Sherlock: Every Canon Reference You May Have Missed in BBC's Series 1-3

by Valerie Estelle Frankel

BBC's Sherlock has brought the classic adventures into brilliant life-fans across the world are delighting in every moment. But more is hidden within the episodes for the more serious fans-nonstop hints to the original adventures and the classic films as well. Within this book are all the references, with quotes from the actors and creators, notes from John and Sherlock's blogs, and loads of colorful symbolism. There are vistable locations in London and a look at the constant byplay, far more than simple friendship, between the two heroes. With character bios and notes on all the unseen cases, this book bursts with references for Sherlock's fans, those who know the century of lore and those who are yet to begin it.

Genres: Nonfiction

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 14, 2014

About the author

Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of 88 books on pop culture, including Doctor Who - The What, Where, and How; The Villain's Journey, History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in Hamilton; and How Game of Thrones Will End. Many of her books focus on women’s roles in fiction, from her heroine’s journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Superheroines and the Epic Journey to books like Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism and Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction and Fantasy. She's editing a series on Jewish Science Fiction for Rowman & Littlefield. Once a lecturer at San Jose State University, she now teaches at Mission College and is a frequent speaker at conferences. Come explore her research at www.vefrankel.com.

Reviews

[Pennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a Sherlock Holmes author myself and an avid fan of the BBC series 'Sherlock' I just have to take my hat off to the author of this volume 'Valerie Estelle Frankel. Through her diverse and thoroughly exhaustive research of a behind the scene look at EVERYTHING' series 1-3 has to offer, she did an amazing job.

Valerie E. Frankel is not new to the publishing world. She has won several book awards and is the author of various pop culture genres. An extremely established and diverse progressive talented lady and once a lecturer at San Jose State University.

'Sherlock: Every Conan Reference You May Have Missed in the BBC Series 1-3' brings to light this classic adventure seeker Holmes and his ever ready companion DR. Watson too fans across the board and into our homes once again. This book offers unseen references, footnotes, and quotes delivered with flawless attitude for all of the heavy literary works associated in the 'Sherlock' episodes. Connecting the dots to each behind the scene portrayal by taking an extensive gander into London's well known locations. The friendship of the two main characters, and textual elements play a large part with the guided pursuits of rich insight. We dwell a deeper cast with the screen portrayal of the BBC hit series 'Sherlock' starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes, and his esteemed companion, Martin John Christopher Freeman as Dr. Watson. A great reference guide to all die hard fans of the show.

[Ivana · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://bookprejudice.wordpress.com/2...

This book is simply amazing!

Everything happening in the amazing TV show Sherlock is analyzed to the smallest details.
I must admit I was expecting far less then I got, so I am very, very impressed with this book!

If you like the show Sherlock, you simply must read this book. It will enhance your reading experience greatly!

I must add, the writer, Valerie Estelle Frankel herself sent me this book for review.

[Laura L. Van Dam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
I think she did a pretty impressive job comparing the canon and the tv show, and found many references that I hadn´t seen before.
But at the same time:
*The formatting was not good and each first word in a sentence was illegible so it made reading difficult.
*Confusing Columbia with Colombia (a mistake I have seen repeated several times lately) is annoying.
*It´s Edgar AllAn Poe, not Edgard Allen Poe (another mistake that annoyed me).
*Some mentions of foreshadowing are not explained enough.
*In the discussion about TEH she talks about the Rat of Sumatra and how the name is used to refer to the character of Moran. In a later episode she points out several possible future villains, one of them being "Moran, which we haven´t seen yet¨
*When talking about the character of Molly she mistakenly calls her Sally.
*Some references or conclusions seem a bit forced or stretched to fit the author´s views.

There is also no analysis of TAB, maybe because this was written before it aired?
This booklet can be quite improved with just a bit of rephrasing and careful editing.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Sherlock and was excited to read this book. Some of the information is good but for the most part, a lot of the references she makes are inaccurate. She also adds her own opinion when referencing scenes/dialogue without making it obvious that is what she's doing so if you didn't know better, you would think it was fact. Also, she really reaches on trying to connect Sherlock with the actor's other work.

I read the Kindle version and there are quite a few misspellings.

Really no point in reading this if you're a true Sherlock fan because you will just get annoyed. I gave up after reading 40% of the book.

I recommend The Sherlock Files by Guy Adams instead.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike what the title would have you believe, this is not a book about Canon references in BBC's Sherlock. Nearly half the book has nothing to do with references, but is instead the author's own opinions about the series and the Canon.

Not only does the author leave out very obvious references (such as the fact that Sherlock's best man speech is almost word-for-word from the Canon, among others), she spends a lot of the book making connections to other works and random instances that seem to be a stretch. The author does a poor job of distinguishing between "fact" and her own personal opinion.

The author's personal opinions are all throughout the book, but especially in a subsection called "Innuendos." While she permeates most of the other sections with quotes from the actors and writers to back up her statements, when writing this section, quotes are strangely missing. It's as if she realized that quotes from the writers would have proven her to be wrong in her many suppositions. This is again the case when writing her mini-biography for Molly (who she refers to as Sally): the author states a romance between Sherlock and Molly would be impossible and that Sherlock's true love is Irene Adler. She backs up her "facts" by stating Molly is now in a healthy relationship, and glosses over the fact that this "healthy relationship" ended between the Sign of Three and His Last Vow.

The author does not take time to fully explain why she considers certain things to be references to the Canon. There were many times throughout the book that I found myself re-reading a statement trying to understand what her point was. She also has a tendency to mix up the actors and their characters as though they are interchangeable, and of switching her thoughts in the middle of a paragraph. (For example, at one point she is describing how Sherlock reacts to something, includes quotes from the books/show, and then ends the section as though everything she just wrote was referring to Cumberbatch.)

The stylization changes throughout the book, making it difficult to follow and hard to know when she's beginning a new thought. Quotation marks are often missing and she mislabels quite a lot. She also tends to repeat herself in various sections.

It was a quick read and there were a few references that I hadn't caught, but overall her spouting her opinions as fact was annoying and some of the connections she made seem to be stretched just a bit.

[lucy♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely has some interesting points and ideas but the formatting was atrocious and the writing clunky.

[AuroraBlaze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given an ebook in exchange for a review.

I found this very informative. I've read the original books, and I like the new series Sherlock, but I had no idea that there were that many adaptations out there.
This book covers each episode, as well as the webisode Many Happy Returns, and Watson's blog. There were various headings such as: The Title (which original story it is copied from, and how it relates to the story), The Story (the basic plot, as well as comparing it to the story it was adapted from) , Symbolism (repeated symbols throughout the episode), Blog (BBC actually has a real Watson's blog. and she quotes it), Canon References (I think this one is a bit obvious), Pop Culture (different movies, tv shows... that they refer to), Actor Allusions (things that the actor has done in other productions that are repeated here), and (my personal favorite) Doctor Who (facts about and similarities between the two shows).
I also liked that there was even a section on the original pilot, before it got edited. I always like reading the original pilot because oftentimes it provides more information.
The author must have spent a lot of time preparing for this book because there are quotes from commentaries and tons of other Sherlock books and movies.
It would have gotten 5 stars, but it was sometimes confusing, because it's comparing the books and the show, and you have to read carefully to make sure you know which is which. Also, the paragraphs seemed a little clunky.
Other than that, it was a pretty good book. If you're a fan of the show, I'd suggest you read it because even if it offends you with inaccuracies (not my opinion) it still helps you understand all the little nuances that you might have missed.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like all other books like it, I enjoyed reading this as a way to relive the series without actually re-watching it. My hope is always to take something extra away that I might not by just watching the show. As a fan of the original Holmes stories, this had a lot more potential to create interesting connections and analysis than it actually delivered. It lacked a good structure that it would make it readable as well as better explanation and analysis to make meaning out of the connections. There is a lot of really good scholarship on Sherlock Holmes out there (I know because I've read some of it) and reliance on these sources would have been appreciated. I think the author assumed that the only person who would read this is someone who probably could have wrote it themselves but just didn't take the time to do so. In other words, you can't just say that X line is a reference to Y story (or worse, references to non-Holmes works like Doctor Who or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) without explaining the reference. If I knew everything about everything, I would only ever read pure fiction. Bottom line: great idea, mildly entertaining, poor execution.

[Monica Fastenau · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are the most dedicated of Sherlock fans, an academic nerd as well as a TV geek, you will adore Valerie Frankel’s books. In this book, Frankel details every canon reference in the BBC series, Sherlock. She turns to Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories, as well as portrayals through the years, from the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies from the 1940s to present-day Elementary and the Robert Downey, Jr. movies.

Each chapter starts with a brief overview of the episode’s plot, the meaning of the title, and how the episode compares with the original Sherlock Holmes story. Frankel then walks you through every detail of the episode that pays homage to part of the canon, from quotes taken from the original Doyle stories to signature movements from other Holmes actors to establishing shots from old movies. She even takes information from John’s blog, which, it turns out, you can actually view online!

*Note: I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Read more on my blog: http://newberyandbeyond.com/attention...

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. The author seems to have done her research. It was lovely to hear commentary from the creators and actors in the series that helped explain why certain choices were made when adapting the books to television. There was only one slip that I noticed, I only mention it because it jarred the senses.

[Harri · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot of interesting information but the book was poorly edited (and in parts poorly written) and that ruined my enjoyment of it to be honest.