| Title | : | The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Volume II |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1593082045 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781593082048 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 709 |
| Publication | : | First published October 31, 1914 |
The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Volume II Reviews
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Reading the complete Sherlock Holmes canon by Arthur Conan Doyle in these two volumes has been a remarkably rewarding experience. I'm truly sorry to be finished with these stories and novels (although I know from past experience that they reward rereading). In this reading I've gained an even clearer appreciation for the links between Holmes and the traditions of Gothic and science fiction literature, and I've certainly enhanced my enjoyment of the BBC's brilliant new Sherlock series. These are wonderfully crafted tales with truly compelling main characters (not to mention one of the greatest bromances of all time). Most of all, I'm reminded of Nicholas Meyer's words: "The message of Sherlock Holmes is simple," he says. "Life can be understood." My world is a better place for spending time at 221B Baker Street, and I plan to return repeatedly and often.
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It's kind of hard to write a review for this, considering it's a bind up of various short stories. I do want to say Arthur Conan Doyle is a really great writer, and every time I read his Sherlock Holmes stories, I am very impressed.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO THE BBC because literally the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch is so flipping spot oh my lord.
If you do watch BBC Sherlock, I would 100% recommend you read the original stories because you appreciate the show so much more, and you see all the little parallels, and it's just great. -
:) без зайвих слів
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For Wiki, I check, correct, verify, add, such as synopsis for Mazarin Stone, so slow progress here. Summaries have spoilers, so here I'll extract teasers, enough to remind me, postpone opinions to after cogitation. I prefer plots outside set format. I first thought I'd rather skip Baker Street and starts with what he's given, dive right into the clues he finds, then wrap-up. But consistent openings do increase our familiarity with the setting - sips of tepid tea, crumbs of crisp crumpet, morning newspapers, wreathed puffs of aromatic pipe - we are right in there all the way. Doyle doesn't go out of print because he wrote right.
Full-length novels have second part backstory, 20 year-old trigger for crime, based on real events: Mormon vigilantes (Study in Scarlet), Pinkerton undercover ops (Valley of Fear). Timeline for Holmes is tricksy; Doyle drops false identities for 'confidentiality'. Fascinating. Gutenberg says keep author spelling, yet changes Wistaria to Wisteria. Intro by Kyle Freeman adds to my understanding of how Doyle's life, age, and events, influenced his styles.
Other extras: a brief Bio, World - listing of important years for Doyle: events, publications, Note on Conveyances - still leaves questions I've researched since my first "historical" romances, so I'll write my own Carriage Comparison, maybe for Wiki. End extras, two each parodies and essays, are, like the back cover, black print on dark purple background, not worth the effort.
In Further Reading, internal dates and minute detail attracts me to a two-volume The Annoted SH set, edited by William Baring-Gould. pub Clarkson NY 1968, one source for Brad Keefauver 2001.
http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/Who_is_...
Keefauver is too precise for me. "August 20, Saturday -- "The Retired Colourman" (Y-S)" I'd set more generally to "summer" ("within 2 years" after marriage "early 1897" is 1898).
Plot Details (some enlarged in Wiki):
The Return has 13 cases. See my review of "The Illustrated 2nd Volume" for Valley of Fear, His Last Bow (except Cardboard Box), and Case-Book sets.
Return (13 cases):
Added Synopsis for: and corrected other cases
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve...
Empty house across from Baker St flat has clear shot of wax Holmes, bait for Colonel Sebastian Moran, surviving lieutenant of villain Moriarty. When widower Watson checks Park Lane, where gambler Ronald Adair was shot in closed room the week before, a wizened book-seller bumps into him and follows him home.
Norwood Builder, Jonas Oldacre, reclusive retired bachelor, could not be found when the lumber in his yard caught fire in a tremendous conflagration. Signs of struggle, object dragged from safe to woodpile then burned, and blood on an oak cane belonging to late-night visitor, junior lawyer John McFarlane.
Dancing Men are stick figures representing letters for coded messages, found by Hilton Cubitt. The notes terrify his wife of one year, Elsie, who warned that she had a troubled past she wished left behind in America.
Solitary Cyclist is a bearded dogged follower of young Violet Smith on a lonely stretch of the route home to her mother on weekend visits. She consults Holmes, then vanishes.
Priory School headmaster Thorneycroft Huxtable is distraught over the disappearance of ten-year old Lord Saltire, only son and heir of recently estranged Duke of Holdernesse, left fully dressed, no sign of force, along with the resident of the opposite room, quiet German teacher Heidegger, no shirt or socks, by bicycle. There are cow tracks, but no cattle evident.
Black Peter was for the beard and nature of Captain Carey, seal and whale fisher retired after a voyage to Norway, known for attacking his wife and daughter after drinking, found harpooned in the ship-style cabin where he slept.
Charles Augustus Milverton advertises for compromising letters, then blackmails without remorse, until "the most beautiful debutante" Lady Eva Blackwell, to be married in two weeks, asks Holmes to intercede and mediate.
Three Students are suspect when Mr Hilton Soames, lecturer and tutor in Greek, sees next day's exam papers disturbed after he departed for tea, door key left in the outer lock by his servant Bannister asking about tea.
Golden Pince-Nez were found gripped in the hand of the well-liked Willoughby Smith, secretary to invalid Professor Coram. As he died from a neck wound stab by a small sealing-wax knife, he said "it was she".
Three Quarter is Godfrey Staunton, "crack" young Varsity International football player, crucial to an upcoming game against Oxford, heir to "one of the richest men in England", who vanishes in the company of an older worried "rough" man. friend".
Abbey Grange owner, violent drunkard Sir Eustace Brackenstall, had head bashed in by fireplace poker, after Lady Mary née Fraser, wife of one year, says she was tied up and gagged by burglars.
Second Stain is the blood on the wooden floor set differently than on the covering rug, beneath the knifed corpse of Eduardo Lucas, one of only three spies bold enough to steal a foreign potentate's regretted rant, rash enough to cause war if disclosed.
Last Bow:
Cardboard Box holds two ears, a lady, and a man (presumably a sailor by the earring hole) preserved in salt, addressed to Miss S. Cushing. Meek Susan hasn't heard from sister Mary or her naval steward husband Jim Browner, for weeks, since sister Sarah quarrelled with all and moved out. -
Sherlock Holmes has had many adventures, but in this second volume of stories, he may have met his match, that of an author who was apparently weary of his resurrected character, and out of ideas. Tongue-in-cheek statements aside, it is well-known that Holmes' creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, wanted to write other books, and that is why he killed off the famed detective in the story, “The Adventure of the Final Problem”. Of course, pressure was brought to bear from the public, publishers, and his own mother. After a decade, Doyle gave in and resurrected Holmes.
At first, no truly discernible difference was apparent in the quality of the writing, but near the end of the “official canon”, the stories took a decided nose-dive in terms of said quality. The stories began to be predictable. No longer was Holmes the brilliant forerunner of modern forensic science and criminology, but his tales became mere “logic puzzles” that mysteries are accused of being. The sad part is that Doyle had earlier ridiculed, through his character of Holmes, such stories, but now the great detective's adventures were becoming exactly what he disdained. On top of this, Holmes became more and more coarse, and, at times, cruel and haughty. Instead of a gentleman, he began to show signs of enormous conceit and arrogance toward those lower than himself in terms of intelligence and wealth.
All of this increasingly poor writing culminated into what many “Sherlockians” (as more knowledgeable fans (of which I admittedly am not) call themselves) absolutely hate, which is The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. Though all evidence seems to clearly indicate that Doyle did, indeed, write these stories, many of these more committed fans refuse to believe this. I can kind of understand why. My reading of this second volume of the Holmes canon ended early. I couldn't bear to read all of the tales in this Case Book, which thankfully came at the end of this two volumes of collected stories, so I still read the other adventures outside of the few I missed from said book. Seeing how badly written these later stories were, was too much for me.
Before I am accused of an out-and-out bashing of these later stories, let me give some praise of the worth-while ones. There were such quiet, but very good tales, such as “The Problem of Thor Bridge” and “The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger”. The latter isn't a grand adventure, but a quiet story in which Holmes convinces a suicidal woman not to take her life. The poignancy of that is not lost on the reader. When one considers that Doyle lost close friends and relatives in the Great War, this story takes on some significant meaning.
There is also a tale where Holmes narrates, on a challenge from Watson, which is a delight for the simple fact that Holmes states his contention that Watson plays down his own talents and plays up Holmes' talents. That is a terrific aspect to the canon, to see Holmes state unequivocally how talented and useful Watson is.
And of course there is His Last Bow, where Holmes deals with cases and crises of an international scope, culminating in capturing a brilliant German spy on the cusp of World War I. These stories are strangest of all, because they are high-quality tales, but are so different from the typical fight against criminals for which Holmes is known. It's strange to see the great detective as a counter-intelligence agent, but it works, so who am I to argue?
Most of the tales in this volume, including the earlier tale of The Hound of the Baskervilles are well worth reading. Baskervilles, along with the earlier mentioned tale, showed that Watson is no slouch, and is highly intelligent. For a fan of the good doctor such as myself, that story was a masterpiece. If the reader ignores the infernal Case Book (with the exception of the “Thor Bridge” and “Veiled Lodger” entries, as well as the Holmes' narrated tale, “The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier”), I can easily recommend this volume. -
The world’s most revered and famous fictional detective first appeared from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle almost a 130 years ago, but the author did not finish with his greatest creation until almost 40 years later even after unsuccessfully killing him off. In this second volume of all the collected works that feature Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson, the reader gets reacquainted with the great detective and his friend through 33 short stories and a short novella with the added bonus of two Doyle written parodies as well as two essays by the author.
The second volume of the original works of Conan Doyle, in the American publication order, begins with Holmes return to life in “The Empty House”. The opening story of The Return of Sherlock Holmes is just an okay start to the detective return to practice before the story quality through most of the collection improves—“Priory School”, “Three Students”, “Solitary Cyclist”, and “Dancing Men” being the best—until the final three stories. The novella The Valley of Fear begins a noticeable drop in quality throughout the rest of the works, the first half the novella is Holmes at his best but then Conan Doyle repeats his great since with his first Holmes novella Study in Scarlett in which the second half is all flashback of dubious narration or not.
In the collections His Last Bow and The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, only four of the 20 stories could be considered close to the same quality of the earlier Holmes stories. In “The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge”, Holmes finds competing with a county Inspector who’s methods of deduction gain Holmes’ respect while “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans” is a well-written twist of an earlier Holmes story. The Holmes narrated “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane” is the better of the two Holmes ‘written’ stories while “The Adventure of the Dying Detective” was Conan Doyle writing a wonderful counter-formulaic story.
Yet while those four stories stood out as the best of the late Holmes stories, the others were of subpar quality and included two of the worst. The third person narrative of “Mazarin Stone” doomed the story from the start and details within the study defied the reader’s suspicion of disbelief. The very next story was in my opinion the worst of all Holmes stories, “The Adventure of the Three Gables”, mainly due to the fact that the Sherlock Holmes presented in that story was not the Holmes in all previous stories and all those that followed.
Although the majority of the volume saw for the most part the quality of Conan Doyle’s storytelling fall, one cannot fail to notice that the author who at one time loathed his creation would do ensure that his—both Sherlock’s and his own—legacy endure with as best writing as he could produce. Within the collected 34 original works, there are many diamonds in the rough that any reader will enjoy reading whether they have read other Holmes works or not. -
Sherlock Holmes is a character that you love right away. He’s hilarious, intelligent, and sometimes gets on my nerves because of how great a detective he is. Which makes him so realistic. Even though I didn’t enjoy them as much as I thought I would, I’m very sad to leave Sherlock. And Watson couldn’t be a better sidekick! :)
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No matter how many times I've reread these stories, I always find something new to admire and appreciate each time I revisit them.
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After 1400 pages of Holmes, I'm still not tired of him.
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I was more comfortable with Doyle’s writing style in this volume. I wonder if he wrote these stories when he wasn’t seeing patients. Also fangirling a little bit at the notion that he likes Poe too. I would like to re-rate the entire collection after reading it again with a closer eye for deduction and see from Holmes POV. I love the parallels that Doyle alludes to using his medical background of reaching a diagnosis to deductions in crime. Next time I watch House MD, I might have a greater appreciation for it! No doubt, Doyle’s a gifted writer!
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I admit that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle outdid himself on volume 1 and the second volume was a change from the Sherlock we became so fascinated by. However, I still recommend both volumes 1 & 2 for any reader of detective works. After all, there are reasons he is referred to as the world's greatest detective.
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I will say I think the later Holmes stories lack the same charm the earlier ones do, but still, what an enjoyable way to spend time with a book. The entire Holmes collection is something I like to re-read every few years, and for good reason. Quick, gripping detective stories are a nice little thrill, and I like this spot in the middle of the road between cozy and dark. Great place to start if you want to read more classics but find them to be intimidating.
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Still a classic! ACD's writing is stellar & the man sure knew how to engage his readers. Yes, there is some racism & misogyny, along an abundance of British class distinctions. So if you are into presentism you will definitely need to confront your tendency to apply present-day attitudes to the past.
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Favorites in this one are probably Devil's Foot and The Dying Detective. I did not care for the Three Gables at all.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td2Zjd... Preview Sherlock Holmes 2 Downey-Law film.
http://annetoronto1.blogspot.ca/2013/... #2 Review
http://aneyespy.blogspot.ca/2011/12/s... #1 Review
http://aneyespy.blogspot.ca/2011/12/d... Cumberbatch-Freeman Review
This humorous, dangerous, very British 2010 BBC UK version updated with internet and mobile phones revived my interest in Doyle's classic Victorian murder mysteries promoting early forensics and deductive solutions. Surprisingly, old and new Watson (Freeman) are both injured veterans of Kandahar, Afghanistan. The city of London is still an old character. Cumberbatch has a lighter, less swoopy tadara interpretation than Jeremy Brett, and not caught in explosions like Downey. Study in Pink is loosely based on Study in Scarlet .
1930 Doubleday Vol 1 has Study in Scarlet, Sign of Four, and 23 short stories in 480 pages. Preface assures us that some cases referenced were never published.
With a toothbrush and gun, meticulous research, observation, and deduction, we learn how to solve puzzles, and chase evil across Victorian London and world. I recall many cases, yet enjoy reruns. (Because quotation marks glitch in Goodreads, I start each summary with the case title.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_of...
Capsules (try to) remind me without giving away full answer.
p15 Study in Scarlet 1887 trails minatory bloody thread to American Western, Mormon Avenging Angels based in fact and folklore.
p87 In Sign of the Four 1890, Watson falls for Mary, recipient of fine pearls from a guilty Bombay valetudinarian who knows how her father vanished years ago in a conspiracy of four thieves.
Adventures (first pub 1891-2)
In p161 Bohemia, their king asks Sherlock to retrieve incriminating evidence from the beauty Irene Adler, his equal at ingenuity and intellect (changed onscreen).
p176 Red-headed foolish pawnbroker gives his new assistant free run of the basement.
p190 Identity remains hidden, when Holmes decides the prosperous sheltered daughter would not believe where her suitor vanished on the verge of their wedding.
p202 Also for Boscombe Valley, he hides the confession, to protect a couple - the father who made his fortune in Australia supports the other, now murdered.
p217 Five Orange Pips warn of KKK assassins who slip the noose.
p229 Twisted Lip is professional beggar, last to see a missing husband.
p244 Blue Carbuncle is jewel hidden in Season of Forgiveness goose, tracked to thief.
p257 Speckled Band are the last words of latest family female to succumb, leave wealth to step-father Doctor from India.
p273 Engineer's Thumb is severed fleeing from repairs for a secretive German.
p287 Noble Bachelor seeks rich American goldfield bride who vanished just after ceremony.
p301 Beryl Coronet taken home by a banker lost stones after being twisted and broken by his gambler son, who loves vanished ward.
p316 Copper Beeches is estate where newly hired governess suspects nefarious employers who ask her to cut her hair, sit so, wearing such, for extravagant wages.
Memoirs 1892-3
p335 Silver Blaze, missing winner racehorse when "the dog did nothing in the night-time", and the trainer was killed.
p350 Yellow Face mask in the window is an innocent, not a blackmailer of remarried Atlanta widow.
p362 The Stockbrocker's Clerk was hired away before he started.
p373 Gloria Scott, his first case, was an Australia-bound convict ship, the loss explained by posthumous record from his college friend's father.
p386 Musgrave Ritual was a family rhyme leading to treasure found and lost by a learned butler.
p398 In Reigate, a manservant is shot apparently preventing a second neighborhood burglary.
p411 Crooked Man from India reveals end of career soldier and role of too pretty wife.
p422 "Resident Patient" Blessington funds doctor's startup, hanged when protection fails.
p435 Greek Interpreter is abducted to strange house with tortured victim and surprised girl (introduces brother Mycroft at Diogenes Club where talking is forbidden, unlike onscreen).
p447 Naval Treaty needs recovering after accused thief recovers.
p469 The Final Problem is the fatal confrontation with arch-evil Professor Moriarty.
http://www.sorbie.net/old_occupations... -
An excellent collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. I think I’ve read them all now. Reading the entire volume at once is
a little daunting, but I will always reread a novel or a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. -
A great collection of Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume II contains one novel, three books of short stories, two parodies, and two essays.
Novel:
1. The Valley of Fear
Short Stories:
1. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
- The Adventure of the Empty House
- The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
- The Adventure of the Dancing Men
- The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
- The Adventure of the Priory School
- The Adventure of Black Peter
- The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
- The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
- The Adventure of the Three Students
- The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
- The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
- The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
- The Adventure of the Second Stain
2. His Last Bow
- The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
- The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
- The Adventure of the Red Circle
- The Adventure of Bruce-Partington Plans
- The Adventure of the Dying Detective
- The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
- The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
- His Last Bow
3. The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes
- The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
- The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
- The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
- The Adventure of the Three Gables
- The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
- The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
- The Problem of Thor Bridge
- The Adventure of the Creeping Man
- The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
- The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
- The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
- The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
Parodies:
1. The Field Bazaar
2. How Watson Learned the Trick
Essays:
1. The Truth about Sherlock Holmes
2. Some Personalia about Mr. Sherlock Holmes -
It makes me very pleased to be able to say I've read all of Sherlock Holmes. Thank goodness for these awesome classics collections.
I found myself really interested in what changes I'd encounter in this volume, especially after reading the warning in the introduction. Indeed. Sherlock Holmes seemed to have changed in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways, but I think that tends to happen, especially when a writer gets downright tired of the protagonist.
While it's likely that none of the stories will become my favorites (and not a huge fan of The Valley of Fear), I very much liked reading this collection. I was looking forward to reading the stories that Holmes himself narrated, and I couldn't help but be amused that Holmes saw that he needed to use Watson's format in order to keep the tale accessible to readers. I was expecting the writing to be a bit more esoteric, but all the same, I'm glad it wasn't.
I feel a bit off in that I didn't really care much for the parodies at the end, and the essays were interesting to be from Doyle's own writing, though the material is sufficiently covered in the introduction.
All in all, this was a great read, and I'm so glad I took on this task. -
I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I did the first volume. I don't know if I wasn't as focused or what, but I couldn't recall any of the stories the day after I had read them. Perhaps the stories weren't as interesting, or they all started to blend together when read in such quick succession, not sure.
My one complaint about these volumes, this one in particular is the ordering of the stories. Though it is interesting to read them in the order Doyle wrote them, I was often very confused. I would have prefered to have them as Holmes and Watson experienced them, because sometimes characters were magically alive again with no explanation.
I will say though, reading through all of these has only deepened my love for the various TV and movie adaptations. Holmes and Watson are truly interesting characters and their cases are never ending. -
I have been struggling for a long time with this half of the book. I loved, loved the first half. And completely understand why people were so upset when Arthur Conan Doyle killed Sherlock Holmes. But the stories in the second half seem more abrasive. Sherlock Holmes more demeaning and hurtful towards the character Watson. The stories are still but there is this feeling while listening or reading that seems to push the character Sherlock Holmes into uncharacteristic qualities. I am not sure but there seems to be more negativity or ruthlessness in the second half. And I am not your typical writing critic. It just doesn't feel the same. After all these months of not getting anything accomplished I have decided to stop. But I will not quit being a Sherlock Holmes Fan.
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This has been a favorite collection since high school. I could read these stories over and over! They are unique and intricate, and that's probably why I never tire of them. Holmes is perpetually beset either by boredom or fascination with a puzzle, and not much in between. It makes for dynamic stories.
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A must read; especially with Kyle Freeman comments.
