Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume II (of 2; Bantam)

From 2021: So, after reading the complete works of Sherlock Holmes, I've come to a conclusion - that Sherlock Holmes is not my cup of tea. Its a cross between the stories being too clean, and that Sherlock Holmes is a bit of an ass. I actually like Watson considerable more. Watson brings in a humanizing factor that gives Sherlock a way to explain his stories.

I know that this is a book of its time, where classism exists, English Exceptionalism, etc etc. However, Doyle at times points out the hypocrisy - in "The Adventure of the Yellow Face", when Sherlock Holmes is hired to figure out what a secretive wife is doing, he finds she is hiding her much loved child from a previous marriage to a black man.

Most of these stories from both show more volumes have faded for me, but a few do stick out. "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is one my favorites.

From 2015: Ah yes, the world of Sherlock Holmes - hes the worlds most famous detective, consulting on the cases that stump law enforcement. This is the second and final volume of the complete works of Sherlock Homes. I have the first volume, but don't remember much of it.

Conan Doyle is a remarkable author - but the stories are totally a product of their times. For example many of the stories have a "savage" character, either defined by the shape of a head or the product of a certain place. Spanish ladies are considered "Fiery" from the warmer climate and any non-white people are lesser people. In a few stories, this can be very distracting and pull a person away from the plot.

There are also dubious science, such as the story who was injecting himself with monkey extract (?) to be able to keep up with his young wife - he suddenly gained an ability to climb trees. In modern science, this is bad science, but it might be considered science fiction.

The best story "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Even now, after reading it a few months ago. I can still tell it back to you. Its almost the perfect mystery - I really can't think of anything that didn't pull the reader out of the story. If you haven't read this story, I highly recommend doing so.

The worst of the story is "The Valley of Fear" - which is unnecessarily long and drawn out. Also, everything, from the setting to the characters was over the top. But I persevered and finished the story. The other stories are generally much better, but I generally liked the shorter ones better than the longer stories.

As for Sherlock Holmes in modern TV, Its interesting - I've mostly watched Sherlock, the BBC version and only a few episodes of Elementary on ABC (?) - but neither shows quite get Sherlock Holmes from the book correct - the BBC version has Sherlock being a lot less emotional without caring about anybody, while the ABC version has Sherlock bouncing off the wall crazy. Both of these portrayals are in the original book - but I find it interesting that some aspects are emphasized over others when it comes to Sherlock's personality

So - if you haven't already read any of these stories - I recommend that you do so. show less

The only thing I regret about reading the stories of Sherlock Holmes in two great big chunks is that I feel like it's all over too soon. How I wish I'd lived in the time where I would have had to wait, impatient and eager, for the next installment of the great detective's adventures. The wait would have been well worth it.

While reading, I am in fact transported to Victorian England, to the apartment at 221B Baker Street which I can see clearly in my mind's eye (note: I have never watched any Sherlock inspired TV series). From that sitting room I embark on, with Holmes and Watson, so many mind boggling adventures where I try as I might, like Watson does, to keep up with the great Sherlock Holmes. He leaves me for dust just about every show more time, but that makes it no less enjoyable. I rather like watching him prove his talents time and again.

John Watson faithfully chronicles the adventures of Sherlock Holmes for us, as Holmes is called to many a case where it is never about the money, only the mental exercise. Holmes likes to be challenged and more often than not he rises to the occasion. We are told that there are some cases that were not solved, which is interesting, but their tales have not been concluded because they lack completion. We also find in this volume, one story from the third person and a couple from Holmes', both which I enjoyed and had a distinctly different voice to that of Watson. I felt that these were interesting author choices but also reflective of the fact Watson and Holmes were not always together.

As I'm sure you can tell, I loved every Sherlock Holmes story I read. Some of course were more thrilling than others, more adventurous, but they were all well written and very clever all the same. My hat off to Sherlock Holmes, John Watson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. show less

Holmes is Holmes, of course: always a fascinating character; and any of his adventures make for cozy, familiar reading. But his later career doesn't quite match the brilliance of his early days. Several times we find him arriving upon the scene only to make a brief deduction, followed by a lengthy bit of exposition by one of the characters already in the know. This is rather anticlimactic. The device reaches its nadir in "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger", where Holmes is reduced to a mere plot device. There he serves only to convey the reader from Baker Street to mysterious lodger in question, who proceeds to tell the actual story from beginning to end.

Still, Holmes is Holmes, and even at his weakest he's still worth reading.

This and Vol. I were the best purchases I have ever made. Doyle has a way with his words to take the reader to the cobblestone streets of London and make you feel like you are there with Holmes and Watson.

Contains The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Valley of Fear; His Last Bow; The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

Review for
The Hound of the Baskervilles
This was a re-read and I have also seen many film and TV adaptations so the story itself held no surprises. What I did enjoy were the characters and the descriptions of the moor. Sherlock Holmes is a distant character in this story; we are focused on Watson, and the inhabitants and neighbours of Baskerville Hall. A very atmospheric read, classic and well worth reading.

The rest of the collection will be reviewed when I get around to reading them.

The second volume of the Sherlock Holmes novels and stories, containing The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow and The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, the first two being novels, the last two collections of short stories. There is not much new I can say about this book that I haven’t already said about the previous volume. I liked the novels a lot better than the short stories, because you read more about all sides of the story and the story gets more time to build up to the final reveal. The stories are pretty nice, but like in the previous book, sometimes a bit predictable because it is (now) a familiar theme, or stories are alike to each other. Still, this classic must read gets four out of five stars.

This is the 2nd part of Arthur Conan Doyle's Complete Novels and Stories. The edition consists of the possibly most well known novel 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', but the main part of the book contains a collection of the Sherlock short stories. I like those better than the novels actually, as they are describing only one case each, which makes it feel more like an actual diary.

The edition is just as great as the first volume, though as I said, I like the short stories and the 2nd installment more than the first one overall.