Sherlock Holmes Books - What is the best way to read them?
"If we eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".
Sherlock Holmes Books, Complete Edition. Photo credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive.
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It took almost an entire month, but we're finally here! And what a delightful and intellectually stimulating ride it's been!
There is, perhaps, very little need to make a formal introduction of the residents of 221B Baker Street, for we doubt that there is a person out there that has not at least in passing heard of the exploits of the famous detective. Following the same line of thought, it would perhaps also be redundant to make a review of a literary work so well-known, for what new angle could we possibly provide that could shine new light on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Or so we believed, before we actually read the book! For readers can get quite a fresh perspective on the character of Sherlock Holmes if all of his adventures are read in chronological order, and after treating themselves to the final one they may quickly realise that there are quite a few misconceptions, fan-fiction retellings and flat-out inaccuracies, which have become so popular in modern culture that we have started to lose touch with the source material.
Therefore, in a typical Holmes fashion, our review would aim to analyze the various components that make up the book, including design, chronology and character development, and thus hopefully provide a definitive singular answer to the question: "What kind of man is Sherlock Holmes?"
Purchase The Complete Sherlock Holmes Books here.
Book Design
We would be remiss if we did not start at the obvious point of examining the book itself. It is without exaggeration that we say - it is one of the most beautiful editions that make up our private collection. This specific edition is published by Barnes and Noble and is part of their Collectible Classics series, which we highly encourage you to check out, both for their gorgeous designs and their superb selection of literary works.
Sherlock Holmes Books, Complete Edition. Photo credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
The book, as evident by the name, contains within its pages the complete works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in relation to characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Now we're going to let that sink in for a moment, because we're talking about approximately 7 (or 9, depends how you look at it) books combined into 1 very affordable edition, and retold in chronological order of publishing (we'll come to that important point later).
The design itself is incredibly sleek with gold detailing on brown imitation leather. Unlike many other editions of the same kind, we like to believe that the designed actually put some thought into the various elements - if you've noticed from the photos above/below, when the book is placed on its side (especially amongst other books), you can clearly see the title and an intricate keyhole. Surprisingly though, there is no key. You'll only be able to see the key once you take the book out and look at it from another angle (back cover). We're not sure if this is the reason, but we'd like to believe that the design itself represents a fundamental part of Holmes's philosophy of examining facts from various angles before he comes to a conclusion. And to us, this is absolutely amazing!
The spine is surprisingly sturdy and durable and even after a complete readthrough (and some rather rough handling by several curious parties) the book maintained it's original shape and had minimal signs of wear and tear after a complete read through. All in all, design-wise, great job, Barnes and Noble!
2. Chronological Overview and Structure of the Complete Adventures
As we said earlier, one of the great benefits of this edition is that it contains the entire Sherlock Holmes books in chronological order. It is important to note, though, that it is the chronological order of publication, and not of events. Therefore, our heroes sometimes jump back and forth in time, to the occasional confusion of the reader.
To understand why the publisher has chosen to publish the stories in this fashion, we must go back to and look at Sir Arthur's life under the magnifying lens (see what we did there?).
Sherlock Holmes Books, Complete Edition. Photo credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
It might be shocking for some of you to find out that Arthur Conan Doyle actually didn't really care for the character of Sherlock Holmes. To him, he was a creation for The Study in Scarlet specifically and his exploits, development and backstory were all designed to fit entirely within the single short story. He was determined to make his mark in the literary world with what he considered to be serious works of fictions, rather than the short stories he became famous for. Even as the fame of the fictional detective began to grow worldwide, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle still could not bring himself to take the matter seriously.
Throughout most of his stories, the reader can sense his reluctance to dive deeper than is necessary for the completion of the story, skimming over (or completely omitting) certain details in its closing paragraphs. In fact, it is not uncommon, and one might say it is even a staple of his style, that the epilogue of most stories is so compressed and vague that it is almost underwhelming compared to the elaborate and intrinsic paragraphs that precede it.
As a matter of fact, the author's annoyance with the public's pressure for more stories became so strong that he ultimately decided to kill off the brilliant detective. Public outrage was so strong and his editor's pleas were so frequent that eventually he began to reconsider his stance on the fate of his character. To Sir Arthur's credit, he didn't budge easily - he decided that there was only one way to settle the matter once and for all, and escape his editor's demands. He agreed to make a new set of stories within a year, but requested a sum so ludicrous by his standards that he though his editors would laugh him out the door at the mere mention of it. To his stunned surprise, his editors not only did not laugh him out of the door, but they agreed to his demands without further negotiation. As DJ Khaled might say, he "played himself". There was nothing else to do but stick to his commitment and bring back Sherlock Holmes from the land of the dead.
Sherlock Holmes Books, Compete Edition. Photo Credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
Again, to his credit, the author had killed off Holmes in such a manner that his resurrection was relatively easy to explain. For the first time in a long while, Doyle began wondering what is the best way to develop his character's story further, while maintaining some sort of chronological structure. He eventually came to the conclusion that what his franchise needed was a sort of "soft reboot". Holmes and Watson work best as roommates and bachelors, living and working together out of their lodgings at 221B Baker Street, ready to jump at a chance of an adventure at a moment's notice.
Therefore, somewhere between "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House" Miss Mary Watson, wife of Dr Watson and somewhat prominent secondary character in previous adventures dies under mysterious circumstances, which are literally addressed in passing by the author with a measly one sentence, which focuses more on Sherlock's personal growth in acknowledging his friend's hardship, than on what that hardship actually is. Only after a few stories from The Return of Sherlock Holmes does the reader begin to realize that Watson's situation has changed dramatically and for some reason he is back sharing an apartment with his eccentric friend.
Following The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Conan Doyle again attempts to leave the character of Holmes alone and even succeeds for a while, but this time he is inspired to continue his adventures by a rather fortunate meeting with his young journalist friend, Bertram Fletcher Robinson in Norfolk. In the course of their conversation, Robinson casually mentioned a local legend of a ferocious dog, which haunted the countryside. The conversation set such fire in Doyle's imagination that the two of them almost immediately began outlining the story that would become "The Hound of the Baskervilles".
Surprisingly, the story itself had nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes, initially. As their efforts progressed though, Sir Conan Doyle eventually realized that adding the detective to the story would not only ensure it's instant success, but also allow him to renegotiate his deal further. To this end, he wrote to his editor and offered him a deal: publish the story without Holmes at the old rate, or publish the story with Holmes (therefore reviving him) at a premium. Well, given the instant success of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", it is clear which option the editors of the Strand went for.
The novel is followed up by "The Valley of Fear", "His Last Bow" and finally, "The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes", bringing the total adventures of the infamous detective and his tireless sidekick to 4 novels and 56 short stories.
3. Character Development
For us, this was actually one of the most intriguing things about reading all of the Sherlock Holmes books in a complete edition. With some sort of chronology attached to them, we got to experience, albeit it sometimes vague and inconsistent terms, the development of both Holmes and Watson, but also of how they were perceived in their fictional version of Victorian England by the rich cast of secondary characters, who make occasional appearances throughout the stories.
Let's take a look at each of these in turn and see how they've changed between the first and last story.
Sherlock Holmes Books, the Complete Edition. Photo credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
Main Characters
Sherlock Holmes
It is elementary, dear reader, that we will start with dissecting the character development of the series' titular character. As we mentioned earlier, Conan Doyle never intended for Holmes to make further appearances after A Study in Scarlet. In his very first story, the detective was described as a Victorian version of Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory TV series - a savant, possessed of an exceptional faculty for his very niche sphere of study and occupation, but clueless as a babe when it comes to subject matter that does not immediately fit within his direct line of work.
In fact, the author makes this a focal point of Holmes's character, as readers get to experience Watson's frustration with his roommate's lack of knowledge on basic scientific principles, such as the Earth's rotation around the Sun. Such a little bubble of absolute knowledge has Holmes created related to his particular occupation, that Watson is prompted to conduct a series of small experiments to determine his roommate's intellectual faculties on other subjects. He graces us with the following assessment:
"1. Knowledge in Literature - Nil.
2. Knowledge in Philosophy - Nil.
3. Knowledge in Astronomy - Nil.
4. Knowledge in Politics - Feeble."
Ergo, the character of Holmes was initially created to be an anomaly - a man singularly dedicated to one particular field of science, in which he had no equal, but with a complete lack of knowledge to anything outside of it.
By the time the second novel, "The Sign of the Four" comes around, Doyle realises that if Holmes is to feature in more adventures, he would need some depth and further development. Therefore, by the time he embarks on his second adventure, the detective is a much more believable persona, quoting Goethe, discussing philosophy with Watson and even showing awareness for public events that transpired as far as the United States and India.
Throughout the stories, the detective skill and knowledge of off-shoot subject varies greatly, sometimes giving him almost supernatural powers of observation, deduction and even capacity to perform physical feats, which professional athletes would be proud of. Other times, he somehow overlooks flat-out obvious pieces of evidence and is nearly derailed by the flavour-of-the-month antagonist. Naturally, this is done to provide a sense of urgency and impeding doom, as well bring the all-knowing detective down a peg, but this fluctuation of intellectual prowess could be maddeningly frustrating, especially to readers that manage to get through several stories in one go.
Sherlock Holmes Books, the Complete Edition. Photo credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
The true depth of Sherlock Holmes's character development is evident, in our eyes, by the changes that occur in him on three points:
His conduct in his business and professional relationships
In their early adventures together, Dr Watson describes his companion as sometimes being almost devoid of human emotions and urges. Hard, cold and sometimes even cruel logic is utilized to achieve an answer to his present riddle. How that result is achieved, whether someone gets put in danger's way, or even whether justice is served don't take precedence over winning the game. This is also, as noted multiple times by his chronicler, the reason why Holmes is rarely interested in financial or other rewards for his services.
As time goes on, however, Holmes begins to develop genuine feelings for his fellow men. By the last of his adventures, he is more often than not willing to look at helping the person, rather than solving the problem, eventually learning that sometimes what is right and what is legal are two entirely different things.
But nowhere is his softer side revealed more than in his interactions with Watson. While he continuously ridicules his sense of rationality and observation skills, we would be remiss not to point out that he always follows these with an explanation or even a sort of off-hand apology. While it may not seem like much, we have to remember that this is a person who speaks his mind in all situations and does not guard his tongue, or apologize for his conduct, to anyone from the lowest peasant to the highest courts of Europe. It only shows how much he values Watson as a companion. Eventually, even Holmes acknowledges that his friend stimulates his mental process in a way that has become nearly indispensable to him over time. And when Watson is shot during one of their later adventures, Holmes is overcome first by such uncharacteristic concern (and later by such uncharacteristic fury) that we finally begin to realize there are multiple layers to this very, very complex individual.
His increasing desire for a simpler life, devoid of criminal investigations
At the start of their adventures, Holmes lives for the chase. In fact, working on a case, no matter how trivial, is the only thing that would bring him out of severe episodes of depression, which he unsuccessfully tries to combat with research, in-door marksmanship exercises, or recreational drug use.
By the time of "The Final Problem", however, he acknowledges that defeating Moriarty would be the highlight of his career and if achieved, he would probably retire to a quiet cottage somewhere in the countryside. This longing for a more peaceful life has been echoed multiple times in subsequent stories, until we eventually find out that after 23 years of chasing criminals, Holmes has indeed retired in a small cottage and occupies his time with beekeeping and the illustrious study of the habits of bees and their analogy to those of the criminal elements of London.His subtly decreasing faculties and powers of observation and reasoning
This is the most subtly implied one, and perhaps the saddest of them all. At the start of their adventures, Holmes possesses nearly superhuman powers of observation, analysis and deduction, which enable him to continuously be multiple steps in front of both his allies and adversaries. As time goes on, and as age begins to catch-up with him, the manner, in which the detective comes to his conclusions begins to gradually change.
An example of this is his ability to read tracks and footmarks, even after days or even weeks, which has been a point of mockery from him to the official police force multiple times. By the last stories, though, Holmes is almost never able to obtain new information simply by analysing the scene of the crime or reading tracks. It goes as far as him occassionally taking Scotland Yard at face value that no tracks were found, which is something he would have never done earlier in his career.
He also beings to rely more and more on acts of vigilantism and even starts going as far as committing actual crimes to get the proof for his deductions. Again, for the purposes of storytelling, all ends well and the police take his findings without much questions, but things work much differently in reality and it can sometimes break the reader's illusion of factuality in the narrative.
A final clue of Holmes's declining prowess is given several times by the man himself, who questions his own reasoning abilities for missing obvious signs, and rues the fact that his actions were able to solve the mystery but were not fast enough to prevent tragedy.
Sherlock Holmes Books, the Complete Edition. Photo Credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
Watson
Dr Watson's character development (or rather character degradation) is one of the very few downsides we found in the works of Sir Conan Doyle. Initially, he is a man of action but also no small intelligence himself. What he lacks in mental capacity in comparison to his comrade, he makes up for in people skills and a unique charm that is quite effective on the opposite sex.
He has other friends, apart from Holmes, who he regularly visits. He even wins the heart of one of their clients and gains her hand in marriage. On top of it all, he manages to acquire a rather successful medical practice in London and for all intents and purposes he is a man of complexity that is perfectly fine with playing the dutiful assistant to Holmes in the name of a greater good, but is also ambitious enough to go after his heart's own wants and needs.
That all changes after "The Final Problem". To us, it would seem that as Doyle resurrected Sherlock Holmes he killed Dr Watson and replaced him with a doting sycophant, who lives, breaths and exists solely to be at the convenience of his friend.
In a span of a few sentences, and with little further elaboration, it is revealed that Watson lost his wife, neglected (and later sold) his practice, and generally became lost in life without Holmes. As his friend comes back from the dead, he is forever at his disposal and no errand is too big or too small (or too demeaning) that Watson should not jump at the chance to serve at Sherlock's side. The high point of this descent into maddening adoration comes when Watson refers to Holmes as "his master".
We love the fact that Sherlock starts to become more human as adventures progress, but it's a sad fact that this humanity comes at the cost of Watson's identity.
Sherlock Holmes Books, the Complete Edition. Photo Credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
Secondary Characters
Lestrade and the rest of Scotland Yard
In every story, our brave heroes are assisted (or sometimes hampered) by the official forces of the British justice system - Scotland Yard, most notably inspector-detective Lestrade.
Lestrade, in our opinion, serves the purpose of showcasing how the world sees and treats Sherlock Holmes. From the onset, Lestrade and his colleagues detest having to involve Holmes in any official police business. They view him as a neccessary evil and only tolerate his eccentricity because he gets results (and because he usually doesn't take credit for those results).
The inspector has a very tenuous relationship with our dynamic duo, with each side never missing an opportunity to mock or gloat at the other's expense. But who doesn't love a good "enemies to friends" trope? With each subsequent story, Holmes's fame grows, his clientele becomes more illustrious, his methods become more wide-known and admired, and at the end of the day even a hard-headed and set in his ways chap as Lestrade must admit that he admires his amateur colleague's deductive ability.
By the time "The Hound of the Baskervilles" comes around, Lestrade is actively working with Sherlock Holmes and is prepared to put his career on the line and even take certain questionable legal shortcuts, based on the word of Sherlock. To be fair, the feeling seems reciprocated, as Holmes starts referring to him quite genuinely as "friend Lestrade" to Watson, and even - without any mockery whatsoever - complements the tenacity of the inspector: a quality, which he admits he values quite highly.
The way Scotland Yard begins to treat Sherlock and Watson as two of their own is beautifully developed over multiple stories, and yet there is one small matter that irks the back of our minds and puts a slight stain on so neatly wrapped a package: Holmes supposedly rarely took credit for his work, so that the official forces got all the glory. However, Watson's narratives bring Holmes to almost universal fame, ergo revealing the actual facts of many of these investigations. Therefore, it stands to reason that as Watson reveals what truly happens, all those accolades received by the Scotland Yard become rather void. If that were the case, it makes one wonder why the inspector's feelings do not go in the other direction, and why does Holmes keep insisting on not taking credit? We'll guess we'll never know...
Sherlock Holmes Books, the Complete Edition. Photo Credit: His and Hers Book Club private archive
Ms Watson
We feel like we've covered her fate already in the paragraphs above, but we'll just add that Ms Watson had so much potential that will forever remain unrealized. She could've been the Yoko Ono that broke the band, or she could've been a complex and interesting villain that was playing a long con on both Holmes and Watson (perhaps at the behest of Moriarty?). At the very least, her death could've been the focal point of a separate short story, which would've tested the limits of the duo's friendship. Alas, it was not meant to be (again, reminding you that, unfortunately, Sir Conan Doyle didn't really put 100% into his most famous creations...)
Antagonists
Irene Adler
Irene Adler is perhaps, after Moriarty, the most well-known of Holmes's antagonists, as she is nearly a match for his intellectual prowess. The author built her up brilliantly, alluding to some future adventures where she plays a pivotal role (referenced by the fact that Holmes would evidently give her the epithet "The Woman" in his future conversations with Watson). Unfortunately, these adventures were never realized by Sir Conan Doyle, but thankfully there were others, who did her character justice in derivative reinterpretations.
Moriarty
Moriarty. The name itself strikes fear and uncertainty in the heart of Sherlock Holmes himself. If this Victorian superhero could stand no chance against his organization, what hope do the rest of us have?
Moriarty's character development is one of paradoxical tendencies. On one hand, in the span of about 20 pages we are suddenly informed that most of the organized crime in London is controlled by a single man, whose intellectual brilliance rivals that of Sherlock Holmes, and who is, for all intents and purposes, set up quite suddenly as the long-despised nemesis of our daring detective. On the other hand, initially at least, Moriarty is all bark and no bite.
Throughout the entire plot of "The Final Problem", this supposed criminal mastermind plays defence and even when he attempts to capture Holmes he is still somehow two steps away. Then, for some god-unbeknown reason, he decided to have a mano-a-mano with Sherlock and bet it all on a fist fight. Now, let us remind you that this is a man with nearly unlimited financial capabilities, who controls the largest criminal organization to ever exist in Europe to that point. He is described as a man that operates from the shadows so efficiently that the official forces can never tie any crime back to him. We are suddenly led to believe that simply because Sherlock Holmes has thwarted several of his ventures, that this man and his second-in-command step out of the shadows and decide to personally take care of business. Even with such little character development, it all makes very little sense, and if it were not for the shock value of killing the detective in so sudden a fashion, we would argue that The Final Problem was handled perhaps a bit cruder than it should have been.
Evidently, Sir Conan Doyle comes to the same conclusion at some point, because in later stories, which supposedly take place before this final confrontation between the two masterminds, Moriarty has a much more sinister and overreaching presence. In the Valley of Fear, it is revealed that Moriarty himself is a much greater threat than the entire Masonic order combined. Despite Holmes's best efforts, his client - himself a celebrated Pinkerton detective - meets a tragic end, alluded to be caused directly by the Professor.
One thing to point out here is that Doyle seems rather inconsistent with Watson's familiarity with Moriarty. In "The Final Problem", the good doctor had never heard of the man before, yet in "The Valley of Fear", which chronologically takes place before it, he is already familiar with the name, referring to him as the "famous scientific criminal".
Sherlock Holmes Books, the Complete edition. His and Hers Book Club private archive
Common Misconceptions
This is probably going to be our favourite part of this review, turned almost essay on the Complete Sherlock Holmes Books. The reason for that is because there are so many misconceptions about the characters and their relationships to one another (which we also believed prior to our familiarization with Doyle's work), that many die-hard fans of the infamous detective attribute many characteristics to him and his exploits, which were actually popularized by either other authors, or through the mediums of television and cinema. The original version, however, is much, much different than what the public commonly believes.
Sherlock Holmes was an incredibly charming womanizer - FALSE! In the original writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is in fact very much apathetic towards the opposite sex (as stated by both himself and Watson on multiple occasions).
Irene Adler was a romantic interest and a frequent ally/adversary of the great detective - FALSE! In the original writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Irene Adler appears only in a single story, revolving around a certain Germanic heir and a very suggestive photograph. Her role was subsequently expanded by other authors and she was made into a love interest for Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes continuously utilizes his catch-phrase "Elementary, Watson" - FALSE! The phrase "Elementary, Watson" is actually never used in the stories. In fact, Sherlock Holmes only once (around page 875) uses the word elementary, but never followed by the name of his colleague and friend
Sherlock Holmes is famous for smoking his pipe and in fact the pipe is one of the symbols mostly associated with him - FALSE! He used to smoke cigarettes for the majority of his adventures, with the only references to pipe coming in the Case-book of Sherlock Holmes, one of the last publications from Doyle. Surprisingly, it has had such a lasting effect on people's perception as a symbol associated with Holmes that it even proudly features in the design of this particular edition.
One of Holmes's major antagonists is Lord Blackwood (popularized by the movie with Robert Downey Jr.) - FALSE! Sherlock Holmes never faced Lord Blackwood in any capacity (although a Lord Blackwood is mentioned in one of the first stories in a passing fashion)
Sherlock Holmes was the greatest detective of his era - FALSE! Sherlock Holmes wasn't even the greatest detective in his own family. He even confirms himself that his brother, Mycroft, possesses a much higher deductive ability.
Rating and Final Thoughts
Even though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not create the detective genre - that honour falls to Edgar Allan Poe - he did popularize it globally and paved the way for multiple generations of detective fiction writers. Not bad for a guy who didn't really consider these stories as "serious literature", right?
Despite several inconsistencies, obscured facts and unfortunate character developments, we absolutely enjoyed every single story and novel within this fantastic edition of the complete Sherlock Holmes Books by Barnes and Noble, from their Collectible Classics collection. Each story brought something fresh and something that stimulated our brains to try and figure out how the plot would play out. And even though we occasionally managed to guess the villain, there was always a twist, so shocking and sudden that it kept us glued to the pages for hours on end.
We proudly give the Complete Sherlock Holmes Books edition 4.5 out of 5 stars and would happily recommend it to anyone who wishes to test their powers of reasoning and deductive analysis.
Thank you for sticking with us through this rather long review, which almost borders on essay-territory, but if you've enjoyed it (or if you absolutely hated it) let us know in the comments below or on social media!