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The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Anne Perry
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Anne Perry
Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskerville
I think that the Sherlock Holmes series are amazingly written, with fantastic descriptions of characters and places. The mysteries in the books are full of tiny clues that are very intricately and well pieced together.
The fact that the text is written in first person makes the reader feel really close to the action, and this means that the mystery is closer to you and it makes you feel like you are there, solving the problem with them. Because the 'writer' is Dr Watson and not Sherlock Holmes means that we aren't reading what Sherlock Holmes is thinking as he solves the mystery, but instead, what Dr Watson hears from him is what we know. Often, what evidence is given in the book leads you to think one thing, but then Sherlock Holmes will have an idea that is heading in the completely opposite, and correct direction.
So far in this book, it is obvious to me that Dr Watson is trying to use the methods that Mr Holmes uses to solve the mystery. Although it is interesting to read, I hope that this isn't how the rest of the book goes because I really enjoy seeing Sherlock Holmes in action himself. Many of the leads that Watson makes are proven wrong by Holmes. In the statement that Holmes made below, Holmes is commenting on the leads that Watson has deduced from the stick of a doctor,
"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a country practitioner. And he walks a good deal."
That is why I hope Dr Watson does not do all of the problem solving throughout the course of the book.
Generally I really cant wait to finish reading it and continue solving the problems.
I think that the Sherlock Holmes series are amazingly written, with fantastic descriptions of characters and places. The mysteries in the books are full of tiny clues that are very intricately and well pieced together.
The fact that the text is written in first person makes the reader feel really close to the action, and this means that the mystery is closer to you and it makes you feel like you are there, solving the problem with them. Because the 'writer' is Dr Watson and not Sherlock Holmes means that we aren't reading what Sherlock Holmes is thinking as he solves the mystery, but instead, what Dr Watson hears from him is what we know. Often, what evidence is given in the book leads you to think one thing, but then Sherlock Holmes will have an idea that is heading in the completely opposite, and correct direction.
So far in this book, it is obvious to me that Dr Watson is trying to use the methods that Mr Holmes uses to solve the mystery. Although it is interesting to read, I hope that this isn't how the rest of the book goes because I really enjoy seeing Sherlock Holmes in action himself. Many of the leads that Watson makes are proven wrong by Holmes. In the statement that Holmes made below, Holmes is commenting on the leads that Watson has deduced from the stick of a doctor,
"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a country practitioner. And he walks a good deal."
That is why I hope Dr Watson does not do all of the problem solving throughout the course of the book.
Generally I really cant wait to finish reading it and continue solving the problems.
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I really agree with your first paragraph, especially the line "The mysteries in the books are full of tiny clues that are very intricately and well pieced together". When I read any of the Sherlock Holmes Series, and when Sherlock Holmes pulls out a clue out of nowhere and makes conclusions, it just makes me feel like, "Wow, where did he get that idea from?" It also made me think about how much Arthur Conan Doyle must have thought and planned about how he's going to place everything in the right place to make the story work. He must have been a genius like Sherlock Holmes himself to have wrote all this.
About the part about Doctor Watson being the first person narrative and how it affects the book......well, it's probably because I've read less of the book than you, but so far I don't really see how Watson being the narrator affecting the book. I understand that if we we were reading the book from Sherlock Holme's view, we would instantly know what he is thinking and analyzing, but either way, we would still know what happened and who the criminal was. Even if it was written in Sherlock Holme's view, I think it would just matter on how the author writes it.