Your Favorite of the Original Four Novels Poll

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I can't remember Holmes keeping a skull on his mantle, but in "The Hounds of the Baskervilles" Dr. James Mortimer does make a remark to Holmes about making a cast of Holmes' skull until he can get his hands on the original to use as an ornament. Maybe this sparked "Billy"?

 

 

  This is a video of the Sherlock Holmes pub and it's Sherlock Holmes museum. Said to be better then the one on Baker Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some nice close ups....no skull.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks for all of the above, Fox.

 

We've been to the "official" museum and thought it was an honest effort, but aimed more at the general tourist than at the Holmes buff.  We've only been by the pub (which is very attractive on the outside) -- we'll have to check out the inside next time we're over.

 

I wonder if Moftiss and/or whoever owns #187 North Gower has ever considered turning the flats there into a Sherlock museum?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

  There are videos from the Baker Street Museum as well. I like it and will be looking forward to visiting both sites.

 

    Here is Baker Street still no skull but there is the medical bust?

 

                  

[Karie]

I can't vote yet, but look what I got myself for Christmas! Looking forward to getting started. 

 

[The Rani]

What a present! I've just bought A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four with my Christmas money. I can't wait for them to arrive!   They will be extremely well thumbed by the time I've finished with them!

[T.o.b.y]

I wonder what it's like to see "Sherlock" first and then read the Doyle stories later. What impression do you get, being introduced to this character "the other way around"? Is the original Holmes very different from what you had expected?

[Karie]

T.o.b.y, I'll let you know! This book is 1077 pages long, so it's going to take me a while to thumb through it! LOL 

 

If anyone has been looking to add the complete works to their collection, I found this at Barnes and Noble today. It contains all of the novels and short stories, it's leather-bound with beautiful detailing and a built-in bookmark ribbon. It was only $20! I couldn't believe it! I had originally found a complete series in two separate volumes for about $7 each at Books-a-Million (paperbacks), but I decided to go shopping in Florence today and there's only a BAN there. They didn't have the two volumes, but they had this, which I actually prefer just because it's so lovely and a hard copy and all together in one book. 

 

Maybe this will tide me over for the long hiatus between season 3 and 4!!! 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

You are so lucky to be discovering the original now. Like T.o.b.y, the rest of us will be interested in hearing your insights.

[Karie]

I know! There are so many books that I love so much and I do regret that, no matter how many times I go back and reread them, I will never be able to get that original experience back (Harry Potter and Ender's Game spring to mind). I am definitely going to savor these! Especially since there will be so many "original" stories in there that I will read before they air as episodes. 

 

I just started reading A Study in Scarlet, and already I'm delighting in picking out the similarities (and differences) between it and A Study in Pink. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

One more thing to look forward to:  The next time you read Study in Scarlet, you will be allowed to skip the middle part.   

 

[T.o.b.y]

My favorite bit from that first novel is: "Leaning back in the cab, this amateur bloodhound carolled away like a lark while I meditated upon the many-sidedness of the human mind."

[Janie]

I wonder what it's like to see "Sherlock" first and then read the Doyle stories later. What impression do you get, being introduced to this character "the other way around"? Is the original Holmes very different from what you had expected?

 

Well, I started reading it after watching Sherlock first and at first I was a little bit dissapointed that the Doyle's Holmes is not so arrogant and cold as the tv Sherlock. But I suppose it has something to do with the Victorian era when it was written. So now I'm trying not to compare the two Sherlock's too much and I'm always happy when I find something from the original story that appeared in the tv Sherlock.

 

Still can't vote for my favourite novel because I haven't read The Hound of Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear yet. But I'm slowly getting to the "Hound" now

[The Rani]

That is cheap! Does it have the original pictures in too?

[Karie]

Unfortunately, I haven't noticed any pictures. But, like I said, it's nearly 1100 pages, so I could have overlooked them. 

 

This book is a monster. Seriously, I could easily see it being a blunt force murder weapon in one of Sherlock's cases. I'm usually a super fast reader (I read Deathly Hallows in about 16 hours), but this one has small script crammed onto the pages. It'll probably take a while. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I find the Sherlock Holmes stories to be ideal bedtime reading -- but that tome would be far too heavy to hold in my hands for that long.  This is one case where I actually prefer paperbacks!  (Or at least smaller hardbacks.)

 

If you like to read with the book on your lap or on a table, though, that looks like a beaut!

 

[The Rani]

I find the Sherlock Holmes stories to be ideal bedtime reading -- but that tome would be far too heavy to hold in my hands for that long.  This is one case where I actually prefer paperbacks!  (Or at least smaller hardbacks.)

 

If you like to read with the book on your lap or on a table, though, that looks like a beaut!

 

I usually do read them at bedtime. I can remember when I was reading the Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes and the edition I have includes the Valley of Fear. I thought it was just a normal length story and I said to myself, "This seems to be going on a bit!"   I must admit that I fell asleep with it still open in my hand! 

[The Rani]

 

I'm usually a super fast reader (I read Deathly Hallows in about 16 hours), but this one has small script crammed onto the pages. It'll probably take a while. 

 

You could always use a magnifying glass for the small print. Now that would add a Holmes feel to it 

[Karie]

I'm actually finding it quite good for bedtime reading! A few pillows propped up on my lap to rest the book on solves the heaviness problem easily.  

 

I'm wondering how long it will take before I start having dreams of murder mysteries. 

[The Rani]

After reading a story or two at bedtime I do actually dream about it afterwards!   So are you on the 'Adventures' at the moment?

[softmachine]

SIGN for me

 

it's the story with *everything*!!!!!

[The Rani]

I have finally decided! It's got to be Hound for me, the first SH story I read. I think it's great that we get to see more of good ol' Watson. He doesn't usually get to say much 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I still haven't finished Hound.  In fact, I got bogged down in the description of the Baskerville estate!

 

However, I am currently reading Valley of Fear, or I should say, re-reading it.  So far, it's the only Holmes novel where I think the backstory may actually be the best part (despite going on just a bit).  Reading the first few chapters, I was, for once, way ahead of Holmes.  (Admittedly, I had the advantage of knowing I was reading a mystery story, whereas he thought he was dealing with a real-life case.)  But that backstory was a lulu!  Upon finishing the novel, I decided to read it again so I could better see how everything hangs together.

 

[Red Wolf]

Valley of Fear is my favorite of the four Novels, with Hound and Sign close seconds.

 

I have recently been rereading Doyle's Stories and have noticed that Holmes eats more or at least Watson mentions him eating more.  There is also a sense of "Christmas has come early" when Mr. McFarlane from TA of The Norwood Builder comes to Baker St (after Holmes laments over the lack of cases in the papers to Watson) and states that he might be arrested by the police before finishing his story whereon Holmes replies "Arrest you!  This is really most grati----- most interesting."

[Pamela]

I've been a Sherlockian since 1971, and I have several canon collections.  Let's face it, there are different uses!

 

As I've seen discussed, there's reading in bed, so for that, you want small books, preferably individual paperbacks.  The four novels are, of course, self-contained, and the short stories are in collections.

 

But I also recommend larger volumes, if for no other reason than Sidney Paget's illustrations!  They're so wonderful!  Classic.  Did you know that he used his brother Walter as his model for Sherlock?  And ACD actually contracted Walter as illustrator but the contract accidentally went to Sidney (and the rest was history).

 

Oh, I almost forgot.  I have a collection on my Kindle too.  It's nice to have it on the go, too.

[T.o.b.y]

Funny, I've never liked the illustrations at all. My first Sherlock Holmes books were very simple Penguin Paperbacks and they had neither illustrations, nor introduction or annotations or anything. So, imaginative little thirteen-year-old that I was, my brain painted its own image of the characters and got its own ideas about them. Holmes I always pictured as rather handsome and I am totally thrilled that Benedict Cumberbatch's version is beginning to look a lot like my idea of him as he grows older.

 

When I fist saw the original illustrations, it was quite a little shock...