Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (original 1892; edition 1962)

I think that perhaps, apart from a few Nancy Drews, it was the Sherlock Holmes stories that got me started on a lifetime of mystery reading. I've reread them several times and enjoyed them just as much or more each time. ( )

This was my first Sherlock Holmes book. It is a collection of short stories, and I am generally not a big fan of short stories. They were mostly o.k., but I had a hard time focusing on it. My mind tended to drift. And, as with most collections of short stories, some are better than others. Although, I thought they worked well as short stories, but given how much my mind wandered, I can only rate it o.k. I will likely try another Sherlock Holmes, but a novel instead next time. ( )

I did try to think of something smart and witty to open this review but not having pipe tobacco or recreational drugs at hand failed miserably.

Like the vast majority of the population I have watched many cinematic adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and his adventures but had never actually read any of the original stories. I thought that it was about time I rectified that.

I started the book with a certain amount of trepidation because for one I am no real fan of short stories, and these are all roughly 25 pages long, and quite frankly the film adaptations tend to leave me somewhat disappointed in that I find Holmes's smug and superior attitude pretty annoying. Sadly the book had much the same effect. I rather enjoyed trying to guess whodunit and on a couple of occasions even had it correct but I was displeased by the pretty abrupt endings, just as the story seemed to be getting interesting Holmes would give the solution to the puzzle and they would all go home to tea. Bah.

That said I did enjoy Conan Doyle writing style and admire his imagination so it is no surprise that this book or more accurately the lead character has stood the test of time, more than 100 years in fact. In particular I enjoyed the comic element of The Engineer's Thumb which showed admirably the quintessential stoicism of Victorian Englishmen. I did waver between 3 and 4 stars but finally plumped for the former. It just didn't really grip me. ( )

I think I liked these short stories better than I liked the novels -- or novellas, or whatever you wish to call A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four. I think that was partially because they suffer less from what I think is a pretty off-putting structural problem with the longer stories, and instead keep things simpler. It's also nice that they represent a wider range of cases, with some that aren't specifically crimes/don't involve death, and with Irene Adler there to put Holmes in his place -- just a little.

The stories are also amazingly easy to read. I've read modern work which is less accessible and engaging. ( )

Fantastic collection of Sherlock Holmes Stories. ( )