withouthaste
06-28-2011, 08:37 PM
A Study in Scarlet is the first Sherlock Holmes story I have read. I was reluctant to read a Sherlock Holmes story because of two preconceptions I had developed over time regarding the personality and demeanour of Sherlock Holmes and the style of nineteenth century English literature.
The Sherlock Holmes I glean from his many depictions on television and in movies is a stiff upper lip, stoic, and proper detective. In contrast, the Sherlock Holmes I encountered in the novel is eccentric, vain, and anything but proper. He openly laughs in the face of detectives, flogs cadavers, compromises his bodily integrity in the pursuit of science, and consorts with ne’er-do-wells and scoundrels. Oh, and he blushes like a school girl when paid a compliment. I was chiefly fascinated by Holmes’s training. Watson records a laundry list of Holmes’s competencies, as well as his deficiencies and gaps in knowledge. For instance, Holmes can discover the brand of a cigar from a pile of ashes, but he cannot tell you whether or not the earth revolves around the sun or vice versa. Fearful of cluttering the attic of his mind, Holmes is selective in his acquisition of knowledge.
My second mistaken belief was that the novel, written in the mid nineteenth century, would use a conventional structure and plot. I was very wrong. The novel’s structure is a clever illustration of the detective’s approach to solving mysteries, or in his own words, reasoning backwards. In the novel, Holmes contrasts reasoning backwards against reasoning forwards. The latter involves observing a series of consecutive events and forecasting a result; the former begins at the result and works backwards to uncover the steps leading to its occurrence. The first half of the novel is dedicated to reasoning backwards: a murder occurs and the reader witnesses the various characters attempt to sketch a picture of the victim’s last days. The second half rewinds time and leads the reader forward through a series of events that point toward a probable conclusion. The transition from the first to second half is jarring and a thrill to experience. The novel’s use of symmetry is also evident in Doyle’s comparisons between Holmes and the culprit: without revealing too much, both characters share an affinity for tracing footsteps and a single-mindedness in the pursuit of their objectives.
A note about reasoning backwards. Arthur Conan Doyle was trained as a surgeon and mentored under the tutelage of Dr. Joseph Bell. Young Doyle was mystified by Bell’s ability to the determine the history of his patients from minute details. A careful study of a patient’s body reveals antecedents: a life-long smoker, an avid tennis player, a coal miner’s son. Does Dr. Joseph Bell remind you of anyone?
Some knowledge of the historical context of the novel is required to appreciate the plot. Historical figures appear in the novel or are alluded to, including the Mormon prophet Brigham Young and the British Prime Minister William Gladstone. The plot hints at turbulent political struggles (Liberalism vs. Socialism) in the late nineteenth century. It also explores the history of Mormonism. Interested yet?
Overall, it was a highly enjoyable novel, and I look forward to diving into The Sign of Four. Stay tuned!
The Sherlock Holmes I glean from his many depictions on television and in movies is a stiff upper lip, stoic, and proper detective. In contrast, the Sherlock Holmes I encountered in the novel is eccentric, vain, and anything but proper. He openly laughs in the face of detectives, flogs cadavers, compromises his bodily integrity in the pursuit of science, and consorts with ne’er-do-wells and scoundrels. Oh, and he blushes like a school girl when paid a compliment. I was chiefly fascinated by Holmes’s training. Watson records a laundry list of Holmes’s competencies, as well as his deficiencies and gaps in knowledge. For instance, Holmes can discover the brand of a cigar from a pile of ashes, but he cannot tell you whether or not the earth revolves around the sun or vice versa. Fearful of cluttering the attic of his mind, Holmes is selective in his acquisition of knowledge.
My second mistaken belief was that the novel, written in the mid nineteenth century, would use a conventional structure and plot. I was very wrong. The novel’s structure is a clever illustration of the detective’s approach to solving mysteries, or in his own words, reasoning backwards. In the novel, Holmes contrasts reasoning backwards against reasoning forwards. The latter involves observing a series of consecutive events and forecasting a result; the former begins at the result and works backwards to uncover the steps leading to its occurrence. The first half of the novel is dedicated to reasoning backwards: a murder occurs and the reader witnesses the various characters attempt to sketch a picture of the victim’s last days. The second half rewinds time and leads the reader forward through a series of events that point toward a probable conclusion. The transition from the first to second half is jarring and a thrill to experience. The novel’s use of symmetry is also evident in Doyle’s comparisons between Holmes and the culprit: without revealing too much, both characters share an affinity for tracing footsteps and a single-mindedness in the pursuit of their objectives.
A note about reasoning backwards. Arthur Conan Doyle was trained as a surgeon and mentored under the tutelage of Dr. Joseph Bell. Young Doyle was mystified by Bell’s ability to the determine the history of his patients from minute details. A careful study of a patient’s body reveals antecedents: a life-long smoker, an avid tennis player, a coal miner’s son. Does Dr. Joseph Bell remind you of anyone?
Some knowledge of the historical context of the novel is required to appreciate the plot. Historical figures appear in the novel or are alluded to, including the Mormon prophet Brigham Young and the British Prime Minister William Gladstone. The plot hints at turbulent political struggles (Liberalism vs. Socialism) in the late nineteenth century. It also explores the history of Mormonism. Interested yet?
Overall, it was a highly enjoyable novel, and I look forward to diving into The Sign of Four. Stay tuned!