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Worst or most disappointing story in the canon.
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Barbara
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Feb 25, 2020 09:27AM
What do you think is the worst or weakest story in the canon? Even though I hate the way Holmes comes off in The Three Gables, I just think The Five Orange Pips is one of the worst. Holmes acts like he can't be bothered and the client dies. There are a few attempts to use bits and pieces of the story, recently in both Elementary and Sherlock, but I think it would be hard to pull off a decent Granada-style episode.
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The Lion's Mane. All the stories from Holmes' POV are somewhat questionable to me (Holmes complains constantly about Watson's writing style, but then he turns out to write in exactly the same style?) but this one is the worst. I have no interest in seeing Holmes retired to the peaceful countryside. The plot itself is dull; and there's just nothing particularly fun or memorable about it to compensate for its deficiencies.
If I had to say the worst, I’d say The Mazarin Stone, for the obvious reason that it went the reverse route of stage play to short story. It’s kind of pointless to do anyway, and it didn’t come too well. The only upside of that is at least Doyle adapted his own play instead of someone else doing it, like what some authors have done with Agatha Christie plays. I’d personally rather just read the plays and have read Black Coffee by Christie and avoided the book.Of course, the other downside of Mazarin Stone is that’s it’s one of 2 Doyle Holmes stories written in the third person, and I’d say on that note His Last Bow is my second least favorite. That one also serves mainly as just a coda for the stories, and not much remarkable happens in it.
Honestly, the thing I hated most about Holmes in Three Gables was the racism, and this is one of the clearest examples of racism and bigotry in the stories, as Doyle - however much we love the stories - was a racist. I can’t think of all the examples in the stories, but The Sign of Four might have actually been my favorite Holmes story if it weren’t for the hardcore racism - and also an example of classism and bigotry against the homeless (hard to spot) - in it. As it stands, it’s near the top of my favorites stories, and I can judge and enjoy things regardless of bigotry and politics in it if I like it otherwise, but the bigotry in it knocked it out of the top spot when there’s other great Holmes stories as well. Doyle could go back and forth on bigotry, in a way. The Yellow Face can seem more compassionate, and the enemy in Five Orange Pips is the Klan, so we know he at least wasn’t a fan of hate groups.
Bruce wrote: "Honestly, the thing I hated most about Holmes in Three Gables was the racism, and this is one of the clearest examples of racism and bigotry in the stories, as Doyle - however much we love the stor..."I was just about to say that Doyle is never consistent, even in his prejudices--I think "The Yellow Face" is astoundingly progressive, and "The Five Orange Pips" really needs to be complimented, given that in that era, the Klan was romanticized in many stories (heartbreakingly leading to its resurgence). But he was also lazy about using "The Other" as a stock villain.
For me, "The Sussex Vampire" and "The Creeping Man" disappoint because Doyle lets his belief in the supernatural impact the rationalistic world he so carefully created in previous books. "The Lion's Mane" and the other Holmes-authored stories prove that Watson was a damn fine writer, compared with Holmes, and Holmes really did struggle to appreciate fine literature, right?
"The Three Garridebs" disappoints because why not use a better story for such a touching moment?
I think the Creeping Man works around a creepy plot point (the mystery serum) but the Sussex Vampire isn't really about vampires - the solution is a scientific one. One thing about that story is that the boy by the first marriage who is the culprit - Jackie - is a real sociopath. I know it was written in the 1920s but I always thought that Jackie would grow up to be Jack the Ripper.
Barbara wrote: "I think the Creeping Man works around a creepy plot point (the mystery serum) but the Sussex Vampire isn't really about vampires - the solution is a scientific one. One thing about that story is th..."True, I guess my disappointment in "The Creeping Man" and "The Sussex Vampire" is more in the writing style than straight-on use of the supernatural. I mean, "The Devil's Foot" is one of my favorite short stories of all time. But for some reason, I find it just more plausible that a natural root might cause the hallucinations that provoke the behavior seen in "The Creeping Man," so it doesn't bother me. The sucking out the poison also strains credibility, but Doyle certainly was able to pull off even weirder stuff at the top of his game (like milk-drinking snakes).
For me, it's probably "The Stockbroker's Clerk," because for the life of me, I can never remember what it's about. On a personal note, I've written - so far - three stories for the anthologies released by MX Publishing, and the most recent one (the volume isn't out yet) brings in characters from "The Three Gables," and - I hope - rehabilitates the Holmes/Dixie relationship.
Agree that that story comes off as racist, but one reason that is rarely discussed is the fact that it was published in the late 1920s, when detective fiction began to be dominated by more hard boiled, noir-ish characters and language. I think Conan Doyle may have been trying - unsuccessfully - to keep up with the times.
Mary wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I think the Creeping Man works around a creepy plot point (the mystery serum) but the Sussex Vampire isn't really about vampires - the solution is a scientific one. One thing about ..."I also like The Devil's Foot a lot. It's kind of a locked room mystery which is always interesting. It's also one of those cases where Holmes lets the culprit go, he's kid of judge and jury. And I think Sterndale is a good character.
@J. Looking forward to reading your retake of the Three Gables.
Have finally read J's story which is sort of a sequel to The Three Gables, which is called The Three Fables. I loved how the surprising turn in the relationship between Holmes and Steve Dixie and I thought the scene with Langdale Pike was great. Put up a link to it https://www.amazon.com/Book-Sherlock-...I know its for charity but I wish these books were more affordable.
