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The Hound of the Baskervilles
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Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
Discussion Questions
1) Do you think Sherlock Holmes seems more affectionate toward Watson in this story?
2) How important is Sir Henry Baskerville’s American background?
How does Holmes’ absence from most of the narrative affect the overall story?
3) Do you think Watson is dependent on Holmes?
4) Are there any similarities between the Dartmoor natives?
5) Do you think this story is more of a fantasy than a mystery?
I read this in a little burst this weekend, and am looking forward to discussing with everyone. These are some great questions this week, Gem. I'm particularly taken with the first one, does Holmes seem more affectionate towards Watson?I'm inclined to say that he does, though also that their affectionate friendship was growing quietly during the Memoirs, as opposed to the Adventures where they are generally portrayed more as flatmates.
The notes of my Penguin edition also particularly highlight the conversation between Holmes and Watson on the moor, in which Watson is disappointed not to have been taken into Holmes's full confidence, as a particular example of the subtlety of the relationship that has grown between them.
As a reader, I speculate whether it wasn't his characters that ACD began to miss during the hiatus, and whether this nostalgia related in deeper characterization when he came back.
This has always been my favorite of the Sherlock Holmes tales. Holmes does seem to display greater affection toward Watson, even praising him for his efforts. But despite that nice turn, the story has a more gothic tone than any of the others, and I believe the plot is more tightly constructed. The creepy elements of the moors, the hound, an escaped murderer, and the dismal weather, as well as the strange interactions with various characters gives this story an atmosphere of fear and foreboding. The momentary mistake of mis-identifying the dead murderer who wore Sir Henry's clothes was a great plot device, startling and then relieving the reader, but also establishing the reality of the hound's existence.
“Hound” amplifies, and changes, an idea adumbrated in a non-Holmes tale by Doyle, “The King of the Foxes,” which has not been easy to find; but it now has a Wikipedia article, and the text is linked from there to a Wikisource copy.
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Gosh! The horse in the Grimpin Mire was quite horrifying!
Gem wrote: "The Complete Sherlock HolmesThe Hound of the Baskervilles
Discussion Questions
1) Do you think Sherlock Holmes seems more affectionate toward Watson in this story?
2) How important is Sir Henry ..."
1) I wouldn’t say that Holmes was more affectionate towards Watson, but I think he is probably giving him more responsibility, and acknowledging that he is an excellent and probably an Indispensable assistant.
2) I don’t think that’s Sir Henry’s nationality is that important (I thought he was Canadian). I think it is important that he came from a far off country because others assumed there was no heir.
3) I don’t think that Watson is dependent on Holmes, it sounds to me that he has reached a stage that he’s almost as good a detective as the master.
4) there are similarities between the Dartmoor natives in so much as they all appear to be superstitious, and believe in the supernatural.
5) this is definitely more fantasy than mystery especially about keeping the wild dog up upon the moor, but also I find it fantastic that Holmes and Watson tend to leave vulnerable people alone when they’re in great danger.
It didn’t take me long to work out that the brother and sister were actually man and wife, but when Holmes turned up in the hut, I should’ve saw that coming, but I didn’t! We don’t know for definite that anyone actually died in the mire; If the author wanted to write a sequel, he could have - how about ‘the mysterious return of the man in the mire’?
Having said the above, I have to say that this is the greatest Holmes episode that I have read to date - I really enjoyed the description of Dartmoor, the railway stations and the names of some of the villages, etc. I live in Devon and a lot of the place names would relate to Dartmoor and its environs. The names have been changed, for instance, Coombe Tracy is probably Bovey Tracy (pronounced Buvvey) which is a small place on the outskirts of North East Dartmoor that used to have a railway station that was closed in the 1960s. The author either knew the place well, or did his research thoroughly.
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As to local knowledge, Doyle gave a lot of credit in the British edition dedication, and more in the American edition, to his friend (Bertram) Fletcher Robinson, for both the original Devon legend and local details. By some accounts Robinson shared in the royalties. See the Wikipedia article under his full name. He was also a writer of detective stories, and contributed to another Holmes tale, The Adventure of the Norwood Builder.
Ian wrote: "As to local knowledge, Doyle gave a lot of credit in the British edition dedication, and more in the American edition, to his friend (Bertram) Fletcher Robinson, for both the original Devon legend ..."Thanks for the heads up on the Wikipedia article. It is very interesting!
Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles is an example of how a skilled and accomplished author can use and develop a local legend and turn it into a thrilling novel/novella.I am reminded of how Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins were travelling together in a remote part of the Lake District and decided to stop at the Golden Lion in Maryport. It was there they heard the strange tale of a woman dressed in white. Collins was so impressed by the story that he based his most famous novel on the legend.
I have read this story many times but what I have taken away from this reading was the debunking of the supernatural.
The use of the phosphorus and paint to render the hound as a demon dog was something not often made explicit in the many film and tv adaptations.
Also, Conan Doyle’s brooding and ominous descriptions of the moors made them a living part of the story, not unlike the way Hardy used the moors in his novel The Return of the Native.
’The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one’s soul, its vastness, and also its grim charm.’ (Ch. 8)
Despite the horrors of Sir Charles death and the convict’s mauling, for me one of the most evocative scenes was finding Stapleton’s wife bound and gagged in an almost ritualistic way. That description really brought home the evil nature of Stapleton.
Stapleton’s disappearance in the mire left a fear in my mind that he could have escaped. For his persecuted wife’s sake, I would have liked his body to have been found. We were not told if Mrs. Stapleton faced charges for aiding and abetting the murderous Stapleton or indeed what happened to her. I would have liked to have known.
Nevertheless, an excellent story, one of his best.
I have walked down the ‘Yew Alley’ at Hardwick Hall which stands on the edge of the Derbyshire Moors (also known as the Peak District). (See photo below)The photograph gives some idea of what Baskerville’s Yew Alley might have looked like.
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Anyway, the Grateful Dead have a song called "Dire Wolf." Evidently Robert Hunter, their main lyricist, wrote the song after watching an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, though the "please don't murder me" may have been directed toward both the wolf and the Zodiac killer. I've had the song running through my head for two days and thought you might be interested in the Holmes/Doyle connection.
This is so interesting! I have not been following the dire wolf stories, but of course I don't live under a rock so have seen some things.Thanks for both the refresher and the Doyle connection!
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Availability The Hound of the Baskervilles: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2852
Background Information
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely in Dartmoor, Devon, in England's West Country and follows Holmes and Watson investigating the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in "The Final Problem", and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character's eventual revival.
One of the most famous stories ever written, in 2003, the book was listed as number 128 of 200 on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel". In 1999, a poll of "Sherlockians" ranked it as the best of the four Holmes novels.
Publication History
The Hound of the Baskervilles was first serialised in The Strand Magazine in 1901. It was well-suited for this type of publication, as individual chapters end in cliffhangers. It was printed in the United Kingdom as a novel in March 1902 by George Newnes Ltd. It was published in the same year in the United States by McClure, Philips & Co.
Origins
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this story shortly after returning to his home, Undershaw in Surrey, from South Africa, where he had worked as a volunteer physician at the Langman Field Hospital in Bloemfontein during the Second Boer War. He had not written about Sherlock Holmes in eight years, having killed off the character in the 1893 story "The Final Problem". Although The Hound of the Baskervilles is set before the latter events, two years later Doyle brought Holmes back for good, explaining in "The Adventure of the Empty House" (view spoiler)[that Holmes had faked his own death. (hide spoiler)] As a result, the character of Holmes occupies a liminal space between being alive and dead, which further adds to the gothic elements of the novel.
He was assisted with the legend of the hound and local colour by a Daily Express journalist named Bertram Fletcher Robinson (1870–1907), with whom he explored Dartmoor in June 1901; Robinson received a 1⁄3 royalty payment that amounted to over 500 pounds by the end of 1901.
Doyle may also have been inspired by his own earlier story (written and published in 1898) of a terrifying giant wolf, "The King of the Foxes".
Inspiration
The author’s ideas came from the legend of Squire Richard Cabell of Brook Hall, in the parish of Buckfastleigh, Devon, which was the fundamental inspiration for the Baskerville tale of a hellish hound and a cursed country squire. Cabell's tomb survives in the town of Buckfastleigh.
Cabell lived for hunting, and was what in those days was described as a "monstrously evil man". He gained this reputation, among other things, for immorality and having sold his soul to the Devil. There was also a rumour that he had murdered his wife, Elizabeth Fowell, a daughter of Sir Edmund Fowell, 1st Baronet (1593–1674), of Fowelscombe. On 5 July 1677, he died and was buried in the sepulchre. The night of his interment saw a phantom pack of hounds come baying across the moor to howl at his tomb. From that night on, he could be found leading the phantom pack across the moor, usually on the anniversary of his death. If the pack were not out hunting, they could be found ranging around his grave howling and shrieking. To try to lay the soul to rest, the villagers built a large building around the tomb, and to be doubly sure a huge slab was placed over the top.
Moreover, Devon's folklore includes tales of a fearsome supernatural dog known as the Yeth hound that Doyle may have heard.
Weller (2002) believes that Baskerville Hall is based on one of three possible houses on or near Dartmoor: Fowelscombe in the parish of Ugborough, the seat of the Fowell Baronets; Hayford Hall, near Buckfastleigh (also owned by John King (d.1861) of Fowelscombe) and Brook Hall, in the parish of Buckfastleigh, about two miles east of Hayford, the actual home of Richard Cabell. It has also been claimed that Baskerville Hall is based on a property in Mid Wales, built in 1839 by one Thomas Mynors Baskerville. The house was formerly named Clyro Court and was renamed Baskerville Hall towards the end of the 19th century. Arthur Conan Doyle was apparently a family friend who often stayed there and may have been aware of a local legend of the hound of the Baskervilles.
Still other tales claim that Doyle was inspired by a holiday in North Norfolk, where the tale of Black Shuck is well known. The Gothic-revival style Cromer Hall, where Doyle stayed, also closely resembles Doyle's vivid descriptions of Baskerville Hall.
James Lynam Molloy, a friend of Doyle's, and author of "Love's Old Sweet Song", married Florence Baskerville, daughter of Henry Baskerville of Crowsley Park, Oxfordshire. The gates to the park had statues of hell hounds, spears through their mouths. Above the lintel there was another statue of a hell hound.
Technique
The novel incorporates five plots: the ostensible 'curse' story, the two red-herring subplots concerning Selden and the other stranger living on the moor, the actual events occurring to Baskerville as narrated by Watson, and the hidden plot to be discovered by Holmes. The structure of the novel starting and ending in the familiar setting in London is used to ‘delimit the uncanny world associated with the Gothic landscape of the moors', with varying degrees of success. Doyle wrote that the novel was originally conceived as a straight 'Victorian creeper' in the style of Le Fanu, with the idea of introducing Holmes as the deus ex machina arising only later.
Original Manuscript
In 1902, Doyle's original manuscript of the book was broken up into individual leaves as part of a promotional campaign by Doyle's American publisher – they were used in window displays by individual booksellers. Out of an estimated 185–190 leaves, only 37 are known to still exist, including all the leaves from Chapter 11, held by the New York Public Library. Other leaves are owned by university libraries in the United States and by private collectors. Four of the known survivors are in unknown locations, including one that was stolen.
A newly rediscovered example was sold at auction in 2012 for US$158,500. Another one was sold in 2021 for $423,000. The existence of the 37th leaf became publicly known in 2018; it was put up for auction in 2022, but did not sell.