The Hound of the Baskervilles, with "the Adventure of the Speckled Band"

by Arthur Conan Doyle, Francis O'Gorman (Editor)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901–02) is Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Sherlock Holmes adventure. At the end of the yew tree path of his ancestral home, Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead. Close by are the footprints of a gigantic hound. Called to investigate, Holmes seems to face a supernatural foe. In the tense narration of the detective’s efforts to solve the crime, Conan Doyle meditates on late Victorian and early twentieth-century ideas of ancestry and atavism, the possible biological determination of criminals, the stability of the British landed classes, and the place of the supernatural.

Historical documents included with this fully-annotated Broadview edition help contextualize the novel’s debates and reveal its cultural and literary significance as a supreme instance of early detective fiction. Also included is the Conan Doyle short story The Adventure of the Speckled Band.

Genres: Classics, Mystery, Fiction, School, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Novels

300 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2006

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Caz (littlebookowl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!
Ahh it's good to be back, I've missed you Sherlock Holmes!

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadview Press edition. I've become a groupie of this press; not cheap, but editions with documents that historicise the fiction. No criticism, aside from the intro. Well annotated.

[Sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

super fun!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread with this edition for my seminar and analyzed the moor as a setting :) will probably end up writing a paper on tourism and senses of place!

[Einar Jóhann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ég hlustaði á hinn kotroskna Stephen Fry lesa söguna, samhliða því var ég mikið með textann við höndina. Hann túlkaði þetta frábærlega, sérstaklega dúó'ið sjálft. Fry les mjög eðlilega, þeas sækir raddirnar ekki eins vítt og breitt og í Potter seríunnin. Það á vel við hér.
Sagan er fín. Ég nálgaðist hana ekki síður sem gotneska sögu heldur en glæpasögu. Svo geggjað að láta einhverja dyntótta lyngheiði spila stóra rullu. Klassískt að sækja í þykka þoku og tunglsljós. Ég get vel hugsað mér að kíkja á hinar stóru þrjár skáldsögurnar um Holmes en ég þarf ekki að halda niður í mér andanum þangað til.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A third reading, I think. This time with the older kids. Hope they too become massive Holmes fans.

Only thing missing was more of Holmes in the narrative.

Loved it.

[Topher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about a case of a somewhat supernatural beast that brings dire circumstances with its appearance. This involves Sherlock, but mostly shows Watson throughout the tale. This was my first Sherlock in a bit. This book has been on my book shelf for ages. There is definitely a gothic atmosphere to the scene. Of course, Doyle shows Sherlock at his most deductive brilliance. It is a good mystery book. I liked this. I give this a 3.9/5.

[SheMac · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say about a literary classic? Conan Doyle had a vivid imagination, and Victorian England must have been a scary place to inspire such mayhem.

[Tereza Blahova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for chilly autumn evenings

[Cas | casreadz · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this best-known and perhaps most beloved adventure of the classic literary hero, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle blends mystery with the specter of the supernatural to create a haunting tale unlike any of the adventures that came before it. The endearing Dr. Watson is at his most bumbling, full of dark fears and with a propensity to get caught up in the superstitions surrounding the imposing structure of Baskerville Hall, situated on the chilling and fatal moor. Watson's chosen method of storytelling varies over the course of the novel, and his brief stint of journal entries is a little disconcerting but certainly keeps the narrative from becoming stale. Furthermore, his unprecedented and surprisingly successful attempts at sleuthing without the crutch of Holmes's brilliance are admirable and show the doctor in a flattering light, while still maintaining Holmes's superiority of method and of mind.

Oddly, Holmes is absent for much of the story, but this clever choice allows Doyle to sustain the atmosphere of mystique he so carefully constructed in this classic tale. Readers will find themselves caught up in the intrigue, unsure until the very end whether something hellish is truly lurking in the midst of the boggy mires of Dartmoor. Holmes is, of course, as brilliant as ever and makes the complex deductions for which he is famous seem effortless. The character is at his most complex in The Hound - frustrating with his secrets and inscrutable riddles, but also fascinating and charming in his brilliance and quirks. Embedded in this entertaining but hair-raising tale are some deeper philosophical questions about the true nature of fact and fiction which make for more than just a scintillating mystery. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a provocative piece which will leave readers wondering long after justice again reigns supreme.

[Eduardo Pereira]

Não sei se devido ao fato de a adolescência ser um período associado ao desvelamento das coisas, mas Conan Doyle de algum modo representa pra mim uma síntese desse período de ante-sala do mundo. Holmes não é outra coisa senão Doyle figurado: conhecimento enciclopédico, curiosidade viciosa, aventureiro e trágico por trás daquela serenidade analítica. Em resumo: maior parte da porção do anseio adolescente (do adolescente de livros, entenda-se). Sua obra me seduzia pelos títulos. Achava-os instigantes (A liga dos cabeças-vermelhas ou O homem do lábio torcido, O ritual Musgrave), poéticos (As cinco sementes de laranja, A ciclista solitária, A coroa de berilos), portentosos (Charles Augustus Milverton). Decididamente o máximo. Passei a praguejar por morar nos trópicos, só porque aqui não tinha neblina espessa e aquela atmosfera melancólica de tempo nublado e porque ninguém podia se esconder em becos. A isso se chama magia literária propriamente, quando você é engolido pela narrativa. Li na maior parte aquelas edições baratas da Ediouro, mas que vinha com aquele prefácio adorável sobre os traços de caráter do Holmes, como o seu conhecimento em ópio e venenos, nos diversos tipos de solo ou nas fisionomias (Doyle foi aluno de um escocês que dissecava tipos de um simples relance, e que confessou ter sido uma de suas influências na caracterização do detetive), em boxe e em esgrima, etc. Nunca esqueci aquela observação do Holmes ao Watson acho que em The Hound of the Baskervilles: "Um cão sorumbático dificilmente tem um dono feliz". E outra que facilitou tremendamente minhas noites, "Onde não há imaginação, não há horror.", em O vale do Terror.

[Teancum Tukuafu · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like a good murder mystery, then this is the book for you. Sherlock Holmes, and his ever trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson, always get the job well done. If not in a matter of days, then a matter of a week or two. In this, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock and Watson will solve the mystery and a little more, wanted or not.
One of the great literary elements is that he uses a lot of characterization. One instance of this is on page 82, "Haolla Watson! Where have you dropped from?" This phrase was used by Sherlock when he had caught up to Watson after spying on him and he had used this to break the ice and seem friendly after Watson suffered a rejection by a woman who he was talking to.
The theme of this book is that most people believe that a curse is being enacted on the Baskervilles and that they are being hunted down by a mysterious, unnatural dog that has a blood lust. A good instance of this is in the summary, "Footprints of a large, ferocious hound found near the crime scene are reminiscent of an ancient and frightening legend that has haunted the family for generations." This is the mystic part of the book and the author does not usually take kindly to magic and the such because in all of his books he will disprove the mysticism for lights. smoke, and mirrors.
To bring this all to an end, I really recommend this book and the rest of the Sherlock Holmes books for all. For all those who like a good mystery from time to time with all types of twists and turns to make it interesting and good.

[Andrew Barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hound of the Baskervilles brings Sherlock Holmes to his closest encounter with the supernatural. There are no vampires or ghosts, but a purported hound from hell measures out a good dose of horror. The novella is also one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most Gothic tales, set along the mores of England and in an ancient mansion that borders them. What we have is Doyle at his best and his excellent character Sherlock Holmes--who is derived from Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin as I pointed out in Edgar Allan Poe Annotated and Illustrated Entire Stories and Poems Edgar Allan Poe Annotated and Illustrated Entire Stories and Poems--does not disappoint with his sleuthing prowess, either. If Poe had written one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, this would have been it. A must read!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went back and forth between four or five stars. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories at a breakneck pace, which is the way you read them. You tumble along from beginning to end, delighted by the twists and turns. In some ways, the story suffers in this edition with the addition of footnotes, referencing various fun facts, but also inconsistencies that are a result of Doyle's high-speed style. Bringing light to the subtle imperfections or even just slowing the pace for the footnote brings you out of the story a bit. However, the story itself is wonderful fun, and one of the most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories. The Adventure of the Speckled Band has always been a favorite of mine, as well.

Being a mystery, I will leave it at that. Any hint at what happens could spoil it, if this if your first time reading the stories. Reading them will give you an appreciation for just how influential they have been to mystery as a genre.

[sk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that, in retrospect, I wish I had read in one sitting. I would have liked it so much more that way. Instead, I read a few pages at a time over the course of a few days, and now I’m left without a cohesive image of the novel in my mind.

Even so, I still enjoyed this story. Loved the gothic setting of the English moors, with the eerie howl of the alleged Baskerville hound in the distance. Loved the classic Sherlock attitude and detective skill. Loved that Watson was able to contribute in this mystery more than usual. I do wish the female characters had been less helpless, but I guess that comes with Victorian territory in some regard.

Reading it so sporadically has made it hard for me to appreciate the mystery as much as I had wanted to. Hopefully in hindsight, and after studying it in class, it will all become clearer to me.

Still such a classic and “elementary!” Holmes mystery.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, with books you hear and know something of before you read them (especially classics), I find myself holding out to be slightly disappointed in the actual experience of reading it for the first time. I have also seen the recent BBC version of this tale from the series "Sherlock" with Benidict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman; this was not my favorite episode from the first two seasons, so I had additional reason to be wary. However, I loved the descriptive language of this Sherlock Holmes novel. Each story is narrated in a very engaging way, but the dark, mysterious descriptions of the characters and the setting set this apart from other Holmes stories. I can see now why so many name this as their favorite of the cannon. I will have to make it one of those novels I revisit.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the version to read if you have never read this story before. Why? Because the footnotes give everything away! I'm sure they would be useful for study (and the definitions of some words were useful at times), but on more than one occasion I was frustrated by footnotes revealing critical information far too early. Other than that, this was an enjoyable read. Arthur Conan Doyle certainly created a literary masterpiece when he created Sherlock Holmes. And, if you have already seen BBC's Sherlock, you will love both the book and television series even more when you notice the connections between them.

[Uma · Rating 4 out of 5]

To meet Sherlock Homes and Dr Watson again after a long time is such a pleasant experience. The launguage and setting take you back to early 20th century England......but with no difficulty at all. It's lovely. And such a page turner. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't read Doyle before.
A little additional nugget. I have been to Baker Street and 221B Baker Street exists. Sherlock Holmes still lurks on those streets, shocked at what the criminals of today have come to........or so I would like to believe.....

[Kate]

Often imitated, this was my first dabble in the original world of Sherlock and I was truly immersed. I regret not having started at the beginning, as Holmes and Watson seemed established as characters, but I enjoyed getting to know Holmes' irritating, condescending manner nonetheless. I have never been a big fan of the mystery genre, but gasped out loud the once. The detecting pair are the perfect guides to London and the human mind. On a couple occasions, however, I did wish Watson wasn't presented as not having clued into a couple leads that the reader could easily pick up.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time has allowed me to forget that Arthur Conan Doyle was actually a gifted writer and that his hero Sherlock Holmes was not the pompous detective as often portrayed in popular culture and film adaptations (yes, even Watson gets peeved at him from time to time, and Holmes is good enough to admit his mistakes). This story of murder and deceit is still fresh after more than a century, and it moves along very sharply.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a first foray into the Sherlock Holmes world I am happy I started with this book. I did have to read it through once without utilizing the extensive foot notes as they gave away a lot of the book - and slowed down the reading.

When i went back and re-read it while incorporating the foot notes I was impressed with the amount of detail that Francis O'Gorman goes into.

A wonderful read with a lot of extra information that, to me, made it all the more enjoyable.

[Laura Jediná]

Pro mé překvapení, mě čtení detektivky opravdu bavilo. Naprosto jsem se zamilovala do prostředí ve kterém se děj odehrává (ponurý močál se starým gotickým panstvím). Bavilo mě i louskat jazyk ve kterém povídání bylo napsáno. Obzvláště jsem si pak oblíbila čtení knihy nahlas. Líbilo se mi střídání dlouhých rozhovorů, přibližující se dramatu, a míst líčení překrásného anglického venkova. Je dost pravděpodobné, že se k tvorbě A. C. Doyla někdy vrátím.

-LJ

[Danna · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I'm not a fan of Doyle or Holmes. Secondly, this book was goofy in that most of the action occurs in letters between Holmes and Watson. Holmes is way too arrogant to be likable or heroic. What I liked best in this book was the scariness of the moors and the tenderness of a sister for the criminal, Selden.

[Nicholas George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer my Holmes in short-story doses, but this full-length tale is almost quintessential Holmes, which is to say it's pretty damn good. There's a nifty mystery with intriguing characters, plenty of opportunity for Holmes to show off his stuff, and the eerie title creature as well. It's not too challenging but it all goes down well.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two very good and opposing books. The Hound of the Baskerville’s a classic novel. The Case of the Speckled Band a short story. Two opposing stories by Arthur Conan Doyle showing a very different writing style.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm surpised at how much I enjoyed reading Sherlock Homes stories despite all the colonialism and classism. The new TV series really helps me bring the stories alive while reading. The annotations in this version are really excellent and add so much.

[soroush]

i suppose this book is the best books that has written by conan doyle. i like sherlock holmes's story specially this one.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are my favorite two stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle because they are such inventive killers.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

good fun!

[Raha]

I like to read this book on chilly rainy dark days.