The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

[Beri]

Short stories are always fun. Besides, Sherlock is a wonder. Will be following this closely!

[Carrie]

Already read the first three stories. Sherlock never gets old and is always fun! :)

[Heidi]

Really enjoying this so far...Sherlock is pretty awesome!

[Beri]

Isn't he? So how are we doing this? (noob)
Do we discuss by short story or altogether as a whole?

[Jonathan]

@Beri I believe Nicolle said that you could read any short story or them all and I guess she'll fill in more info about discussions... I prefer discussing as a whole with finer details - the individual stories - adding to discussion.

[Nicolle]

Yes, I will make this all more clear in the first post at the beginning.

[Chris]

I read the Hound of the Baskervilles some time ago and thought it was okay... this time I started with A Study in Scarlet which I found that I loved... I am going to try to get through The Sign of the Four and the Adventures by the end of the month...

[Angie]

I also began with A Study in Scarlet. It seemed like the perfect place to begin, as Watson meets Holmes for the first time and begins to learn of his many quirks. I liked the mystery too. The story behind it all was fascinating. I think The Sign of Four will be my next read. I have decided to read a Sherlock Holmes adventure after every other book I read, so it may take me a few years to read all of the novels and short stories. Good things take time...

[Janice]

My copy got here yesterday:) I am excited to get started, although I will have to finish other books first!

[Riya]

I've read the first two stories and so far - they're not bad.

[Dalynn]

YAY finally started this tonight! Got through the first three stories.

I've not read any Holmes before now, been on my list a LONG while as I'm a mystery fan and have always felt I SHOULD read these, but haven't even done any studying before recently to find out there were novels and short stories and what order, etc.

Why is the first novel the only one of the set which isn't free on Kindle? I know it's only 99c but... money is money, folks! UGH.


And, in reading this first story A Scandal in Bohemia I have come to the utter shock of realization that I had never known: (view spoiler)[Sherlock Holmes was a drug addict (hide spoiler)]!!??!?!! SERIOUSLY??? Wow. Funny and offensive all at the same time, (well, not so offensive as to stop reading though) and I'm not sure how I missed it! Is this something everyone else already knew? LOL Just kinda shocked, and seriously wondering why that's not more common knowledge... or if it IS common knowledge and I'm just a dope. :P

Erm... (view spoiler)[no pun intended. (hide spoiler)]

[Yasiru]

Dalynn wrote: "YAY finally started this tonight! Got through the first three stories.

I've not read any Holmes before now, been on my list a LONG while as I'm a mystery fan and have always felt I SHOULD read the..."

(view spoiler)[I should think it's common knowledge. Not so much an addict in the literal sense though since a case to work on remarkably does away with his need for cocaine. It's basically his way of idling.

If I recall, in the Granada Television series starring Jeremy Brett, Holmes is shown dispensing with it altogether because Brett and the producers became aware that many children were watching it. I consider myself quite the purist, but I didn't mind this at all. (hide spoiler)]

[Jonathan]

(view spoiler)[ Well it was only seven percent cocaine. And yes most people know that I think. It is the one habit of his I don't mind being ignored also like Yasiru stated. (hide spoiler)]

[midnightfaerie]

Read this a few months ago and loved it. My copy was free on kindle for my smart phone. I also am a purist and don't mind realism.

[Dalynn]

HA! Guess I was just out of the know. ;) I'm amused, just didn't realize that was there!

[Yasiru]

(view spoiler)[I'm still scratching my head over why the fact of it would be 'offensive' though. In a way it's a subversion of common drug-use scenarios, for here is a man not using the stuff for the thrill of it, but to make life trudge on a bit easier in between the real thrills. Bigger issues than a non-addiction are clearly at play in his psyche, but A Scandal in Bohemia in particular impressed upon me that Holmes is not a character you 'connect' with in any sort of empathetic way. He really is a machine when it comes down to it, if one with startlingly lucid insights into the human condition through the study of crime.

This is probably also why the stories don't seem as good with him narrating (as happens once or twice in the canon) and why today they need to resort to humanising the character for television and film (portraying Holmes in a socially-inept, possibly Aspergers-afflicted and repressed kind of way, which sells, but is still something of a misrepresentation). (hide spoiler)]

[Dalynn]

It's not super-intimidating, turn-off kind of offensive. Just, if I'd known that ahead of time it may have influenced my actually picking it up. (view spoiler)[Books where the main character regularly engages in illegal and immoral activities are not usually at the top of my TBR. (hide spoiler)] ;) That's all. LOL

[Yasiru]

Dalynn wrote: "It's not super-intimidating, turn-off kind of offensive. Just, if I'd known that ahead of time it may have influenced my actually picking it up. [spoilers removed] ;) That's all. LOL"

(view spoiler)[I found this (the 'addiction' part, as I said, is not quite correct; you may need to read a bit more of the canon to avoid spoilers, but the stories being considered are clearly marked out, of particular interest is the exchange in The Sign of Four) and now I'm more convinced of the subversion I mentioned for the memory jog.

Ironic that it wasn't illegal what he was up to at the time (plenty of books from the era mention the use of opium as I understand opium and related stimulants were legal during the Victorian era). Neither do I think what harm you do to yourself (with a seven-percent solution in this case!) is immoral. Some of the stories also have Holmes take a stance for what is right even when the law of the day dictates otherwise. I think these were all Conan Doyle's subtle social commentaries (with great foresight on what a great problem drug addiction would become).

Though I prefer even true moral conflict myself, I suppose I have some glimmer of understanding as to where you're coming from. (hide spoiler)]

[Jonathan]

Yes if you read into the stories you uncover the fact that: (view spoiler)[ it wasn't so much an addiction as a hobby. Of course I don't agree with drug use but I understand that this was written in a different time period where drugs were less understood. For instance snuff and smoking were leisurely pastimes and now we see that there are health issues with those things.

Opium dens back then as far as I understand it were legal like how brothels are legal today. They were frowned upon but that didn't stop people greedily making money from addiction. However I think it's quite clear that Holmes avoids those kinds of drugs.

He is actually more strongly addicted to the narcotics found in tobacco if you look into it. He only takes a seven percent cocaine solution and only rarely. It's not an addiction as much as a kind of dirty hobby. It's one we disagree with but that to a rational, mechanical being like Holmes and in the context of that Victorian society may be explainable. After all we today commit things which may later be (or have been) considered crimes or at least morally wrong. (hide spoiler)]

[Ava]

I have never read these stories and am looking forward to it!

[Dalynn]

Whether Holmes is justified in it or not, it's just not something I knew and it would usually be on my list of things to avoid in a book. That's all. I didn't mention it to argue whether it was acceptable as either behavior or as a literary tool; I just don't usually read books containing copious amounts of activities I wouldn't find acceptable in real life. It's a thought process thing, and a personal choice. That said, I'm enjoying the stories and don't regret picking them up - was just surprised. Actually finding myself laughing about it when it's mentioned, and my almost-13yo is making fun of me for (view spoiler)["reading that book about the druggies". (hide spoiler)] LOL!!

[Joanne]

I think my favorite story was "The Speckled Band"

[Yasiru]

Dalynn wrote: "Whether Holmes is justified in it or not, it's just not something I knew and it would usually be on my list of things to avoid in a book. That's all. I didn't mention it to argue whether it was acc..."

The intent of the author seems important to me, and your reservations made me think on this again. My favourite Holmes novel is The Sign of Four, and it has an exchange (reproduced in the linked page from my previous post) that casts light on this. I can't recommend it strongly enough, for both clarification and as a great story. :)

Joanne wrote: "I think my favorite story was "The Speckled Band""

One of my favourites too!

[Killian]

Joanne wrote: "I think my favorite story was "The Speckled Band""

This was also my favorite. It seemed like most of the mysteries and their revelations of human behavior do no more than amuse Sherlock (I speak only of my impression of this collection of stories as I have never read any other Sherlock stories). In Speckled Band, he was genuinely angry with the perpetrator, the motives, and the methods. Not being the narrator we seem to miss a lot of Sherlocks emotion a times. Party due to the narrator being Watson, but also since these are in short story form and all of the details in the cases have to be covered in a set number of pages.

[Yasiru]

Killian wrote: "Joanne wrote: "I think my favorite story was "The Speckled Band""

This was also my favorite. It seemed like most of the mysteries and their revelations of human behavior do no more than amuse Sher..."

There is a sense of Holmes as a 'moral compass' in the stories (some more than others). While his primary concern is the problem, he always holds to his personal standard of character (displaying irritation or anger when this is called to question). On the other hand, Watson (most often) is the more orthodox voice of society (and its laws and traditions) on which Holmes's attitudes are reflected on, thus providing an insight into the deficiencies of justice as it had been set down. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle is an example from this collection, but even better would be The Adventure of the Devil's Foot (from His Last Bow) or The Adventure of the Abbey Grange (from The Return of Sherlock Holmes). I'll refrain from further discussion for fear of spoiling it for anyone (and this being a tangent).

I found the effect lessened in the stories narrated by Holmes himself in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (though this may have had something to do with the nature of the cases), which to me makes it one of those things best manifest in Watson's narration.

[Emma]

My copy arrived yesterday. I'm one story in and enjoying it so far!

[midnightfaerie]

Loved this book! Can't wait to hear what everyone else has to say about it. Here's my review (no spoilers needed):

Click here for the Midnightfaerie’s Review on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes


Just added Great Expectations as next on my list to start after I finish the couple I'm in the middle of.

[Jonathan]

Janine I noticed you mentioned the movies in your review. Even as a fan of the books I really enjoy them. The BBC recent modern take is also one I love.

I read this ages ago but I still have to re-familiarise myself with the stories here. I still remember The Red Headed League to a degree (in fact it was this collection and one other which fostered a love of Holmes for me).

[midnightfaerie]

Yeah, there are a few of the tv series that are actually pretty good. my husband just downloaded one to netflix but i haven't had a chance to start watching them yet...

[Jonathan]

Try the modern take with Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch.

[Effy]

The Copper Benches may have been the most adventurous thrilling story in the whole book tied with The Speckled Band. I loved how my thoughts ran about with the hair in the draw in The Copper Benches. And the clues in the fathers or was it step father's room. I immediately knew what had happened in The Speckled Band but how the clues were told was most interesting. The Man with the Twisted Lip seemed almost romantic. The Engineers Thumb may have been one of the gruel some of scenes in the book. How the thumb got to be bloody, the confrontations of the characters, and the crime was almost like modern day mysteries. I just can't wait to read more.

[Melissa Jeanette]

Jonathan wrote: "Try the modern take with Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch."

I love that one! I can't wait for the next season!

[Carrie]

I liked the Speckled Band the most because it was an unusual story. I also enjoyed the Red-Headed League because the story is kind of silly but clever. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]Scandal in Bohemia is probably one of my all-time favorites because Holmes has so much respect and awe for "The Woman".

[Melissa]

I'm really enjoying Sherlock! The particular book I bought has the adventures and the memoirs, and it has been the perfect travel book. Since they are short stories, I can pick it up anytime I have a few minutes and read a story or two!

[Maria Jo]

I am enjoying Sherlock Holmes, but I can't sit down and read more than one story at a time. Is anyone else having trouble reading it?

[Veljko]

Maria wrote: "I am enjoying Sherlock Holmes, but I can't sit down and read more than one story at a time. Is anyone else having trouble reading it?"

I love the stories and I am now tackling the whole works - not just the 'adventures'. Yet, I think I know exactly what you mean - at some point, I feel I had enough. For the day. I read one, then I put the collection down and read something else (currently, 1Q84). The next day i read another story.

I am not sure it has anything to do with Holmes - or if it's just that I don't particularly enjoy short stories. Once the story I am reading is over, the curiosity - which usually keeps me reading - is over. A long book has always had an easier time keeping my interest.

But I would not say that I am having 'trouble reading it'. I find the tone, the setting, the different views on society and morality extremely refreshing. And there is a naivete, an innocence almost, that keeps me coming back to it. But, as you, one story at the time.

[Veljko]

Kind of on the side... does anyone else hate how they are turning Holmes into a cool, butt-kicking martial arts expert in the new movies?

The Holmes I remember is the geeky, lanky, socially-awkward, drug-addicted master of observation. Sure, the books mention that he is a good boxer... but from there to the current portrait there is a huge gap...

I don't know... I guess I feel robbed of one of my childhood heroes. Holmes made me feel it was ok to be a geek, when I was a kid. Now, I find out he's cool because he can do fly-kicks. Bah...

[Janice]

What I find remarkable about Sherlock Holmes is his ability to really see things. Most of the time we see things but just tend to overlook them. We don´t appreciate all the things we see in the way Sherlock Holmes does. (I guess his ability is a little exaggerated but and our brain blends out the "unimportant" stuff automatically but still...)I know it is a trivial example but I was thinking about the example of the steps in my house: I walk them several times a day but still I could not tell you how many there are!

[Jonathan]

Veljko wrote: "Kind of on the side... does anyone else hate how they are turning Holmes into a cool, butt-kicking martial arts expert in the new movies?

The Holmes I remember is the geeky, lanky, socially-awkwar..."

Not really. That's not what I still find cool about him in the modern films with RDJ. I still enjoy the fact that he's an eccentric outsider who notices the fine details few others pick up.

[Yasiru]

Veljko wrote: "Kind of on the side... does anyone else hate how they are turning Holmes into a cool, butt-kicking martial arts expert in the new movies?

The Holmes I remember is the geeky, lanky, socially-awkwar..."

I do dislike what Hollywood has done with the character in the new films (some of him is there, as Jonathan said, but what compromises are due Hollywood always make me cringe), but then again, Holmes for me wasn't 'geeky, lanky, socially-awkward and drug-addicted' either.

I suppose the character can mean different things to different people, but it's always seemed to me that Holmes well understands and can play the social game should he be so inclined (this is crucial after all, for some of the disguises he's pulled off). He's set many a client at ease with a surprisingly pleasant manner as often as he has coaxed what needs out of them with a terse and somewhat arrogant one. When he's not so inclined, neither is he shy and reclusive. A determination to get at the facts of a case and then act as he sees fit (this latter distinguishing him from his brother) makes him, as Watson says, almost machine-like. Being rather a showman also runs counter to such adjectives, and I've previously objected to the 'drug-addicted' part (the Victorian era, quite sensibly unlike now, having been a time when it was largely the actions of those who used a thing and not the thing itself that was seen as wicked).

That said, the books do set some precedent to some of the martial arts bits. Watson makes mention of Holmes possessing the skills of a swordsman and the man himself admitting (view spoiler)[that he is proficient in the martial art of 'baritsu' (which, if it is actually bartitsu, would still be very different from how Holmes is seen fighting in the films) (hide spoiler)].

The trouble is, these days it's difficult to get away with a well-balanced hero. Audiences seek to identify with a character on screen foremost, and it's easier to be in awe of (and also to give reason for it) brawn rather than brain (and it usually has to be one aspect, since we find ourselves more polarised along those lines than ever). There is a quote from my favourite science fiction series, Foundation, that goes: 'violence is the last refuge of the incompetent', and Holmes was anything but incompetent, though never reticent about using violence when it was due (which necessarily wasn't very often, unlike what the films would have us think). On the other hand, some of us might rather have what part of the character our 'inner geek', if I may, resonated with (this is the way the new BBC series goes), but it's possible we thereby miss a bigger picture still (to be found in the books, and, in its faithfulness also the Granada Television series which I can do naught but sing praise of).

[Veljko]

Yasiru wrote: "Veljko wrote: "Kind of on the side... does anyone else hate how they are turning Holmes into a cool, butt-kicking martial arts expert in the new movies?

The Holmes I remember is the geeky, lanky, ..."

It really is funny, how his character means different things to each of us... I guess it must be a function of how deeply ingrained Holmes is in our imaginary... we read the stories when we were kids, we remember bits and pieces (for example, even though I am re-reading all the stories now, I remember the bits about him being a boxer, but not a swordsman and even less about baritsu... thaks for pointing that out).

But it really sounds like I will have to check out the BBC series now...

[Jonathan]

Its a lot truer to the character (the BBC) even if it is set in modern times. He's the sociopathic, geeky Sherlock and not really a man of action unless he has to chase after a case.

[Chris]

In the lead-up to reading this book, I also read A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four. One of the things I really appreciate is that (far from my former image of Holmes) Holmes is fallible. He can be defeated (view spoiler)[A Scandal in Bohemia (hide spoiler)] and he can come to incorrect conclusions. Although he tends to be right far more frequently, it makes him more human.

I am really glad to have read these stories. During some side research I found that Holmes was the first fictional character to use a magnifying glass during an investigation. It makes me wonder what effect Holmes had on detection. The stories were so popular, one wonders if people around the world began to demand more of their police departments.

I definitely did not get that Holmes was socially awkward. More than once Watson mentions Holmes' ability to turn on the charm. I do get that Holmes is extremely self confident, expressing himself freely without concern for the opinions others had of him...

[Jonathan]

Oh he's socially awkward but he's able to play roles. He's like a machine only doing what he needs to. He only knows social things if they help him to perform his role. He doesn't know the little trivialities or gossip that people at the time would have.

Chris if you liked seeing how he was wrong I encourage you to read: Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles. It analyses The Hound of the Baskervilles. But I encourage a read of that first if you haven't.

[Yasiru]

'Socially awkward' suggests an incapability, or at least clumsy skills, neither of which is the case.
The impression one gets is that he would rather avoid the dance of charm and manners that precedes getting to the pith of a case, but he's well capable of being charming when he must and possesses a natural charisma. Seeming trifles and gossip would actually have a fair chance of being important to him for the picture of contemporary social perceptions, in a similar vein as newspapers and sensational literature are important.

For me, the character is made more than mere automoton not in the deductive process (where a kind of 'garbage in, garbage out' dictum might well apply to when he fails (or more likely has only the broad strokes), given this from the Adventure of the Copper Breeches: "Data! Data! Data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay."), but in those instances where he upholds his own sense of what is right given shortcomings of the law. In a character like Holmes you would expect a strict adherence to a set of laws, but these cases give the lie to such an impression. It's this independence of thought, and, as Chris put it, expression without concern for how he is seen, which makes him at least a principled machine, if machine he is.

On martial skills, I had forgotten singlestick and boxing (see A Study in Scarlet(view spoiler)[, though one feels that Holmes was pulling something of a prank on Watson in the list the latter compiles- certainly 'feeble' on politics suggests so and in The Adventure of the Lion's Mane Holmes describes himself "an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles" (hide spoiler)]).

[Chris]

I have definitely been known to miss things when I am reading, I am curious if I need to re-evaluate Holmes as socially-awkward.

I wonder if this is just a professional distance between himself and the subjects of his cases. I can definitely see that he would not want any emotional attachments to cloud his judgment and might therefore remain aloof...

The only thing I specifically remember which was socially awkward was from the Noble Bachelor (view spoiler)[He set up a dinner party and St Simon bailed creating an awkward situation but I thought Holmes recovered nicely enough. (hide spoiler)]

For those that see Holmes as socially-awkward, what stories do you think demonstrate this most clearly? Anything in the Doyle canon would be welcome, I am just curious to re-think this myself!

[Carrie]

I don't see Sherlock as socially awkward, but more not interested. Having worked as a teacher and as a computer analyst, I have observed that many highly intelligent people want to pursue their goals and passions and have very little interest in other's lives. I see Holmes as this type of person. He choses with whom to spend his time and is not concerned how others perceive him or their daily lives. Just my opinion. :)

[Jonathan]

Well my definition of socially awkward differs probably from the norm so I would see him as socially awkward because he doesn't fit into proper social conventional circles.

[Carrie]

I can definitely see that. :)

[Dalynn]

Maria wrote: "I am enjoying Sherlock Holmes, but I can't sit down and read more than one story at a time. Is anyone else having trouble reading it?"

I had this same sort of issue. I partially blame my spring fever though, but it's nice to hear that I wasn't the only one!

Though I've enjoyed the stories (Speckled Band and maybe Red Headed League most of all, simply for the clues and possibility of forming my own opinion before the end, which seemed lacking in most of the others), I'm finding it difficult to fully enjoy these to the expectancy I'd held. I dunno, I'm just not a fan of a better-than-though drug addict who refuses to socialize outside his doctor who serves him purpose.

The writing and stories are great though. I did finish this yesterday or the day before, finally! Just a little disappointed, per my previous expectations. I'll keep reading some of the others (at some point) and see if my opinion changes though.