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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories: The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
The publication of Leslie S. Klinger's brilliant new annotations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Holmes short stories in 2004 created a Holmes sensation. Available again in an attractively-priced edition identical to the first, except this edition has no outer slipcase (Volume One is available separately).
Inside, readers will find all the short stories from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, with a cornucopia of insights: beginners will benefit from Klinger's insightful biographies of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle; history lovers will revel in the wealth of Victorian literary and cultural details; Sherlockian fanatics will puzzle over tantalizing new theories; art lovers will thrill to the 450-plus illustrations, which make this the most lavishly illustrated edition of the Holmes tales ever produced. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes illuminates the timeless genius of Arthur Conan Doyle for an entirely new generation of readers.
Inside, readers will find all the short stories from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, with a cornucopia of insights: beginners will benefit from Klinger's insightful biographies of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle; history lovers will revel in the wealth of Victorian literary and cultural details; Sherlockian fanatics will puzzle over tantalizing new theories; art lovers will thrill to the 450-plus illustrations, which make this the most lavishly illustrated edition of the Holmes tales ever produced. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes illuminates the timeless genius of Arthur Conan Doyle for an entirely new generation of readers.
650 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 18, 2013
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
17.7k books25.2k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 20, 2018
This second volume of annotated stories covers tales originally published from 1903-1927. Although they differ from the Baring-Gould annotations in terms of style, these Norton volumes provide more info regarding more current Sherlockian theories. Another must-read for any true Sherlockian!
December 19, 2013
I'm reading the notes and enjoying the many illustrations as I enjoy listening to Derek Jacobi's narration of the separate books which are gathered within this collection. This book is beautiful and made to last with a lot of fascinating information within. For example, I now know more than I ever thought I would about the history of the graphite pencil.
The one thing I dislike is the editor's choice to include commentary and opinions of those who enjoy pretending that Holmes and Watson are real people. This can lead to very tiresome discussions about timing of events, who did what "really," and so forth. Luckily, one learns how to identify those parts fairly quickly and can just skip over them.
The one thing I dislike is the editor's choice to include commentary and opinions of those who enjoy pretending that Holmes and Watson are real people. This can lead to very tiresome discussions about timing of events, who did what "really," and so forth. Luckily, one learns how to identify those parts fairly quickly and can just skip over them.
December 10, 2021
Ég fann fyrir kvíða þegar puttinn nálgaðist númerið sem lesendur rafbókarinnar þurfa að smella á til að sjá neðanmálsgreinina. Ég gat aldrei verið viss um hvort upplýsingarnar væru áhugaverðar eða bull.
Það mótaðist sú kenning í höfðinu á mér að ástæðan fyrir því hve oft er vitnað í Sherlockian sérvitringana sé að þeir muni kaupa mörg eintök.
Þetta eru aðdáendatúlkanir í gervi fræðimennsku. Við þekkjum svoleiðis og vitum að sumar slíkar geta sýnt okkur verk í nýju ljósi. En þetta eru almennt ekki slíkar tilgátur. Oft er verið að reyna að útskýra eitthvað sem þarf ekkert að útskýra. Síðan er vísað í einhverjar rökræður þessara fræðigervinga sem gætu auðveldlega verið deilur um túlkanir á Matrix af Reddit.
Það að rökræða allt fram og til baka verður líka til þessa að undirstrika hve ósamkvæmur sjálfum sér höfundurinn er. Sögurnar voru skrifaðar á 40 ára tímabili þannig að það er viðbúið. En að hjakka sífellt á veiku punktunum minnkar ánægju lesandans.
Það sem ég hefði átt að nefna fyrst er að það er endalaust verið að spilla lausn gátunnar. Stundum í inngangi sögunnar en líka í neðanmálsgreinunum. Ef þú hefur ekki lesið þetta áður eða einfaldlega ekki nýlega missir þú af gleðinni sem fylgir því að reyna að finna svarið sjálfur.
Sherlock Holmes kallar á neðanmálsgreinar og skýringar. Samtími hans er lesendum framandi, allavega að einhverju leyti. Það væri gott að fá slíkar upplýsingar án þess að fá höskulda viðvörunarlaust.
Síðan er forsendan sem þetta lið gefur sér kjánaleg. Sherlock Holmes var til í alvörunni. Fínt. Skemmtilegt. Watson skrifaði sögurnar. Gott. En síðan er Arthur Conan Doyle settur inn sem "fulltrúi" Watson. Það eyðileggur innra samhengið.
Á 21stu öldinni sjáum við breska heimsveldið öðrum augum. Túlkanir og athugasemdir í neðanmálsgreinum hunsa slíkt. Fólk sem Conan Doyle telur hetjur eru frá okkar sjónarhorni morðingjar. Fólk sem barðist gegn Bretum voru óþokkar þess tíma en hetjur okkar. Ég er ekki að ætlast til þess að höfundurinn sjálfur sé meðvitaður en þegar neðanmálsgreinarnar reyna ekki að gefa okkur betra samhengi verður það í besta falli vandræðalegt.
Það óvæntasta við lesturinn var að ég þekkti fæstar af yngstu sögunum. Þær voru ekki í Sherlock-safninu sem ég las í æsku. Þær hafa ekki verið þýddar. Þó eru þetta oft slökustu sögurnar. Conan Doyle bara að skrifa til að fá pening til að geta predikað andatrú sína.
Lesið bara einhverja ókeypis útgáfu. Það er betra en slæmar neðanmálsgreinar.
Það mótaðist sú kenning í höfðinu á mér að ástæðan fyrir því hve oft er vitnað í Sherlockian sérvitringana sé að þeir muni kaupa mörg eintök.
Þetta eru aðdáendatúlkanir í gervi fræðimennsku. Við þekkjum svoleiðis og vitum að sumar slíkar geta sýnt okkur verk í nýju ljósi. En þetta eru almennt ekki slíkar tilgátur. Oft er verið að reyna að útskýra eitthvað sem þarf ekkert að útskýra. Síðan er vísað í einhverjar rökræður þessara fræðigervinga sem gætu auðveldlega verið deilur um túlkanir á Matrix af Reddit.
Það að rökræða allt fram og til baka verður líka til þessa að undirstrika hve ósamkvæmur sjálfum sér höfundurinn er. Sögurnar voru skrifaðar á 40 ára tímabili þannig að það er viðbúið. En að hjakka sífellt á veiku punktunum minnkar ánægju lesandans.
Það sem ég hefði átt að nefna fyrst er að það er endalaust verið að spilla lausn gátunnar. Stundum í inngangi sögunnar en líka í neðanmálsgreinunum. Ef þú hefur ekki lesið þetta áður eða einfaldlega ekki nýlega missir þú af gleðinni sem fylgir því að reyna að finna svarið sjálfur.
Sherlock Holmes kallar á neðanmálsgreinar og skýringar. Samtími hans er lesendum framandi, allavega að einhverju leyti. Það væri gott að fá slíkar upplýsingar án þess að fá höskulda viðvörunarlaust.
Síðan er forsendan sem þetta lið gefur sér kjánaleg. Sherlock Holmes var til í alvörunni. Fínt. Skemmtilegt. Watson skrifaði sögurnar. Gott. En síðan er Arthur Conan Doyle settur inn sem "fulltrúi" Watson. Það eyðileggur innra samhengið.
Á 21stu öldinni sjáum við breska heimsveldið öðrum augum. Túlkanir og athugasemdir í neðanmálsgreinum hunsa slíkt. Fólk sem Conan Doyle telur hetjur eru frá okkar sjónarhorni morðingjar. Fólk sem barðist gegn Bretum voru óþokkar þess tíma en hetjur okkar. Ég er ekki að ætlast til þess að höfundurinn sjálfur sé meðvitaður en þegar neðanmálsgreinarnar reyna ekki að gefa okkur betra samhengi verður það í besta falli vandræðalegt.
Það óvæntasta við lesturinn var að ég þekkti fæstar af yngstu sögunum. Þær voru ekki í Sherlock-safninu sem ég las í æsku. Þær hafa ekki verið þýddar. Þó eru þetta oft slökustu sögurnar. Conan Doyle bara að skrifa til að fá pening til að geta predikað andatrú sína.
Lesið bara einhverja ókeypis útgáfu. Það er betra en slæmar neðanmálsgreinar.
June 30, 2020
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Part II. Does this even need a review? If you haven't read Conan Doyle's original stories, you should, and be ready to recognize a whole lot of it from subsequent works inspired by the Great Detective. I've always loved SH but never read the entire catalog; I reserved both volumes of this set but only got the second one from the library before quarantine.
Two small warnings if this edition is in your future. First, it's a brick; it contains pages 781 - 1878 of the set, and is the size of an encyclopedia volume. Second, a great deal of page space is dedicated to annotations in the side margins (which are roughly 40% of each page, whether or not they're populated), and these annotations... could use some editing, or at least some color coding. Some are highly relevant, brief, and useful during reading; these are usually definitions of a colloquialism or explanation of a historical reference, whose inference might not be obvious and almost always are important enough to spell out. (Imagine reading Shakespeare and not knowing what "wench" meant.) Some of these are interesting tangential sidebars, often quick abstracts about the socioeconomic reality or historic influence of something impacting the case, which might not be known to the reader but certainly makes the story make more sense. (Keep in mind that these stories age well, but are definitively set in their own time, and are subject to the medical & scientific limitations of the day; a few of these annotations spell out, patiently, that the procedure in question might seem odd or lacking now, but was state-of-the-art at the time.) However, a lot of these - and particularly the longer ones - are just irritatingly useless, as though the author was determined to include every damn word of research. The price of four-color printing being comparatively astronomical and the likelihood of readers to constantly flip to notes in the index (or even the end of a story) make it impractical to publish an annotated volume in any other layout, but even a symbol to denote immediate relevance would be welcome. That said, the really long items are saved for post-story notes, so maybe there already was compromise...
Also, yes, I was re-watching the BBC's Sherlock while reading this, so there are a ton of comparisons below.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of the Empty House
Lots of Intro to Sherlockian Logic elements here. Great start to the collection.
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
If he hadn't gone to jail, I bet his nickname would have become Bumbling Jonas.
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Code-breaking brilliance.
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
Did ACD ever meet a damsel who wasn't in distress?
The Adventure of the Priory School
Definitely worth reading, for so many Intro to Sherlock features. Interesting side-note on British felony murder laws, too.
The Adventure of Black Peter
What a dick! Don't be a dick. It might get you murdered with a harpoon.
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
I definitely prefer the BBC's Sherlock's retelling of this story to any other attempts. Lars Mikkelsen plays Charles Augustus Magnussen, and also voices Scar in a Danish dubbing of The Lion King, for a quick voice-visual (is that a thing?). In the canon version, Milverton's weasel-like character is the obvious inspiration for countless villains; the comparison between him and the antagonist Grahame Coats (or Basil Finnegan, if you need a clearer arrow) in Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys comes immediately to mind.
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
"The Adventure of the Black Pearl of the Borgias" or "The Adventure of the Italian Mafia in Southern England" would just have been too on-the-nose... fwiw, BBC's Sherlock imaginatively reinvents this story as "The Six Thatchers", substituting Maggie for M Bonaparte's bust, and weaving in plenty of other tales too.
The Adventure of the Three Students
TBH this story is a little infuriating. Ultimately, we see white privilege and patriarchy result in a just-fine conclusion for the offender; it's like a non-sex-scandal version of Brock Turner or Brett Kavanaugh.
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
The amount of accurate detail Holmes gets out of a single pair of readers is astonishing. This one is a pretty classic Intro to Holmesian Logic.
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
Sorry, but, yawn. Feels like ACD was just dying to write something about rugby.
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
Here, literally, Holmes & Watson play judge and jury. I agree with their final decision. Elements from this story seem to feature heavily in Sherlock's "The Abominable Bride", but the actual story is hardly similar.
The Adventure of the Second Stain
Or, "The Adventure of the Misplaced Feng Shui".
His Last Bow
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
Notably, Holmes heaps praise on Inspector Baynes, maybe the only time in canon that he expresses such strong admiration for the skills of a law enforcement officer. Baynes is physically described as kind of a country bumpkin, but quickly quashes that idea and turns out to be both quite gifted and also well aware that the case in question might be his one shining opportunity to display his talents. His might be my favorite single-episode character.
The Adventure of the Red Circle
A great example of Holmes's prowess at deciphering codes.
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
Hello, Mycroft. Definitely worth reading if you're only picking a few of these.
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
Holmes's best-ever "disguise"? So good.
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
Took me forever to realize that the "memory" I had of this story was actually the Elementary remake of it, where "Lady Frances" is a guitar. That version was slightly less, uh, patronizing.
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
Maybe my favorite diabolical plant story of the whole catalog.
His Last Bow
Spoiler alert, Sherlock Holmes served as a British spy in WWI.
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
I think this concept is represented in more stories than Wikipedia gives credit. Also, very Charles Augustus of our boy Gruner.
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
This story is immediately followed by an abstract titled "The Boer War", which is actually useful to skim ahead of time. Overall, I think of the better illustrations of Holmes's applied intellect, unfairly encumbered with a bland, forgettable title.
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Leans heavily on "The Adventure of the Empty House".
The Adventure of the Three Gables
Holy racism, Batman. This is so out of character for our hero that some scholars wonder if ACD actually wrote this one, but since it's included in multiple anthologies, I guess we have to accept that he did.
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
Sounds more exciting than it is; Victorian familial relations were weird.
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
WTF is a Garrideb? Indeed. I don't totally believe that Holmes knew what they'd find when the oblivious quarry was finally flushed from his refuge, but it's a great story nonetheless.
The Problem of Thor Bridge
An ingenious, if improbable, method of murder.
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
Is it creepier because of the title? I think so.
The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
Sort of a puzzle more than a mystery, and certainly not the usual type of culprit. I quite appreciate Sherlock's throwaway line about how absurd it would be to arrest (spoiler redacted), and also that this story didn't merit a full television reimagining.
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
Did not end up where I expected.
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
Or, more boringly, "The Adventure of Legal Claims to Adjacent Properties in Victorian England".
The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
I wonder, if Conan Doyle knew that this was the last SH story he'd publish, if this would have been it.
Two small warnings if this edition is in your future. First, it's a brick; it contains pages 781 - 1878 of the set, and is the size of an encyclopedia volume. Second, a great deal of page space is dedicated to annotations in the side margins (which are roughly 40% of each page, whether or not they're populated), and these annotations... could use some editing, or at least some color coding. Some are highly relevant, brief, and useful during reading; these are usually definitions of a colloquialism or explanation of a historical reference, whose inference might not be obvious and almost always are important enough to spell out. (Imagine reading Shakespeare and not knowing what "wench" meant.) Some of these are interesting tangential sidebars, often quick abstracts about the socioeconomic reality or historic influence of something impacting the case, which might not be known to the reader but certainly makes the story make more sense. (Keep in mind that these stories age well, but are definitively set in their own time, and are subject to the medical & scientific limitations of the day; a few of these annotations spell out, patiently, that the procedure in question might seem odd or lacking now, but was state-of-the-art at the time.) However, a lot of these - and particularly the longer ones - are just irritatingly useless, as though the author was determined to include every damn word of research. The price of four-color printing being comparatively astronomical and the likelihood of readers to constantly flip to notes in the index (or even the end of a story) make it impractical to publish an annotated volume in any other layout, but even a symbol to denote immediate relevance would be welcome. That said, the really long items are saved for post-story notes, so maybe there already was compromise...
Also, yes, I was re-watching the BBC's Sherlock while reading this, so there are a ton of comparisons below.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of the Empty House
Lots of Intro to Sherlockian Logic elements here. Great start to the collection.
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
If he hadn't gone to jail, I bet his nickname would have become Bumbling Jonas.
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Code-breaking brilliance.
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
Did ACD ever meet a damsel who wasn't in distress?
The Adventure of the Priory School
Definitely worth reading, for so many Intro to Sherlock features. Interesting side-note on British felony murder laws, too.
The Adventure of Black Peter
What a dick! Don't be a dick. It might get you murdered with a harpoon.
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
I definitely prefer the BBC's Sherlock's retelling of this story to any other attempts. Lars Mikkelsen plays Charles Augustus Magnussen, and also voices Scar in a Danish dubbing of The Lion King, for a quick voice-visual (is that a thing?). In the canon version, Milverton's weasel-like character is the obvious inspiration for countless villains; the comparison between him and the antagonist Grahame Coats (or Basil Finnegan, if you need a clearer arrow) in Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys comes immediately to mind.
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
"The Adventure of the Black Pearl of the Borgias" or "The Adventure of the Italian Mafia in Southern England" would just have been too on-the-nose... fwiw, BBC's Sherlock imaginatively reinvents this story as "The Six Thatchers", substituting Maggie for M Bonaparte's bust, and weaving in plenty of other tales too.
The Adventure of the Three Students
TBH this story is a little infuriating. Ultimately, we see white privilege and patriarchy result in a just-fine conclusion for the offender; it's like a non-sex-scandal version of Brock Turner or Brett Kavanaugh.
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
The amount of accurate detail Holmes gets out of a single pair of readers is astonishing. This one is a pretty classic Intro to Holmesian Logic.
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
Sorry, but, yawn. Feels like ACD was just dying to write something about rugby.
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
Here, literally, Holmes & Watson play judge and jury. I agree with their final decision. Elements from this story seem to feature heavily in Sherlock's "The Abominable Bride", but the actual story is hardly similar.
The Adventure of the Second Stain
Or, "The Adventure of the Misplaced Feng Shui".
His Last Bow
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
Notably, Holmes heaps praise on Inspector Baynes, maybe the only time in canon that he expresses such strong admiration for the skills of a law enforcement officer. Baynes is physically described as kind of a country bumpkin, but quickly quashes that idea and turns out to be both quite gifted and also well aware that the case in question might be his one shining opportunity to display his talents. His might be my favorite single-episode character.
The Adventure of the Red Circle
A great example of Holmes's prowess at deciphering codes.
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
Hello, Mycroft. Definitely worth reading if you're only picking a few of these.
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
Holmes's best-ever "disguise"? So good.
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
Took me forever to realize that the "memory" I had of this story was actually the Elementary remake of it, where "Lady Frances" is a guitar. That version was slightly less, uh, patronizing.
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
Maybe my favorite diabolical plant story of the whole catalog.
His Last Bow
Spoiler alert, Sherlock Holmes served as a British spy in WWI.
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
I think this concept is represented in more stories than Wikipedia gives credit. Also, very Charles Augustus of our boy Gruner.
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
This story is immediately followed by an abstract titled "The Boer War", which is actually useful to skim ahead of time. Overall, I think of the better illustrations of Holmes's applied intellect, unfairly encumbered with a bland, forgettable title.
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Leans heavily on "The Adventure of the Empty House".
The Adventure of the Three Gables
Holy racism, Batman. This is so out of character for our hero that some scholars wonder if ACD actually wrote this one, but since it's included in multiple anthologies, I guess we have to accept that he did.
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
Sounds more exciting than it is; Victorian familial relations were weird.
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
WTF is a Garrideb? Indeed. I don't totally believe that Holmes knew what they'd find when the oblivious quarry was finally flushed from his refuge, but it's a great story nonetheless.
The Problem of Thor Bridge
An ingenious, if improbable, method of murder.
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
Is it creepier because of the title? I think so.
The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
Sort of a puzzle more than a mystery, and certainly not the usual type of culprit. I quite appreciate Sherlock's throwaway line about how absurd it would be to arrest (spoiler redacted), and also that this story didn't merit a full television reimagining.
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
Did not end up where I expected.
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
Or, more boringly, "The Adventure of Legal Claims to Adjacent Properties in Victorian England".
The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
I wonder, if Conan Doyle knew that this was the last SH story he'd publish, if this would have been it.
June 2, 2019
3,5/5
Bu kitap, serinin en beğendiğim kitabı olması gerekirken benim için tam bir hayal kırıklığı oldu. Çümkü ikinci kitap olan Sherlock Holmes’un Anıları kitabının en sonunda James Moriarty’nin kendini göstermiş olmasına çok sevinmiş ve üçüncü kitapta da bu durumun böyle devam edeceğini düşündüğüm için sevinmiştim. Fakat ne yazık ki Sherlock -kitabın adında da anlaşıldığı üzere- yalnız döndü. 😔 Tamam, yazar bu kitapta da akıcı anlatımından hiçbir şey kaybetmemiş ve kitaptaki vakaların hepsi fazlasıyla gizemli ve merak uyandırıcıydı kabul ediyorum. Fakat Moriarty-Sherlock çatışmasını görmek isteyen bu bünyenin dişinin kovuğuna bile gitmeyen olaylar olduğunu söylemezsem olmaz. Umudum dördüncü kitaba kaldı. O da olmazsa beşinci kitap. E artık o da olmazsa yere çöker ağlarım herhalde. 😫
Bu kitap, serinin en beğendiğim kitabı olması gerekirken benim için tam bir hayal kırıklığı oldu. Çümkü ikinci kitap olan Sherlock Holmes’un Anıları kitabının en sonunda James Moriarty’nin kendini göstermiş olmasına çok sevinmiş ve üçüncü kitapta da bu durumun böyle devam edeceğini düşündüğüm için sevinmiştim. Fakat ne yazık ki Sherlock -kitabın adında da anlaşıldığı üzere- yalnız döndü. 😔 Tamam, yazar bu kitapta da akıcı anlatımından hiçbir şey kaybetmemiş ve kitaptaki vakaların hepsi fazlasıyla gizemli ve merak uyandırıcıydı kabul ediyorum. Fakat Moriarty-Sherlock çatışmasını görmek isteyen bu bünyenin dişinin kovuğuna bile gitmeyen olaylar olduğunu söylemezsem olmaz. Umudum dördüncü kitaba kaldı. O da olmazsa beşinci kitap. E artık o da olmazsa yere çöker ağlarım herhalde. 😫
June 12, 2023
I ordered this from our library system, wondering if I might be the type to read the Holmes stories and immerse myself in the annotations. I discovered fairly quickly that I'm not that person. I'd rather read the stories for my own pleasure, rather than read other folk's comments and conjectures.
However, that's just me. For those who are into that sort of thing, the annotations are certainly interesting (at least for the most part) and the stories and the characters of Holmes and Watson are still wonderful. So, five stars - just not for me.
However, that's just me. For those who are into that sort of thing, the annotations are certainly interesting (at least for the most part) and the stories and the characters of Holmes and Watson are still wonderful. So, five stars - just not for me.
October 2, 2024
The closer to the end of Doyle's Holmes-writing career, the worse the stories in a sense. For the most part, Holmes loses the ability to come to quick conclusions and deductions based on minute details. The stories become less about Holmes's skill and more about the story itself. Therefore, if you're reading for love of Sherlock Holmes, the character, you'll be disappointed closer to the tail end. The stories from The Return are still great, at the very least. And the stories from Holmes's less 'successful' days, near the end, are still interesting and fun reading.
May 18, 2021
Of course it's wonderful....
.....it's Sherlock Holmes. The three volumes are beautifully illustrated with tons of annotations. My only gripe is that some of the annotations are trying to show the writer is smarter, more clever than Holmes. Come on! He's the world's greatest consulting detective.
.....it's Sherlock Holmes. The three volumes are beautifully illustrated with tons of annotations. My only gripe is that some of the annotations are trying to show the writer is smarter, more clever than Holmes. Come on! He's the world's greatest consulting detective.
March 10, 2024
Whilst the presentation, the illustrations, and the stories are first rate, Klinger's annotations are fatiguing in that they are useless for any real scholarship. Even with the tiresome charade of pretending that Holmes existed, Baring-Gould has done it better. If anyone knows of a decent volume with textual apparatus that actually acknowledges Doyle as the author, please let me know.
March 4, 2024
İki cildi de bitirdiğim için biraz üzgün hissediyorum. Romanlarının aksine kısa hikayeleri merak uyandırıcı ve ilgi çekici. Kitapta notlar şeklinde bulunan bilgilerle birlikte okumak güzel bir deneyim oldu.
February 28, 2017
This Annotated Edition from Norton is exquisite!
September 17, 2017
Well worth the trouble/cost if you like Sherlock and always had some little doubts about this or that or wanted to know exactly what kind of carriages they were jumping into.
February 16, 2021
Wonderful tale that stand the test of time. I thoroughly enjoyed the narration.
Listened to this on chirpbooks.com.
Listened to this on chirpbooks.com.
October 12, 2025
The Case-Book stories are disappointing.
July 4, 2014
The Annotated edition contains 3 books, The Return, His Last Bow, and The Casebook. I'll review each book separately and then include my opinion of the Annotated edition.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes: July 22-August 1, 2014. This was actually my first time reading this half of the series, so all of the mysteries were new to me. But, I wasn't as impressed with this book as I was with The Adventures. It kind of felt like Doyle had run out of ideas. But, the one thing I did love was the speculations based on The Great Hiatus (though that has more to do with the Annotated edition). I still did enjoy seeing Holmes and Watson interact.
The Last Bow: August 1-6, 2014. I enjoyed this series of stories more, because it felt like Doyle took the time to find inspiration for them. I have no idea what was up with the namesake story, though.
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes: 7-8, 2014. I liked this one better, mainly because I could see the new era in which they were written. I also thought that most of the stories were interesting. Also, it was interesting to see how the characters have grown.
The Annotated as a whole: I really enjoyed all of the facts about Victorian life. And I loved all of the theories put out on The Great Hiatus. But after a while some of the comments were more annoying than interesting. Some of them weren't the editor's fault (like all of the other 'Sherlockians' who came up with utterly absurd theories on no evidence at all), but even the ones about him believing that Watson and Holmes were real were a bit annoying (though mainly they were tongue in cheek and abstract comments on where Doyle got his inspiration for the stories). On the whole, I enjoyed reading the annotated edition and absolutely loved the illustrations, pictures, and voice in my ear as I read Sherlock Holmes.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes: July 22-August 1, 2014. This was actually my first time reading this half of the series, so all of the mysteries were new to me. But, I wasn't as impressed with this book as I was with The Adventures. It kind of felt like Doyle had run out of ideas. But, the one thing I did love was the speculations based on The Great Hiatus (though that has more to do with the Annotated edition). I still did enjoy seeing Holmes and Watson interact.
The Last Bow: August 1-6, 2014. I enjoyed this series of stories more, because it felt like Doyle took the time to find inspiration for them. I have no idea what was up with the namesake story, though.
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes: 7-8, 2014. I liked this one better, mainly because I could see the new era in which they were written. I also thought that most of the stories were interesting. Also, it was interesting to see how the characters have grown.
The Annotated as a whole: I really enjoyed all of the facts about Victorian life. And I loved all of the theories put out on The Great Hiatus. But after a while some of the comments were more annoying than interesting. Some of them weren't the editor's fault (like all of the other 'Sherlockians' who came up with utterly absurd theories on no evidence at all), but even the ones about him believing that Watson and Holmes were real were a bit annoying (though mainly they were tongue in cheek and abstract comments on where Doyle got his inspiration for the stories). On the whole, I enjoyed reading the annotated edition and absolutely loved the illustrations, pictures, and voice in my ear as I read Sherlock Holmes.
October 7, 2012
My rating for this is more for the annotations than for the stories themselves. The stories are still as good as the first book, incredibly entertaining. The problem I have with the annotations (which are excellent, mind you) are that they are very heavily oriented towards the fantasy that Watson and Holmes were real people, and several focus on either identifying the real counterpart of the fictitious place/person or different scholars analysis of events or aspects that range from relevant to asinine (how many people really care how many robes he has that aren't playing the game?), and occasionally include wild theories that would make for an interesting story, but lousy analysis, none of which really would impact the reader's perspective of the story without reading the source article. Furthermore, for those who haven't read the canon yet, some of the notes are ahead of the story, spoiling certain things. However, for a person interested in these things, they're highly useful notes, and the annotations for the historical explanations and a few of the plot hole notations are excellent for all types of readers, if not occasionally longer than necessary.
June 12, 2012
I thought this book was okay. I liked Holmes in the beginning stories in A Study in Scarlet, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Hound of the Baskervilles, but as more stories were written Holmes seems to get more arrogant and pompous. It was okay in the beginning, but by the time I got to The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes I had to force myself to finish it. There are a couple stories that Holmes narrates himself, and a couple more that are in third person. The notes really are for people who like Sherlock Holmes and are fairly familiar with all the stories as they often referenced later stories. I stopped reading the notes as I went along; I found it too distracting.
November 23, 2010
Finally after 2 and half years I've finished reading the Sherlock Holmes canon. And might I ejaculate: Ho Hum!!! Nice stories but found only a handful truly good. So a few of questions. Were people so mentally weak that they fainted at the slightest provocation? Why all the ejaculating? Moriarty was only the main character in one story and was disappointed by that, so why the great emphasis as Holmes' nemesis? It probably is just me but I thought there would be more stories with Moriarty. I have more questions but will leave it at that.
These 3 books were very good, especially with all the annotations and would recommend them for anyone interested in reading the canon.
These 3 books were very good, especially with all the annotations and would recommend them for anyone interested in reading the canon.
April 14, 2012
As far as the stories are concerned, there is no need for any comment. Regarding the annotations, my opinion is that they are the most comprehensive that can be physically compiled. If only Mr. Klinger could refrain from 'The Game', and produce his stupendous work without any whimsical pretensions of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson being living persons (Sir Arthur merely acting as Watson's literary agent) [more in the line of the collection brought out by the Gasogene books], I could have breathed easily.
a note of caution to prospective buyers: this IS a hefty tome, so please abandon all hopes of taking it to the bed.
a note of caution to prospective buyers: this IS a hefty tome, so please abandon all hopes of taking it to the bed.
December 4, 2013
Full disclosure: I did not read this entire volume; due to a publisher/manufacturer error, my Nook edition of the "complete" Sherlock Holmes is missing "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes," so I read only that section. (Which was PLENTY, thanks.) But I wanted to review this particular edition because it is clearly published for true Sherlockians, of which group I do not number myself. Up til now I have enjoyed the stories and novels enormously, but I found the annotations in this edition very distracting -- to the point that they soured the reading experience. No doubt this edition is a terrific resource for aficionados, but Holmesian dilettantes like me should look elsewhere for their fix.
January 11, 2014
Like Baring-Gould's classic before it, Klinger's "The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes" is the crème de la crème of Sherlockian research. The three volumes of this work represent the pinnacle of modern knowledge about the famous Victorian detective. No serious fan of Sherlock Holmes should be without this set.
March 20, 2009
While the annotations are still hit or miss, (informative vs. annoying submission that Holmes was real) the stories get better and better. Others disagree, but I think Holmes is better after his "death".
August 3, 2011
Annotations are complete crap (see my review of Volume I). The stories are good.
October 21, 2012
A must have for serious Sherlock Holmes addicts. Vol I and vol III must also be included. Stories, anecdotes, historical fact etc, etc. Get it now. A must have reference set.
January 14, 2013
can't believe its over
December 4, 2022
A pesar de algunos fallos por parte del editor, tanto la traducción como la edición me parecen muy buenas. Una lectura muy recomendable para cualquier fan del canon holmesiano
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