The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Preread Chat

[Gem , Moderator]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes
Preread Chat

I'm going to be reading from a 1938 publication by Garden City Publishing. I'm so excited to be reading this. Who's going to join in?

[Ian]

I will consider it.

If we take the 1910 cut-off date seriously we will not do the complete stories, as Doyle continued to write them into the 1920s. The stories are set earlier than that, though, with the very latest internal date being explicitly 1914, so we could stretch the point and consider the series as a whole to be late Victorian literature.

Those looking for a Kindle edition might want to consider the Five Tops Classics “The Complete Sherlock Holmes,” with the original magazine illustrations by Sidney Paget, the classic visualisation of Holmes. (And period illustrations by others.) It claims to be authorized by the author’s estate, but I don’t know how good the text is (some editions are not very reliable).

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I've read these before and will join in for as many of the stories I can!

[Gem , Moderator]

Ian wrote: "I will consider it.

If we take the 1910 cut-off date seriously we will not do the complete stories, as Doyle continued to write them into the 1920s. The stories are set earlier than that, though, ..."

Yes, I knew that going in. We will not be reading The Valley of Fear, some of the stories in His Last Bow, or any of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.

[Robin P, Moderator]

I have read them more than once.

When I was young, my brother and I had some Big Golden Books. They were soft cover, about 8x10 inches and had color pictures on every page. I read them all and it started a lifelong love affair with Sherlock Holmes, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, and Around the World in 80 Days. Apparently they weren't made very long since I've never been able to find them on line.

I love Sherlock Holmes modernizations and pastiches, especially the ones by Laurie R. King, Lyndsay Faye, and Anthony Horowitz.

[Frances, Moderator]

I will join this! I've read all (I think) the Conan Doyle Holmes and love them, so look forward to a reread with the group.

[Emmeline]

Hoping to join for some of the discussion!

[Renee]

I’ve read the lot and enjoyed them very much. Since that time as quite some time ago, I’ll be joining you for as many as possible.

[Lori, Moderator]

I have the Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, which has many of these stories, and I guess I can find the others online. I'll try to join for most of these; I'm juggling these reads with a local book club, in which we're reading contemporary horror!

[Ian]

For those who have read Sherlock Holmes already, and are of a philosophical turn of mind, I suggest the essays in “The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce,” edited by Umberto Eco and Thomas Sebeok. The other two are Poe’s detective, Auguste Dupin, and the American philosopher Charles S. Peirce. Be prepared for introductory material about semiotics, and the differences between deduction, induction, and abduction (not the meaning you think of first, but a term describing a form of logic).

It is available on Kindle Unlimited.

Unfortunately, the Kindle edition is littered with formatting notes which should have been suppressed. They do tell you what page of the hard copy you are on. There are also other formatting issues, with words run together. I am not wholeheartedly recommending buying it, but you can make up your own mind, of course.

If you are interested, the Wikipedia article on Semiotics will be helpful, although it is rather long and dense.

The book assumes a good knowledge of the relevant stories by Poe and Doyle.

[Allison]

I am! Besides the very first story, I’ve never read any other Sherlock Holmes.

[Anisha Inkspill]

Ian wrote: "For those who have read Sherlock Holmes already, and are of a philosophical turn of mind, I suggest the essays in “The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce,” edited by Umberto Eco and Thomas Sebeok..."

Sign of Three looks interesting, just looked at the kindle, the formatting makes this a difficult read so thanks for the other mentions.

[Anisha Inkspill]

I have Complete Sherlock Homes, and I finally read a couple of stories last year and really enjoyed them. I'm not sure if I can read the entire book with all the reads I have lined up but happy to join in whenever I can.

[Piyangie]

I have only to read stories from His Last Bow and hoping to join in for that. I might reread Hound of the Baskerville also if time permits.

[Ian]

Umberto Eco, one of the editors of The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce, is best known as a novelist, especially for The Name of the Rose, which among other things is a prolonged homage to Sherlock Holmes.

Professionally, he is a student of "signs" and "meaning, as laid out for English readers in his A Theory of Semiotics, which is currently on sale on kindle at $2.99. Strictly for those seriously interested.

Some of his other, generally more accessible, are marked down today as well, mostly to $2.99:
Foucault’s Pendulum*
The Open Work
Confessions of a Young Novelist
The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana*
Misreadings
Apocalypse Postponed
Belief or Nonbelief?: A Confrontation Paperback October 16, 2012 (used for full title, also in Kindle)
The Prague Cemetery*
and, at a higher price ($4.99), Mouse or Rat?: Translation as Negotiation
* = fiction

[Gem , Moderator]

Ian wrote: "Umberto Eco, one of the editors of The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce, is best known as a novelist, especially for The Name of the Rose, which among other things is a prolonged homage to Sherlock Holmes."

I did not know that. "The Name of the Rose" has been on my tbr list for a long while, I guess I'm going to have to read that sooner rather than later.

[Emmeline]

Gem wrote: "I did not know that. "The Name of the Rose" has been on my tbr list for a long while, I guess I'm going to have to read that sooner rather than later."

Ditto! I also have Michael Chabon's The Final Solution in my bookshelf and hope to get to it after the Sherlock Holmes refresher.

[Lori, Moderator]

I just watched Lucy Worsley's "Holmes vs. Doyle" on PBS Passport. It has actual video footage of Doyle and is really interesting. The third episode has some spoilers regarding "The Empty House" and possibly a few others we haven't gotten to yet, so tread carefully if you want to be surprised.

[Trev]

In ‘The Resident Patient,’ Holmes asks Watson if he fancies going for a stroll around the streets of London. Watson readily accepts.
It seems that many avid Holmes fans have followed in his footsteps and some have even opened businesses and even museums bearing his name.

More than one keen follower has mapped out all the London locations found in the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Here are two, but there are probably more.

The Sherlock Holmes Society has produced a gazetteer.

https://gazetteer.sherlock-holmes.org...

Another map, together with lots of other fascinating Holmserian bits and pieces can be found here.

https://londonist.com/london/maps/map...

[Trev]

Lori wrote: "I just watched Lucy Worsley's "Holmes vs. Doyle" on PBS Passport. It has actual video footage of Doyle and is really interesting. The third episode has some spoilers regarding "The Empty House" and..."

I have also watched that series and I agree with you. Lucy Worsley always seems to dig up something fascinating and puts it across well.

Those of you who have access to BBC Sounds might be interested in Hugh Bonneville’s narration of some of the short stories we are reading.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0k...

[Gem , Moderator]

Trev wrote: "In ‘The Resident Patient,’ Holmes asks Watson if he fancies going for a stroll around the streets of London. Watson readily accepts.
It seems that many avid Holmes fans have followed in his footste..."

That is too cool.

[Lori, Moderator]

Speaking of Arthur Conan Doyle, we're currently watching The Lost World on Svengoolie!

[Gem , Moderator]

Lori wrote: "Speaking of Arthur Conan Doyle, we're currently watching The Lost World on Svengoolie!"

I don't know that one, I'll have to look it up.