Sherlock Holmes

[Kveto from Prague]

The previous thread got me thinking about Sherlock Holmes. I read a bunch of his short stories years ago. I feel like hes one of those characters (like james bond) that so much legend has been built up since the original its nice to go back to the source material. and i was surprised how much better the source material was. holmes is almost unrecognisable from the media that has built up since.

I liked the stories although sometimes it was easy to feel cheated as holmes solved cases with information unrevealed to the readers.

It was interesting to see all of the characters and peoples he came into contact with: east India company, the church of latter day saints, opium dens, the king of bohemia, even the KKK.

the sign of four was probably my favourite story, a complex plot and a bit more action than usual. the stories did get progessively more predictable. I was kind of relieved when holmes got a heroic ending in "the final problem". too bad doyle had to resurect him. but i think thats the inherent nature in serial adventures. after awhile you start to either get repetative or chance the character from what people like.

And not one "Elementary, my dear Watson" in the entire series

[chuck]

Unfortunately...I grew watching Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes....I loved the mysteries and the interesting assortment of characters....Your exactly right that the Media has distorted the real SH...Later Television and films gave him a another go....but went for embellishment instead toning it down....To this day I have not read any of Doyle's SH novels.....SH is on my TBR......I'm still sucker for Holmes on the Big Screen.....Hurry Watson..."The game is afoot"

[princess garnet]

My local PBS station, WETA, shows the Sherlock Holmes TV series with Jeremy Brett in the lead role. From the ones I've seen, some episodes were intense, others slower paced.

[writerinthenorth]

It's a predictable choice, but 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' is for me the greatest of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Chilling atmosphere on the moors, and the haunting, menacing howl of the dog - amazing what can be done with words on a printed page.

[J.D. Oswald]

I grew to love the SH stories as a teenager after, at the age of 13, my mum gave me The Red-Headed League to read, saying 'you might like this.'

I agree that the earlier stories tend to be the best. I particularly like those ones set in remote settings. ACD seemed to be aware of the dangers that solitary women sometimes faced, especially if they got cut-off in the 'smiling' countryside e.g. the Solitary Cyclist, the Copper Beeches, the Speckled Band.

I liked Jeremy Brett as a screen Holmes - full of manic energy. Has anyone seen the BBC series 'Sherlock', a C21st remake? see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t4pgh

[Madeleine]

Yes I think the general consensus in the UK is that Jeremy Brett was/is the definitive Holmes for a long time. However the new series has been a massive hit here, personally I still find Benedict Cumberbatch a little too manic - although I prefer him to Robert Downey Jr - and he's certainly re-defined Holmes for a new audience. Martin Freeman is excellent as Watson.

[Nefret]

I'll get around to reading those stories someday.

[Madeleine]

Don't worry Nefret - I finally got round to reading "The Hound of the Baskervilles" only a couple of months ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. A good old-fashioned (literally!) ripping yarn, which has it's own style despite all the screen versions that there have been.

[annis]

I love the BBC Sherlock - manic and fiendishly clever! Also really enjoyed Jekyll, the 2007 BBC take on Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It also owes a lot to Sherlock writer Steven Moffatt.