What Do You Think of Sherlock Holmes?

Roughly 30 years ago, my father purchased an unabridged edition of Sherlock Holmes. It's been sitting on a bookshelf at home, collecting dust. Since I'm now thinking of reading it, I have a few questions for those who might have already finished it. (My father died some time ago, so I can't ask him)



What do you think about it? How does it compare to other works in the mystery genre?

Did reading it improve your sleuthing, people, and/or critical thinking skills in any way? If yes, how so?


How has Sherlock Holmes influenced our culture; in other words, what has its impact/legacy been?

Finally, what advice would you give to someone who is considering reading it?

These sound like homework questions. At least, #2 and especially #3 do.

I'll help with your last one. If it is homework, just do it. If not, pick a couple of short stories at random and see if you like them.

It's not homework. I'm not even in school this semester.


I ask because I'm thinking of reading it. I'm, thus, trying to gather information about the book; I'm also curious about its cultural significance.

I've only read Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Engineer's Thumb, Silver Blaze, The Yellow Face, The Speckled Band, The Stockbroker's Clerk... and I'm sure there are 2 or 3 others. They were all remarkable and unpredictable. True masterpieces IMO.

Why don't you try reading the ones I've suggested? He has over one-hundred mysteries attributed to his name. If you like, you may discuss them with me or I will be more than willing to read/comment any of the ones you believe are interesting.

So, each one is different?

I thought that it was all one big tale?

Do you think that Sherlock Holmes is better than other mysteries?

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Originally Posted by astrum

So, each one is different?

I thought that it was all one big tale?

Do you think that Sherlock Holmes is better than other mysteries?

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Really??? You didn't know they were separate stories? Doyle's works have been a timeless tradition among families around the world for decades, just like King Arthur, The Arabian Knights etc.. I've been listening to children adaptations of Sherlock Holmes since I was 8 years old. I only started reading the unabridged versions in my tweens/early teens. Perhaps you should begin with Agatha Christie, the Nancy Drew series or The Hardy Boys series. Those are great gateways into the mystery genre. Unabridged Holmes isn't exactly the first place to start reading mysteries.

Why don't you sit down and read it. You'll be able to tell after a few stories whether you want to read all of them. I have read all of the SHerlock Holmes stories more than once, and some I would be happy to read yet again.

BTW, Doyle wrote a lot of other things, and some of the other works are also worht reading.

Actually those questions do sound like homework questions (the dopey kind of nonsense some teachers would like you to answer). Sorry.

Seriously, Doyle is like Christie: detective tales with a lead character who does the investigation (in this case one and his sidekick).

Doyle's mysteries are somewhat more innocent than Christie's though. I haven't read any, but seen a few on TV and they all strike me as quite bland.
Nonetheless, I would still like to read them.

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Unabridged Holmes isn't exactly the first place to start reading mysteries.

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Seems like the unabridged version is more difficult to read.

I also have a copy of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." So, maybe I'll start with that.

Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

I recently re-read some Sherlock Holmes stories and really enjoyed them, I think they hold up very well against the best of modern detective stories.

In a sense it is "one big tale" as there are ongoing plot elements... especially Holmes ongoing "battle" with his arch-nemesis Moriarty. This is quite similar to the struggle of "The Mentalist" on TV with his arch-nemesis "Red John", as is the idea of the amateur detective employing advanced psychological technique to run rings around "ordinary coppers".

Why not just start at the beginning and see how it goes.

In terms of the mystery genre Christie and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes basically ARE the genre. I have read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and virtually all Agatha Christie (all the novels and most of the collections of short stories, though they are not as good so I am not interested in the rest). Neither of them are what you would call 'serious literature' of course, but good for a bit of fun, but as I say between them they ARE the genre so if you are interested in it then of course you should read it! And Then There Were None is classic Christie but the Sherlock Holmes stories could hardly be considered difficult prose but some of the plots are a little funny to say the least, though that's half of the fun.

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Originally Posted by astrum

Finally, what advice would you give to someone who's is considering reading Sherlock Holmes?

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Just give it a try , you wont be disappointed.

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Originally Posted by Adolescent09

I've only read Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Engineer's Thumb, Silver Blaze, The Yellow Face, The Speckled Band, The Stockbroker's Clerk... and I'm sure there are 2 or 3 others. They were all remarkable and unpredictable. True masterpieces IMO.

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The Adventure of The Speckled Band had one drawback, other than that it was an interesting read.

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Originally Posted by astrum

Do you think that Sherlock Holmes is better than other mysteries?

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If its a question about personal opinion, then yes (according to me) it is and will be.

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Originally Posted by kiki1982

Doyle's mysteries are somewhat more innocent than Christie's though. I haven't read any, but seen a few on TV and they all strike me as quite bland.

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I also gave it a try, but the Basil Rathbone starrer series seemed to present Holmes as a funny and jumpy character which did not go according to my taste.

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Originally Posted by mal4mac

In a sense it is "one big tale" as there are ongoing plot elements... especially Holmes ongoing "battle" with his arch-nemesis Moriarty.

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I haven`t come across any encounter between Sherlock and Moriarty, other than in the The Final Problem, The Valley of Fear and somewhat in the The Empty House, in my previous reads and mostly the cases he got entangled were majorly private and cases realting to family matters.


If you really are interested in giving it a read , then you should avoid the lengthy stories ( Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four) which might put you off. Short stories such as, The Adventures of : The Blue Carbuncle, The Speckled Band, Copper Beeches, The Five Orange Pips, The Greek Interpreter, The Engineer`s Thumb, The Six Napoleons, The Three Garridebs , The Red Headed League and lastly The Disappearance of lady Frances Carfax are thrillers and page-turners in their own right.

Welcome to 221B Baker Street .

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Originally Posted by Neely

In terms of the mystery genre Christie and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes basically ARE the genre. I have read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and virtually all Agatha Christie (all the novels and most of the collections of short stories, though they are not as good so I am not interested in the rest). Neither of them are what you would call 'serious literature' of course, but good for a bit of fun, but as I say between them they ARE the genre so if you are interested in it then of course you should read it! And Then There Were None is classic Christie but the Sherlock Holmes stories could hardly be considered difficult prose but some of the plots are a little funny to say the least, though that's half of the fun.

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I think that Wilkie Collins was a precursor to Conan Doyle in the mystery novel stakes, but your qualification that Sherlock Homes and A. Christie's writings are basically the foundation of the genre appears to be correct. Whilst few would ascribe great literary merit to them, they are competently written with Conan Doyle clearly the better writer of the two. It's interesting to note that he didn't consider the Holmes stories to be worthy of their critical acclaim and hoped that his more 'serious' writing i.e. The Exploits of Brigadier Gerrard, The White Company etc., would be more appreciated . Agatha Christie's plots are too convoluted to be believed outside of the time-killer genre and are therefore ideal for the long distance train journey or ( God forbid) lying on a beach.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

I think that Wilkie Collins was a precursor to Conan Doyle in the mystery novel stakes, but your qualification that Sherlock Homes and A. Christie's writings are basically the foundation of the genre appears to be correct. Whilst few would ascribe great literary merit to them, they are competently written with Conan Doyle clearly the better writer of the two. It's interesting to note that he didn't consider the Holmes stories to be worthy of their critical acclaim and hoped that his more 'serious' writing i.e. The Exploits of Brigadier Gerrard, The White Company etc., would be more appreciated . Agatha Christie's plots are too convoluted to be believed outside of the time-killer genre and are therefore ideal for the long distance train journey or ( God forbid) lying on a beach.

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Conan Doyle thought little of Sherlock Holmes and thought that his Professor Challenger series would be his greweat contribution to literature. But if you want to credit anyone with creating the derective storu, then the prize may go to E. A. Poe, even though Dupin was not the best detective ever, he wasn't bad, and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is widely regarded as the first detective story. Poe kept things simple enough that the stories were believable and not loaded with contradictions, etc. It isn't my favorite genre, but I have looked at it enough to believe that Holmes was a believable character, and the stories still hold up, even after more than a century.

I will join the others in pointing out that Doyle wrote lots of other stuff besides Holmes--mostly mystery, adventure, and suspense--and he was very good. I'm not as big on Agatha Christie, because she liked to give her detective more information than she gave the reader, resulting in what amounts to a deus ex machina reveal near the end. If you're going to read her, though, And Then There Were None/Ten Little Indians is a good one and a general favorite (and check out the original title for an eye-opener).

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Originally Posted by kiki1982

Actually those questions do sound like homework questions (the dopey kind of nonsense some teachers would like you to answer)

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THANK-YOU! This, right here, sums up the essence of American high-school/college undergrad education (can't vouch for how it is overseas).

But I digress...

Back on topic: Yeah, read Holmes, dude. :D

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Originally Posted by Calidore

......If you're going to read her, though, And Then There Were None/Ten Little Indians is a good one and a general favorite (and check out the original title for an eye-opener).

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Not such an eye-opener at the time it was written, Calidore - it was a popular children's rhyme in which each of the characters met a sticky end. Most readers at the time would have known the rhyme and would have known that the characters in Christie's story meet similar ends.

I read the Christie in my teens and for years it remained the only title I enjoyed enough to think I might want to re-read it: however I read it again recently when it was a book club title here on LitNet and found that although the plot held up well, the characters were cardboard and the dialogue unconvincing, which I think is why I gave up reading Christie a long time ago.

Conan Doyle was one of the authors I read when I first graduated from the Children's Library to the Adult Library - I still re-read them with pleasure. The regular recreations of Holmes on film and tv show how the characters remain convincing even though they are over a hundred years old. Even the modern take in the recent BBC TV's Sherlock is in the spirit of the original.

If you want a modern detective writer, I think Henning Mankell's Wallander stories are among the best going.

One of the things that makes Holmes the doyen of fictional detectives is his eccentricity ie. takes cocaine, plays the violin and is an amateur boxer. These traits are mentioned almost casually by the author so that the reader is immediately intrigued to read more about Holmes. Even during Conan Doyle's lifetime the detective had achieved iconic status, so that when, in an attempt to induce readers to buy his other writings, the author killed his creation in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, the public clamour for Holmes to be brought back forced him to dream up a miraculous escape from the Reichenbach falls and a forced disappearance before returning to 22b Baker Street. Holmes was a schoolboy hero of mine and whether it was The Red-Headed League or The Sign of Four, like so many schoolchildren, both before and since, I read all of the novels and short stories with great enjoyment.

Emil Miller,

Your point is taken. It does seem as if Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" has received more attention than most other works in the mystery genre.

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Originally Posted by astrum

What do you think about it? How does it compare to other works in the mystery genre?

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He's the master of the classic detective story, along with Agatha Christie.

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Did reading it improve your sleuthing, people, and/or critical thinking skills in any way? If yes, how so?

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Not in the least.

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How has Sherlock Holmes influenced our culture; in other words, what has its impact/legacy been?

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He influenced the whole mystery/thriller genre. He's also an illustration of the 19th century idea that everything can be understood by logical deduction.

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Finally, what advice would you give to someone who is considering reading it?

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Choose a few short stories, e. g. start with the first two, "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Red Headed League", and read them slowly. Doyle uses a beautiful language.