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Loading... The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)by Arthur Conan Doyle
British Mystery (27) » 15 more Folio Society (231) Books Read in 2013 (261) Detective Stories (36) Books Read in 2014 (1,389) Books Read in 2020 (3,438) BBC Top Books (22) Books on my Kindle (32) Out of Copyright (217) Tagged 19th Century (64) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A very enjoyable collection of Holmes and Watson mysteries, although there is a decided return to the romantic/melodramatic stylings of the early novels. After the opening story, which goes to lunatic levels to bring Holmes back (but fair enough), there are some great stories throughout. Watson's narrative voice is pitch-perfect, as is his relationship with Holmes. Beyond this, the various Scotland Yard characters are given more depth, and are able to work WITH Holmes, as opposed to just following him around and always being wrong. As I said above, though, many of the stories seem to veer toward that very 19th century melodrama feel in their denouements, although Conan Doyle handles it quite emotionlessly, so at least it isn't protracted. And many of the stories - those featuring missing people or objects - often seem to end with the same kind of conclusion (I won't say which, but you'll notice the pattern). Still, these weren't initially published in book form, and so I don't hold vague similarities against them. An enjoyable collection of stories. I'm two-thirds of the way through the canon already! The Return of Sherlock Holmes is comprised of thirteen adventures. There is a certain formula to Doyle's writing. Someone is always trying to scam, blackmail, or extort something from someone else. Clients come to Holmes when Scotland Yard thinks the case is out of their league. Scandal, public embarrassment, or out and out trickery is usually the name of the game. Sherlock is always the master of disguises; a chameleon of identity. He is always seeing details others commonly miss. Confessional: I got a little tired of his smug attitude. I do love Watson, though. I wasn't all that impressed by this collection of stories. Some of it just felt like it had been done before, others seemed like a bit of a stretch to get to the end. At least one was almost too obvious. I'm not a fan of the cavalier response to the murder of a man in one of the stories, criminal though he may have been. I didn't even realize why Mary Watson was suddenly gone in this book until I read some other reviews (I thought maybe Holmes's "death" and return must simply have taken place before Watson was married, since I've never really paid much attention to the dates), because it was so vaguely alluded to. I would really have hoped for at least a little more consideration for the loss of the woman whose relationship with Watson came about in a previous book. But I guess the weak ending to the relationship mirrors the weakly shown beginning to it. I've come this far, so I'm determined to finish out the entirety of these stories, but I hope to see a return to some of the more interesting and inventive stories of the earlier books. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher Seriesinsel taschenbuch (3319) — 5 more Is contained inSherlock Holmes Omnibus (4) by আর্থার কোনান ডয়েল (indirect) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes / The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / The Hound of the Baskervilles / The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle A Study in Scarlet / The Sign of Four / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes / The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Return of Sherlock Holmes / The Hound of the Baskervilles / The Valley of Fear / His Last Bow / The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle British Mystery Megapack Volume 5 - The Sherlock Holmes Collection: 4 Novels and 43 Short Stories + Extras by Arthur Conan Doyle La Reaparición de Sherlock Holmes ; Su último saludo en el escenario ; El valle del terror by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ContainsHas the adaptationIs abridged inIs expanded inHas as a student's study guide
Classic Literature.
Fiction.
Mystery.
HTML: If you can't get enough of Sherlock Holmes, the cranky, brilliant, and above all, idiosyncratic detective created by Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle, add this collection of tales to your must-read list. These short stories portray Holmes in top form, solving an array of seemingly impenetrable mysteries and crimes in his inimitable style. .No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.8Literature English English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Once again, high government officials and many (but not all) aristocrats are admirable specimens of humanity. The women are invariably graceful and elegant, even if haunted by past indiscretions.
Holmes, too, remains in some ways the same. Post-Reichenbach, he retains his sense of which wrongdoers should avoid facing trial. Yet there are differences as well. The earlier Holmes shunned exercise; his oscillations of intense activity, neglecting sleep and food, followed by indolence when not investigating, somehow kept him fit. Now, he stays conditioned by walking with Watson and in other ways. In keeping with this, Watson has weaned Holmes from cocaine. The one time in this collection Holmes pulls out his hypodermic needle, he employs it to brilliant effect.
In the final story, Doyle again signals his intention to be done with Holmes. Watson tells us that Holmes has retired to beekeeping and studying, and Watson is forbidden from sharing more cases. Let’s see how long that lasts.
In an amusing meta-literary touch, Holmes criticizes his chronicler Watson (Doyle) for his choice of cases to turn into stories and the focus on sensational details rather than the science of investigation. But we wouldn’t want it any other way, would we? ( )