TCCDM Dig & Flip: The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Vol. One & Two - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1930)
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. One & Two
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(1930)
Hardcover, 1122 pages
NO SPOILERS:
The two volumes include 56 short stories and four novellas. I began The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume One flipping imaginary pages on my Paperwhite. With Volume Two, I grabbed the hardback version. (see pic above.) Either way, it was a blast getting to know these famous fictional characters - Sherlock Holmes and his bestest friend, Dr. Watson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sure had himself a winner when he began writing his Sherlock mysteries in 1886. The stories are clever and don’t waste much time dancing around. Each mystery is quickly set in motion. No dawdling. Just kick back and read how Detective Holmes uses his powers of deduction to the nines. Plenty of details and suspense, and sometimes a laugh or two.
Sherlock is a one-of-a-kind character who kowtows to no one. His skills of observation and deductive reasoning are spot-on and crystal clear. In solving mysteries, he will have Dr. Watson follow up on an idea that often makes little sense to the good doctor, but Watson is very much Sherlock's biggest fan, and you can almost imagine him tossing back a few peanuts and saying, “My boy is wicked smart!” It's a good and strange friendship, and I came to enjoy the boundaries betwixt the two. And apart from Sherlock Holmes being a bit full of himself, you quickly get over the "Sheldon" disposition, and pull for him.
As for the 60 mysteries that make up the original Sherlock Holmes canon, I encountered only two truly disappointing toads in the literary pond. As for the rest, though not completely without their flaws, they hold up pretty dang well. The stories get after it, and I quickly warmed to the rhythm and pacing of Doyle's style. By the time I had finished both volumes, I was kind of sad to let them go. It's a time-rush that these stories were written over a century ago. A century and a half, actually. And they still hold the tease. Fine, fun entertainment that still has some meat on the bone. Don't sleep on Sherlock. LKF: Sherlock Holmes never actually used the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson." He used those words separately, but never combined them.
"Looking For Clues" - Robert Palmer / "Clues" (1980)
Good stuff.
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