Sherlock Holmes, but lest the reader be disappointed, it is not the Holmes of Sir Aruthur Conan Doyle. It is a much richer, older and emotional Holmes which is the central character of this story. Holmes is a 93 year old man living in post WWII England tending his bees. He is grappling with the continual loss of his physical abilities as wel...more
Mitch Cullin adopts a challenging protagonist: the great detective, Sherlock Holmes. Leaping ahead from the setting of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, Cullin places Holmes, now ninety-three and starting to lose his memory, in a post-WWII retirement. Three plotlines weave together gracefully. One focuses on Holmes' fascination with beekeeping, a passion he comes to share with his housekeeper's young son. This boy discovers, in Holmes' study, a manuscript describing a long-ago case involving a myste...more
This is, in a way, an homage to the Sherlock Holmes books the way Tilting at Windmills was an homage to Don Quixote. But this one goes further beyond the character's original portrayal while still remaining recognizably the same one. Holmes is, in 1947, 92 years old, caring for his bees, as he is cared for by his housekeeper & admired by her son, who has, almost against Holmes's will, become something of a beekeeping apprentice for whom Holmes has come to care deeply. Holmes has also recently re...more
Muchos son los autores que han recogido el testigo legado por Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, escribiendo aventuras sobre su eterno personaje como protagonista (unas con más acierto que otras, pero todas lejos del clásico). Mitch Cullin intenta ser más original y nos presenta a un Sherlock Holmes de 93 años, que lleva una vida tranquila en su hacienda de Sussex. Allà se dedica al cuidado de sus colmenas y a escribir, sobre las abejas, tratados de lógica y deducción, y antiguos casos. Su única compañÃa, ...more
This book was originally titled "A Slight Trick of the Mind," but it presumably was re-titled and re-released because the title you see in Good Reads is the one that showed up when I typed the original into the search. As a rule, I don’t like pastiches in general and Sherlock Holmes pastiches in particular. They’re never good. So why am I giving this one a five star rating? Because it really isn’t a pastiche no more than it’s a mystery. It’s more of a literary effort of a sort, ex...more
A Slight Trick of the Mind is yet another retelling of the Sherlock Holmes mythology. As a younger person, I loved all of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, so I suppose it's no surprise that I've been drawn to some of the retellings that are floating around the fiction shelves from this century. Last year, I read a bunch of the Laurie King mysteries that feature an aging Sherlock Holmes partnered with Mary Russell. I thought that A Slight Trick of the Mind would be in a similar vein. I was to...more
Di masa pensiunnya, Sherlock Holmes tinggal di daerah Sussex mengurus peternakan lebahnya. Di usianya yang mendekati hampir seabad, Holmes semakin sadar bahwa dia sudah tua. Apalagi dia sudah sering mengalami hilang ingatan alias pikun. Di masa tuanya ini, dia teringat akan dua kasus lama. Pertama, kasus seorang anak yang mencari keberadaan ayahnya. Kedua, kasus tingkah laku aneh seorang istri. Lalu terjadilah kasus ketiga di peternakan lebahnya. Sembari mengenang kembali kasus yang terjadi, Hol...more
An incredibly beautiful little gem of a novel.
Sparing, poetic prose. Evidences of the Sherlock Holmes mythos were present enough to delight the Doyle fan in me, but the story was unique enough in its structure and voice to avoid seeming like a straight pastiche. The multiple storylines were woven together deftly to compose a fluid and pleasing narrative. I foresee this book lingering with me for some time.
Sparing, poetic prose. Evidences of the Sherlock Holmes mythos were present enough to delight the Doyle fan in me, but the story was unique enough in its structure and voice to avoid seeming like a straight pastiche. The multiple storylines were woven together deftly to compose a fluid and pleasing narrative. I foresee this book lingering with me for some time.
Oh, this was heartwrenching. I have a soft spot in my heart for cranky old men, and the Sherlock depicted here was no exception. Here was a strong man watching his own mind and talents begin to fade, and I can think of no sadder fate for Holmes. There are three interwoven stories in this book: a trip Holmes takes to Japan under the pretense of adventuring with a fellow bee enthusiast, Holmes' home life with his servant and her son, Roger, and an old case that Holmes is writing his version of....more
Sherlock Holmes is 93 years old and has settled into a comfortable existence in rural England. His days are spent editing his the latest edition of his detective manual, badgering his housekeeper and caring for his apiary. What makes this book interesting is that author Mitch Cullin allows us into the head of Holmes as he ages and as his memory starts to fail. We see first hand what happens when that great, logical brain begins to age and, perhaps, become closer to human.
I have adored Sherlock Holmes since I was a little girl and I had posted in my bedroom the list of clues that he used to figure out someone's "station in life". Like what their shoes looked like; what their fingernails looked like, etc. I loved that lesson of paying attention to the small details to make the larger picture more meaningful. In this book, we are at the end of Sherlock's life. What would it be like if you were Sherlock and you had been so wise and tactful and revered ...more
Not a mystery... just good ol' Sherlock Holmes aging and reminiscing. At first I was sure that I would really enjoy this book, but alas, Mr. Holmes' borderline-dementia wore out its welcome. I think the beekeeping aspect of the book is about all that kept me listening (and the fact that I had forgotten to bring fresh batteries for my other mp3 player on the car trip).
Begini jadinya jika Sherlock Holmes kehabisan misteri untuk dipecahkan,..kehabisan kasus untuk mengasah kemampuan analisanya, sehingga lebih diceritakan mengenai kehidupan romantisme dan sentimentilnya. Sebagai novel drama,..saya suka. Tapi sebagai pembaca setia Sherlock Holmes,..gak lucu! gak seru.
The story of an elderly Sherlock Holmes and his fascination with beekeeping and his deteriorating memory. There are actually three stories going on-Sherlock at home with his relationship with his housekeeper's young son, Sherlock in Japan searching for an elusive plant to help his aging mind, and one of Sherlock's mystery stories he has been writing for years. An interesting, if somewhat slow read.
It's just a different side of Sherlock Holmes that you will find in his writings. Not as the best detective as he used to be. But more as the usual retired old man with his new life after retire.
Seorang Sherlock Holmes yang sungguh sangat manusiawi (halah.. emangnya sebelumnya gak?) karena sisi sisi emosionalnya sangat banyak tertuang disini. Padahal seorang Sherlock Holmes itu kan sangat tidak suka dengan sisi sisi yang tidak rasional dan bertele-tele. Tapi disini, kita jadi seperti m...more
Seorang Sherlock Holmes yang sungguh sangat manusiawi (halah.. emangnya sebelumnya gak?) karena sisi sisi emosionalnya sangat banyak tertuang disini. Padahal seorang Sherlock Holmes itu kan sangat tidak suka dengan sisi sisi yang tidak rasional dan bertele-tele. Tapi disini, kita jadi seperti m...more
This is not the Sherlock Holmes I had in mind. Dreadfully slow and meandering. I am sorry I picked this one up. I had to force myself to finish it. I felt more sorry for myself than I did for any character in the book. At least you don't have to read it. Be warned!
I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and I would go so far as to say he's one of my favorite characters of all time. Although I thought Cullin represented his character accurately, it was kind of sad to read because Holmes was never supposed to grow old in the first place. He was supposed to die in his prime, on a case. I know that Conan Doyle did write one story with Holmes as an old man, but he wasn't the focus.
I think this novel dragged at times and was over-wordy. There were essential...more
I think this novel dragged at times and was over-wordy. There were essential...more
People who stuff their characters' mouths with expository that belongs in the narrative shouldn't be allowed to write. This is a violation of poor old Sherlock.
"He doubted if there could be any mental state more relentlessly cruel than the desiring of real meaning from circumstances that lacked useful or definitive answers."
A very old Sherlock Holmes, whose mind has begun to deteriorate, lives in the countryside raising bees in the new "adventure" written by a modern author.
Sosok Sherlock Holmes sebagai manusia biasa sangat jelas tergambarkan dalam novel ini. Dibalik kejeniusan dan aroganisme-nya sebagai detektif, ternyata Sherlock Holmes tetaplah manusia yang mempunyai sisi-sisi sensitif. Beberapa penggalan cerita cukup menyentuh, karena anda akan mendapati Holmes yang arogan ternyata bisa mengucurkan air mata. Sangat berbeda dari novel-novelnya yg lain. Salah satu pelajaran berharga, bahwa di dunia ini tidak ada satu pun yang tidak berharga, semua kenangan-kenang...more
An interesting story, set when the main character, famous and now long retired detective Sherlock Holmes, is very old.
I listened to the CD version of this book, read by Simon Jones. The main character is Sherlock Holmes as an elderly man, but it is not a mystery (even though my library labeled it as such). It is 3 interwoven stories - one present day, one a year previous in Holmes' life, and one 40 years before. They weave back and forth in a way that explains a lot about Holmes, both as a young detective who is full of his own importance and as an old man who wants to be left alone to tend his bees. Simon Jone...more
What a good discovery this novel was! I'm not a rabid fan of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, though I've read and enjoyed them, so I didn't mind seeing the great detective in his last years. In fact seeing how Holmes copes with his diminished physical powers, as well as some memory loss is part of what makes this story so fascinating. He hasn't lost it all, in case you are wondering. He brings his lifetime of experience to bear on the present (1947), and that is no small thing. Very e...more
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