Arthur DOYLE

The Hound of the Baskervilles was written in 1901, eight years after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had already 'killed off' Sherlock Holmes in his story, "The Final Problem." However, the novel was not a sequel - the events of The Hound of the Baskervilles take place before those of "The Final Problem."When Doyle killed Sherlock Holmes, there was much public outrage and grief. More than twenty thousand people quit their subscription to the Strand, the magazine which had popularized the stories. After of The Hound of the Baskervilles proved such a great success, though, Doyle decided to bring the character back to life in 1903, with the story "The Adventure of the Empty House." Luckily, "The Final Problem" contained enough gaps that Doyle could plausibly claim that Sherlock Holmes had faked his own death.The novel was published in serial form from 1901 to 1902, in the Strand. It is the third out of four novels which Doyle would write about Holmes. It continues to enjoy much success today, and is considered by some Sherlock Holmes scholars to be Doyle's best work. It has inspired over twenty film and television reinterpretations, made in places as diverse as Germany, Australia, the USSR, Canada, the United States, and of course, the United Kingdom. The most recent such reinvention of this story can be seen in the BBC series Sherlock, although this retelling very much differs from the original novel.Doyle was inspired to write the novel after staying with his friend, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, in 1901. He named the character Sir Henry Baskerville after Robinson's gardener, named Harry Baskerville. Doyle had met Robinson on a return voyage from South Africa, and Robinson, a correspondent for the Daily Express, told him about a legend from his home region of Devon, England. Later, Doyle would write to his publisher that he felt he needed Robinson's name to appear next to his own. "I can answer for the yarn being all my own in my own style without dilution, since your readers like that. But he gave me the central idea and the local colour, and so I feel his name must appear," Doyle wrote.Robinson showed Doyle the moor, know as Dartmooor, upon which the story is based. It is the largest open space in the southern region of England. In a letter to his mother, Mary, Doyle commented that the moor was "a great place, very sad & wild, dotted with the dwellings of prehistoric man, strange monoliths and huts and graves." The atmosphere of a place uninhabited by man is pervasive in the story, and marks a difference from many of Doyle's other Sherlock Holmes stories, insofar as it is set in the country rather than in London

Sherlock Holmes 5

The Hound of Baskerville

The Return of Sherlock Holmes almost quite literally begins with Dr. John Watson practically being assaulted by an "elderly, deformed man...with sharp, wizened face peering out from a frame of white hair." In any other story, his constant companion, mentor and fodder for his literary ambitions would give the old man a five second glance and proceed to spell out almost his entire life history. By the time this strange encounter between Watson and the crooked old bibliophile takes place--as described in the collection's opening tale "The Empty House"--three have passed since Sherlock Holmes had fallen to his death from high above Reichenbach Fall, locked in a lethal embrace with his nemesis Professor Moriarty all the way down to their doom.The actual literal opening of "The Empty House" has John Watson revealing that he is still actively involved in the world criminology as revealed by his profound distress with evidence related to the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair; a murder which has gripped the attention of London somewhere to the level at which America was engrossed in the O.J. Simpson trial. Watson's Sherlock-like independent investigation into the seemingly impossible circumstances of a murder by shooting in which nobody who should have been able to hear the gunfire reported doing so and in which the weapon which should have been discovered was not directly leads to Watson crossing path with the bothersome old crone. Watson--a military physician with experience in battlefront surgery--faints for what he insists was the first and last time in his life when the simple act of turning his back on the old man for a few moments allows the old man to reveal himself at last as Watson's long-lost and presumed roomie at 221B Baker Street. And thus does "The Empty House" kick off a series of stories which quite literally tell the story of The Return of Sherlock Holmes...from the grave. (Well, that last part is maybe not so much literal.)

Sherlock Holmes: 6

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Return of Sherlock Holmes almost quite literally begins with Dr. John Watson practically being assaulted by an "elderly, deformed man...with sharp, wizened face peering out from a frame of white hair." In any other story, his constant companion, mentor and fodder for his literary ambitions would give the old man a five second glance and proceed to spell out almost his entire life history. By the time this strange encounter between Watson and the crooked old bibliophile takes place--as described in the collection's opening tale "The Empty House"--three have passed since Sherlock Holmes had fallen to his death from high above Reichenbach Fall, locked in a lethal embrace with his nemesis Professor Moriarty all the way down to their doom.The actual literal opening of "The Empty House" has John Watson revealing that he is still actively involved in the world criminology as revealed by his profound distress with evidence related to the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair; a murder which has gripped the attention of London somewhere to the level at which America was engrossed in the O.J. Simpson trial. Watson's Sherlock-like independent investigation into the seemingly impossible circumstances of a murder by shooting in which nobody who should have been able to hear the gunfire reported doing so and in which the weapon which should have been discovered was not directly leads to Watson crossing path with the bothersome old crone. Watson--a military physician with experience in battlefront surgery--faints for what he insists was the first and last time in his life when the simple act of turning his back on the old man for a few moments allows the old man to reveal himself at last as Watson's long-lost and presumed roomie at 221B Baker Street. And thus does "The Empty House" kick off a series of stories which quite literally tell the story of The Return of Sherlock Holmes...from the grave. (Well, that last part is maybe not so much literal.)The resurrection of Sherlock Holmes in his masquerade as a hunchbacked senior citizen in "The Empty House" connects directly to his disguised character as part of his scheme to trap "Charles Augustus Milverton" in one of the collections' later standout entries. The love of Holmes to insert a little theatricality to his normally coolly calculating person in the actually rather cruel manner in which he reveals his status as being among the living will be memorably resurrected in the famous scene in which he tricks the killer into exposing himself in "The Norwood Builder."

Sherlock Series Book 6

The Return of Sherlock Holmes almost quite literally begins with Dr. John Watson practically being assaulted by an "elderly, deformed man...with sharp, wizened face peering out from a frame of white hair." In any other story, his constant companion, mentor and fodder for his literary ambitions would give the old man a five second glance and proceed to spell out almost his entire life history. By the time this strange encounter between Watson and the crooked old bibliophile takes place--as described in the collection's opening tale "The Empty House"--three have passed since Sherlock Holmes had fallen to his death from high above Reichenbach Fall, locked in a lethal embrace with his nemesis Professor Moriarty all the way down to their doom.The actual literal opening of "The Empty House" has John Watson revealing that he is still actively involved in the world criminology as revealed by his profound distress with evidence related to the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair; a murder which has gripped the attention of London somewhere to the level at which America was engrossed in the O.J. Simpson trial. Watson's Sherlock-like independent investigation into the seemingly impossible circumstances of a murder by shooting in which nobody who should have been able to hear the gunfire reported doing so and in which the weapon which should have been discovered was not directly leads to Watson crossing path with the bothersome old crone. Watson--a military physician with experience in battlefront surgery--faints for what he insists was the first and last time in his life when the simple act of turning his back on the old man for a few moments allows the old man to reveal himself at last as Watson's long-lost and presumed roomie at 221B Baker Street. And thus does "The Empty House" kick off a series of stories which quite literally tell the story of The Return of Sherlock Holmes...from the grave. (Well, that last part is maybe not so much literal.)The resurrection of Sherlock Holmes in his masquerade as a hunchbacked senior citizen in "The Empty House" connects directly to his disguised character as part of his scheme to trap "Charles Augustus Milverton" in one of the collections' later standout entries. The love of Holmes to insert a little theatricality to his normally coolly calculating person in the actually rather cruel manner in which he reveals his status as being among the living will be memorably resurrected in the famous scene in which he tricks the killer into exposing himself in "The Norwood Builder."As for the Professor and Mary Ann of The Return of Sherlock Holmes, ("and the rest"...get it?) the collection is widely viewed as featuring some of the best stories in the entire Holmes' canon. A piece intriguingly titled A Statistical Analysis of the Sherlock Holmes Stories awards its top five star rating to 3 stories and four stars to 5 stories although, alas, it must also be admitted that three of the tales in The Return of Sherlock Holmes are deemed deserving of just a single star. (Which seems needlessly rough on "The Golden Pince-Nez" which may suffer more as mystery, but is far superior in terms of sustaining interest than the 4-star "Adventure of the Priory School." Even Arthur Conan Doyle's own selection of twelve favorite stories about his most famous literary creation reflects the quality of this collection as four stories from the volume managed to make it into his beloved dozen

Sherlock Holmes 6

THE ADVENTURE OF THE GREEK INTERPRETER: Sherlock Holmes: ILLUSTRATED EDITION THE ADVENTURE OF THE GREEK INTERPRETER - Illustrated Edition Another adventure by the brilliant Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous detective is present for mental stimulation and your enjoyment. Once again Holmes will come to the "only logical conclusion" as he solves yet another mystery. After all "It's elementary, Watson!"Recommended by The Gunston Trust for Nonviolence in Literature for Children & Young Adults.Ages: Young Adults & Adults

Arthur DOYLE

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