In Bed with Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories of the Great Detective

by Christopher Redmond

In Bed with Sherlock Holmes provides a witty and well-researched discussion of the sexual elements in the Sherlock holmes stories, and in Conan Doyle's own life. An expert commentator on all things Victorian, Doyle also reflects that period's attitudes toward sex and erotic love. This commentary will make the Sherlock Holmes stories even more interesting and intriguing since Redmond uses published and unpublished articles, books and letters, as well as quotes from speeches given at meetings, to enliven the text and give a broad out-look to this unusual assessment of Doyle's best known stories. Each chapter opens with one of the original Sidney Paget illustrations. Bibliography. Index.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1984

Reviews

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tiresomely heteronormative. Redmond actually writes at the beginning of the penultimate chapter (the only one that mentions homosexuality) that "The sexual activities and motives discussed so far have been heterosexual. One would not call them all normal, extending as they do to rape, flagellation, and other antisocial behaviour, but they are all derived from the originally normal attraction of men for women and women for men." THE ORIGINALLY NORMAL ATTRACTION OF MEN FOR WOMEN AND WOMEN FOR MEN!? Oh please. ACD's writings and Victorian-era sexual habits are more nuanced and deserve better treatment than this book delivered.

[Lumsden · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author quested deeply for sexual themes that may or may not have been subconscious undertones but were never considered by Arthur Conan Doyle. The book sounded like a cheap desperate effort at producing a master's thesis.

[Laura L. Van Dam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit repetitive, though very interesting.

[Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Real Rating: 2.5

This book has given me a lot of food for thought and provided a number of useful resources and ideas that I'm excited to explore further in my research, so I'm glad I stumbled on it! For me, the most useful parts were the ideas about "The Illustrious Client" and examining female characters that Sherlock Holmes encounters as "damsels in distress." I'll definitely be relying on some of those quotes in the future. :)

Other reviewers have noted the poor presentation of gayness in this book, and I have to agree, that wasn't nuanced enough by far. (In fact, that chapter devolves from contemplating gayness to Doyle's apparent Oedipus Complex, which does not seem like an appropriate transition in my mind. But here we are.)

Other than that, my biggest regret in this book was that there wasn't more analysis. Redmond brought in a lot of authors reflecting on similar themes, but I would have liked to see more discussion about how those ideas agree with and challenge one another, which might have led to a greater coherency throughout a chapter.

Also, sometimes I found the text a little boring to read. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sorry pals.

Overall, I'm certain that this will prove to be a very useful resource for me; however, this is definitely not a book for everyone.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I expected so much more of this book than what it turned out to be. Unfortunately, it is extremely heteronormative (heterosexuality is called "normal" a few times) and allonormative. Somehow every instance in the Sherlock Holmes stories can be seen in a (hetero)sexual light (which to me seems a little absurd as Redmond even interprets single sentences as sexual which, to me, really do not seem that way), but when it comes to Holmes and Watson's relationship, it somehow cannot be interpreted as homosexual at all.
This book also focused way too much on what Conan Doyle may have intended and how his biography can be linked to the stories. Though I guess that is personal taste as I just don't like it when an analysis is too focused on biographical readings.

[Rozonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book, but, as other readers said, could do with a revision. The author deals with homosexuality almost as a deviation, putting it into the same chapter as Freudian perversions and obsessions. It's right to think that Holmes wasn't gay (though the ambiguity of not knowing if he was or not enriches the character- an example is BBC Sherlock's series)but labeling the theory as morbid, pornographic and unpleasant is going a bit too far. I understand this book was written in the 80s and reflects pre- AIDS and gay liberation ideas...but one would expect more openmindedness from a learned man like Mr Redmond.

Anyway, his chapters on Doyle, Irene Adler and Watson are fascinating, and that's what saves the book.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could do for a revision. Readings seem a bit outdated (book is from the 80s). A bit too Freudian for my liking as well. The chapter on homosexuality read like the author had never met a gay person is his life.