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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is the collection of stories which its author intended to be the last, where the great detective plunges to apparent death with his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. Roughly ten years later the sleuth was resurrected.
The first time I purchased a Sherlock Holmes collection it was the Wordsworth edition. Very amusing, since they are the facsimile of the original Strand Magazine editions. On the other hand, the print is terribly small and difficult to read.
I was preparing my thesis when I found this edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was edited by Christopher Roden,a specialist in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It has a very comprehensive introduction and liner notes which make the book very understandable, specially if you are not British.This edition is a very helpful one not only for the student, but also to the reader who is not familiar with Victorian times.
Bottom line: If you are a serious reader of Sherlock Holmes, this book should be part of your collection.
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Holmes uses his awesome methods of deduction to bring the killer straight into his hands. But then the story takes an unexpected and mostly inappropriate turn. We go back a few decades to the Salt Flats of Utah and follow the story of 2 lost travellers and how they are saved by fachist Mormons. It's all to unfamiliar and un-Holmes and I was glad to get it over with and back to Holmes mysteries and case-solving.
I guess that Conan-Doyle never knew where the character of Holmes would go after this. The short stories and novels that followed were much better and developed some of the minors characters. But every "franchise" has to start somewhere. I assume Conan-Doyle never imagined that Holmes would have lasted so long and parodied and imitated to much, even to this day. But this is where it all started. And it got better and better from here on.
All becomes clear when Watson is called on to assist Holmes as he solves a murder mystery which completely baffles Scotland Yard. The story moves quickly to the inevitable capture of the "bad guy," and then through a lengthy flashback sequence we discover the "bad guy's" motive. Next we return to the "present," where the story draws to its satisfying conclusion.
Thus begins a crimefighting partnership that Conan Doyle took through four novels and fifty six short stories. And long after Conan Doyle put down his pen forever, the parternship continues to thrive in countless theatrical performances, radio plays, movies, and literary pastiches.
Are you still hesitant on whether or not to read "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes?" Well, I personally am not much of a mystery fan. In fact, some of my favorite books are "Watership Down," "The Hobbit," "A Wrinkle in Time" series, and "The Lost Years of Merlin" books. I also know that mystery books are either awful, by. But Sherlock Holmes and his cases have set the highest of standards for mysteries, which very few others have even come close to surpassing.
Through this great collection, I have come to greatly admire both Holmes's and Doyle's brilliance over and over again. No matter what genre you enjoy reading, this is a book for you!
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This story appeared first in Play Boy, and the book is a longer revision of that one.
The story is about Murders that haunted the west end. Of course Sherlock Holmes cannot hold back when there are murders nearby.
The good thing about the book is that Mr. Meyer does not claim that any of the manuscripts provided by Doyle were forgeries. The bad thing is that he still uses real characters, like Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker, which I still say is dumb.
One other thing I hate about these pastiches is that they insist on saying that Watson was a real person, and that he used to publish his work under the pseudonym Conan Doyle, or else that Conan Doyle was the agent under whose name Watson used to publish works. I realize that this is one way to make things continue, but come on, we all know that we are only fooling ourselves.
Anyhow, I think the book might deserve 4 stars if not for the little drawbacks I mentioned above, and I am sure you are going to enjoy it, but try first to get it from the library, just in case you detested it.
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"drab, suburban streets"......Oak Cliff has been "dry" forever !
I think the book is best summed up with Holmes statement.....
"I said at the outset that I would not be able to solve this, my last case, and I confess a sense of failure." There are a few good chapters, but not really in the best of the Holmes pastiches. Finally, Holmes remarks, "I feel old, Watson...."
No wonder.....if still alive, he would have been 109 years old in 1963. The best that can be said about the book is that it makes for amusing reading if one does not take it too seriously.
The original Sidney Paget drawings are throughout the book, and the cover looks suitably Victorian/Edwardian. It's a small volume, but it contains, as the back page says: "THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HOLMES."
Keep it close by, as a reference tool, or just a book to thumb through. It's worth it!