A Study in Scarlet(AKA The Sherlock Holmes Thread)

[Free Hat]

So Sherlock Holmes. Everyone knows who he is, everyone's seen at least one media adaptation of the character at some point, but how many of us have actually read any of the original Conan Doyle stories? I have to admit that I've never really been into the whole mystery genre, so Holmes stories haven't been all that high on my reading list, but given that he's such an iconic character, I felt obligated to at least give them a shot.

So I started with the first one, "A Study in Scarlet," and I have to admit I really enjoyed it. The characters are memorable and mostly likable, the dynamic between Watson and Holmes is great, and the mystery, while not really solvable by the reader, is interesting to follow as it develops. It's not without its flaws, however. It has some structural problems, notably an abrupt shift in setting and narration midway through the story, which is really quite jarring. There's also its portrayal of Mormonism, which is....uncomfortable to read, but not unexpected given the time in which it was written.

So overall a good, worthwhile read. So much so that I decided to jump head first into the next story, "The Sign of the Four" (which I didn't enjoy nearly as much). I plan on exploring more of the Holmes canon, but for now let's discuss this first adventure. Thoughts on "A Study in Scarlet?"

[SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts]

I took out The Hounds of Baskervilles from the school library as a kid. I don't remember it from the text, I remember mostly from all it's adaptations. I think I also read the short stories, I remember The Final Problem and he died.

[Talent Name]

I just checked out the complete works mainly because of the BBC version of Sherlock and also because of my man crush on Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary. I liked it a lot very interesting way of looking at scenarios.

[Limity (BLM)]

After watching Game of Shadows last year, I went out and got all of Doyle's Serlock Holmes works and reread them. Loved them, but by the end, with The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, you could tell Doyle was just phoning it in. Doyle's real passion was to write historical fiction, and you could tell when you read Scarlet, Valley of Fear, and Sign of the Four.

And my vote for best Sherlock goes to Jeremy Brett.

[The OP]

I read it as a kid and liked it but it was so long ago I don't remember much about it. It was also my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes aside from his Sesame Street doppelganger, Sherlock Hemlock.

In I think fifth grade, which would have been a few years later we read Hound of the Baskervilles as a class, and I liked that one too but not quite as much I don't think even though it sounds like a cooler concept for a story.

[Mozenrath]

I enjoy them, especially an annotated edition I have, which not only acts like Sherlock and Watson are real, it corrects them on mistakes or calls them out for jumping to conclusions sometimes, like saying that a large head implies someone is more intelligent.

Especially hilarious is the story with a pygmy assassin or the Ku Klux Klan murder plot, if you want things that made no sense at all.

[Apricots And A Pear Tree]

I prefer A Study in Emerald.

[Free Hat]

Feb 10, 2013 16:59:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I enjoy them, especially an annotated edition I have, which not only acts like Sherlock and Watson are real, it corrects them on mistakes or calls them out for jumping to conclusions sometimes, like saying that a large head implies someone is more intelligent.

Especially hilarious is the story with a pygmy assassin or the Ku Klux Klan murder plot, if you want things that made no sense at all.

Do you mean the Andamanese dude from "The Sign of Four?" Because it was almost hilarious just how racist that was. It made the Mormon shit from "Scarlet" seem like a positive portrayal by comparison.

[Mozenrath]

Feb 10, 2013 20:44:15 GMT -5 Free Hat said:

Feb 10, 2013 16:59:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I enjoy them, especially an annotated edition I have, which not only acts like Sherlock and Watson are real, it corrects them on mistakes or calls them out for jumping to conclusions sometimes, like saying that a large head implies someone is more intelligent.

Especially hilarious is the story with a pygmy assassin or the Ku Klux Klan murder plot, if you want things that made no sense at all.

Do you mean the Andamanese dude from "The Sign of Four?" Because it was almost hilarious just how racist that was. It made the Mormon s*** from "Scarlet" seem like a positive portrayal by comparison.

Pretty sure, I think he had a blowgun.

[Free Hat]

Feb 10, 2013 21:02:25 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Feb 10, 2013 20:44:15 GMT -5 Free Hat said:

Do you mean the Andamanese dude from "The Sign of Four?" Because it was almost hilarious just how racist that was. It made the Mormon s*** from "Scarlet" seem like a positive portrayal by comparison.

Pretty sure, I think he had a blowgun.

Yeah, it fired a poisoned dart that caused the victim's face to contort into a hideous grin before he died. When I read that I couldn't help but wonder if maybe that was the original inspiration for the Joker's laughing gas.

[Beav]

I love the OTR versions of Holmes. For that matter, I also own all the Basil Rathbone movies and have a semi-large Holmes collection (including a bust of Napoleon).

I'm a Sherlockian.

[Free Hat]

Might as well make this a general Holmes thread, since we haven't had much discussion about the novel.

Anyway, since making this thread I've read two more stories. "A Scandal in Bohemia" is kind of forgettable outside of the fact that Holmes' adversary is a woman. I do like that she becomes the first person who actually manages to outwit him though. It was a nice counterpoint to Sherlock's assholish misogyny.

"The Red-Headed League" was pretty amusing. It's the first one where Conan Doyle actually provides enough clues for the reader to solve the mystery on their own, and I was able to work out most of it myself. Not a great story, but fun nonetheless.