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Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes
As a young medical student, Arthur Conan Doyle studied in Edinburgh under the vigilant eye of a diagnostic genius, Dr. Joseph Bell. Doyle often observed Bell identifying a patient's occupation, hometown, and ailments from the smallest details of dress, gait, and speech. Although Doyle was training to be a surgeon, he was meanwhile cultivating essential knowledge that would feed his literary dreams and help him develop the most iconic detective in fiction.
Michael Sims traces the circuitous development of Conan Doyle as the father of the modern mystery, from his early days in Edinburgh surrounded by poverty and violence, through his escape to University (where he gained terrifying firsthand knowledge of poisons), leading to his own medical practice in 1882. Five hardworking years later--after Doyle's only modest success in both medicine and literature--Sherlock Holmes emerged in A Study in Scarlet. Sims deftly shows Holmes to be a product of Doyle's varied adventures in his personal and professional life, as well as built out of the traditions of Edgar Allan Poe, Émile Gaboriau, Wilkie Collins, and Charles Dickens--not just a skillful translator of clues, but a veritable superhero of the mind in the tradition of Doyle's esteemed teacher.
Michael Sims traces the circuitous development of Conan Doyle as the father of the modern mystery, from his early days in Edinburgh surrounded by poverty and violence, through his escape to University (where he gained terrifying firsthand knowledge of poisons), leading to his own medical practice in 1882. Five hardworking years later--after Doyle's only modest success in both medicine and literature--Sherlock Holmes emerged in A Study in Scarlet. Sims deftly shows Holmes to be a product of Doyle's varied adventures in his personal and professional life, as well as built out of the traditions of Edgar Allan Poe, Émile Gaboriau, Wilkie Collins, and Charles Dickens--not just a skillful translator of clues, but a veritable superhero of the mind in the tradition of Doyle's esteemed teacher.
246 pages, Hardcover
First published January 24, 2017
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1952 people want to read
About the author
Michael Sims
53 books69 followersMichael Sims is the author of the acclaimed "The Story of Charlotte's Web, Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination," "Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form," and editor of "Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories" and "The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Detective Stories." He lives in western Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
November 27, 2018
An avid Sherlockian will know that much of Holmes' traits of ratiocination are based upon that of Conan Doyle's medical school mentor, Joseph Bell. And this book gives the reader some insight into Dr. Bell and others who may have had some influence on Conan Doyle as he developed the world's most famous detective. But there were some problems for me with the author's approach.
* There are portions of the book which concentrate more on other authors of mystery/detectives: Poe, Wilkie Collins, Émile Gaboriau, et al, which, while interesting, were not necessary and appeared to be filler for this short book.
* The presentation is disjointed and jumps off track more than once.
* The book ends so abruptly that as I turned the page for the next chapter, there wasn't one.
* Throughout the book the author calls Conan Doyle by his first name, Arthur. It sounds like a rather minor and maybe silly point but it was very off putting.
I learned little more in this short book than I already knew about the creation of Sherlock Holmes. The author had good intentions and obviously did his research but it wasn't enough for me to give it a higher rating.
* There are portions of the book which concentrate more on other authors of mystery/detectives: Poe, Wilkie Collins, Émile Gaboriau, et al, which, while interesting, were not necessary and appeared to be filler for this short book.
* The presentation is disjointed and jumps off track more than once.
* The book ends so abruptly that as I turned the page for the next chapter, there wasn't one.
* Throughout the book the author calls Conan Doyle by his first name, Arthur. It sounds like a rather minor and maybe silly point but it was very off putting.
I learned little more in this short book than I already knew about the creation of Sherlock Holmes. The author had good intentions and obviously did his research but it wasn't enough for me to give it a higher rating.
February 25, 2017
Books have layers–at least the best ones do. Out of all people, Sherlockians should know this. After all, most of us probably did not become Canon devotees solely because we love creepy hounds, murderous snakes, and wall-climbing professors, even if the mysteries, puzzles, and adventures were the initial attraction. Survey any large group of Holmes fans and you’ll find myriad reasons why they love our detective, but the top reasons will likely include “a scientific detective,” “relatable heroes,” “literary innovation,” “sheer escapism,” and, possibly the most popular, “the devoted friendship” between Holmes and Watson. See? Layers.
In fiction, those layers can be intentional or slip in via the writer’s In non-fiction however, layers tend to be planned. You have to know what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it, and what you’re going to say it with. Then of course, you have to say it entertainingly enough that people will stay with you for the entire thing. It’s no easy job, which makes it even more remarkable that, in Arthur and Sherlock, not only has Michael Sims achieved it–he’s done it in less than 200 (fast-moving) pages.
Arthur and Sherlock is not, as it might seem at first, another biography of Conan Doyle. In fact, in the first two chapters, the reader learns more about Dr. Joseph Bell than his most famous pupil, who doesn’t take center stage until chapter four (and don't skip ahead--you want--no, you need to learn about Dr. Bell. Then, Arthur and Sherlock ends c.1892, just as the Great Detective has taken over The Strand Magazine. In between, Sims give us glimpses into both the youth and the man. We see young Arthur as a scrapping boy in the poorer part of Edinburgh, a rebellious student getting more than his fair share of beatings at school, and a youth who impetuously courted danger, whether by (inadvertently) swimming with sharks or testing a known poison (gelsemium) on himself, to see if it was possible to build up a resistance to it.Then there’s physician Arthur, and Arthur the son, young husband, and new father. As you might expect, however, Sims spends the most time examining Arthur as, well, an author. We watch him grow from his friends’ favorite story-teller, to enthusiastic submitter of photography articles and often-anonymous short stories, until finally we see him in the process of creating the characters which still outlive him. In far less time that it would take longer-winded biographers to get our boy through medical school, Sims covers nearly half of his life, giving the reader a portrait with perhaps less detail, but more insight.
Along with the Arthur layer, Sims gives us a delicious history of the detective story, examining how Holmes, whether he liked it or not, was influenced by his predecessors: Zadig, Vidocq, Dupin, Bucket, LeCoq–even the Comte d’Artagnan. As he does so, he also illuminates the connections between Conan Doyle’s literary inspirations, and those from his medical training, showing how all came together–with its instigator’s conscious planning–for that one meeting in the laboratory at Bart’s.
If this were all of Arthur and Sherlock, it would already be a great book. Michael Sims provides, arguably, the essential background every Sherlockian or mystery aficionado should know, and he does so succinctly. If Arthur and Sherlock hasn’t yet been marketed as a potential university text, it should be.
But then he adds one more layer--a biography of Charles Altamonte Doyle, Arthur's artistic, alcoholic father, whose fragile mind and addiction left him unable to care for his family in any meaningful way.
In traditional biographies, such as Stashoweor’s Teller of Tales and Lyceum’s The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, the story of Charles's tragic life is overshadowed by those of whom, through his flaws, he unintentionally forced into roles which changed the course of their lives. Sims takes a different path. Instead of analyzing Doyle pater, or focussing his attention on the (considerable) influence of Arthur’s mother, Mary, he interweaves Charles’ story with that of his son, so that, as we see Arthur’s star rise throughout the book, we also watch as his father’s falls, slowly, wobbling into the dark. Showing remarkable restraint, Sims refuses to analyze this contrast, leaving readers to ask and answer their own questions. The reader is left to wonder who each man would have been, had his circumstances been different...and to wonder again if those circumstances are (completely) to blame. As much as Conan Doyle liked to play the bluff, hearty soldier-type, it’s easy to get a glimpse of someone much more sensitive and emotionally vulnerable, particularly as he aged, a deep thinker whose own “hidden fires” drove him just as surely as they did (do?) Sherlock Holmes. How was he able to find relief in work and family, while, for his father, this was not enough? Charles Doyle would die days after trying to pay his medical bill with gold dust he'd "collected" from moonbeams. His son would die, decades later, as one of the most beloved authors of his, or any, generation.
That is, of course, the mystery of it all. By examining a writer’s life and literary influences, we can see, clearly in Conan Doyle’s case, where his stories and characters came from. The layers are all deconstructed and spread before us. But the spark that animates the body, the “breath of life” that stirs the dust, remains invisible, discernible only through its unique creation. There will only ever be one Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, and aren’t we glad we had him?
In fiction, those layers can be intentional or slip in via the writer’s In non-fiction however, layers tend to be planned. You have to know what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it, and what you’re going to say it with. Then of course, you have to say it entertainingly enough that people will stay with you for the entire thing. It’s no easy job, which makes it even more remarkable that, in Arthur and Sherlock, not only has Michael Sims achieved it–he’s done it in less than 200 (fast-moving) pages.
Arthur and Sherlock is not, as it might seem at first, another biography of Conan Doyle. In fact, in the first two chapters, the reader learns more about Dr. Joseph Bell than his most famous pupil, who doesn’t take center stage until chapter four (and don't skip ahead--you want--no, you need to learn about Dr. Bell. Then, Arthur and Sherlock ends c.1892, just as the Great Detective has taken over The Strand Magazine. In between, Sims give us glimpses into both the youth and the man. We see young Arthur as a scrapping boy in the poorer part of Edinburgh, a rebellious student getting more than his fair share of beatings at school, and a youth who impetuously courted danger, whether by (inadvertently) swimming with sharks or testing a known poison (gelsemium) on himself, to see if it was possible to build up a resistance to it.Then there’s physician Arthur, and Arthur the son, young husband, and new father. As you might expect, however, Sims spends the most time examining Arthur as, well, an author. We watch him grow from his friends’ favorite story-teller, to enthusiastic submitter of photography articles and often-anonymous short stories, until finally we see him in the process of creating the characters which still outlive him. In far less time that it would take longer-winded biographers to get our boy through medical school, Sims covers nearly half of his life, giving the reader a portrait with perhaps less detail, but more insight.
Along with the Arthur layer, Sims gives us a delicious history of the detective story, examining how Holmes, whether he liked it or not, was influenced by his predecessors: Zadig, Vidocq, Dupin, Bucket, LeCoq–even the Comte d’Artagnan. As he does so, he also illuminates the connections between Conan Doyle’s literary inspirations, and those from his medical training, showing how all came together–with its instigator’s conscious planning–for that one meeting in the laboratory at Bart’s.
If this were all of Arthur and Sherlock, it would already be a great book. Michael Sims provides, arguably, the essential background every Sherlockian or mystery aficionado should know, and he does so succinctly. If Arthur and Sherlock hasn’t yet been marketed as a potential university text, it should be.
But then he adds one more layer--a biography of Charles Altamonte Doyle, Arthur's artistic, alcoholic father, whose fragile mind and addiction left him unable to care for his family in any meaningful way.
In traditional biographies, such as Stashoweor’s Teller of Tales and Lyceum’s The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, the story of Charles's tragic life is overshadowed by those of whom, through his flaws, he unintentionally forced into roles which changed the course of their lives. Sims takes a different path. Instead of analyzing Doyle pater, or focussing his attention on the (considerable) influence of Arthur’s mother, Mary, he interweaves Charles’ story with that of his son, so that, as we see Arthur’s star rise throughout the book, we also watch as his father’s falls, slowly, wobbling into the dark. Showing remarkable restraint, Sims refuses to analyze this contrast, leaving readers to ask and answer their own questions. The reader is left to wonder who each man would have been, had his circumstances been different...and to wonder again if those circumstances are (completely) to blame. As much as Conan Doyle liked to play the bluff, hearty soldier-type, it’s easy to get a glimpse of someone much more sensitive and emotionally vulnerable, particularly as he aged, a deep thinker whose own “hidden fires” drove him just as surely as they did (do?) Sherlock Holmes. How was he able to find relief in work and family, while, for his father, this was not enough? Charles Doyle would die days after trying to pay his medical bill with gold dust he'd "collected" from moonbeams. His son would die, decades later, as one of the most beloved authors of his, or any, generation.
That is, of course, the mystery of it all. By examining a writer’s life and literary influences, we can see, clearly in Conan Doyle’s case, where his stories and characters came from. The layers are all deconstructed and spread before us. But the spark that animates the body, the “breath of life” that stirs the dust, remains invisible, discernible only through its unique creation. There will only ever be one Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, and aren’t we glad we had him?
March 18, 2017
While the premise for this book is interesting, the execution feels haphazard and slipshod. A huge chunk of the second part is entirely devoid of Conan Doyle or Holmes, instead reciting the history of mystery/crime fiction. Rather than a biography, this reads more like a loosely-structured graduate thesis on the early days of Conan Doyle and the supposed sources and inspirations for Sherlock Holmes (the books leaves off before Conan Doyle is around 34). What information given is interesting, and Sims's tone is engaging and pleasant; it just felt flimsy on content. I would rather have had a longer, more developed biography.
January 25, 2020
3.5 ★★★☆☆
Reseña en español | Review in English (below)
Arthur y Sherlock. Conan Doyle y la creación de Holmes es un ensayo biográfico sobre, como su título indica, el médico y escritor Arthur Conan Doyle y las varias influencias, tanto literarias como personales, que utilizó para crear al gran detective consultor de ficción Sherlock Holmes.
Estructurado en tres partes siguiendo un orden (más o menos) cronológico, en este ensayo Michael Sims condensa muchísima información interesante (desde la época histórica, el Edimburgo y Londres del siglo XIX, los avances médicos, el negocio editorial de la época o la literatura decimonónica) con un lenguaje sencillo y fácilmente voraz; aunque articula su texto con algunos saltos temporales y redundando ciertos hechos tanto sobre la biografía del autor como en la creación del personaje, y especialmente sobre la gran influencia que ejerció Joseph Bell en esto último. Y ha sido quizás en ese intento de condensar, seleccionar y crear una idea de unidad entre el escritor y su(s) personaje(s), donde he encontrado los fallos que hacen que este ensayo sobre literatura no sea perfecto para mí. Sims recurre (y redunda) de manera constante a ciertos datos literarios –principalmente con referencias a otros autores, libros y personajes (no solamente de la literatura de detectives)– y biográficos, lo que hace que el texto termine siendo, en ciertos momentos, un tanto repetitivo.
En general me ha gustado bastante porque es un ensayo fácilmente subrayable y enriquecedor, y no solamente para descubrir, entender o saber más sobre Conan Doyle y Holmes, sino también por la parte más histórica y literaria, pero me deja la sensación de que se han omitido algunos detalles de la vida del autor que no interesaban por su temática. Y el final es, simplemente, abrupto. Sobre el texto, y por deformación profesional, he echado en falta un buen apartado de referencias bibliográficas, y no solamente la relación de notas a final de texto sin su referencia cruzada numérica. Y como pequeña pega a la edición traducida al castellano, me he encontrado varias erratas durante la lectura y se echa de menos un apartado gráfico.
Con todo, si os encantan los libros y relatos de Sherlock Holmes y queréis conocer tanto cómo se gestó su personaje, como una biografía condensada del autor, creo que este es un buen punto de partida para adentrarse ese pequeño mundo. Pero si ya sois grandes conocedores de los secretos y entresijos de la vida de Conan Doyle y de la creación de Sherlock, creo que este texto os sabrá a poco.
- - - -
Arthur & Sherlock. Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes is a biographical essay about, as its title indicates, the doctor and writer Arthur Conan Doyle and the several influences, literary and personal, that he used to create the great fictional consultant detective Sherlock Holmes.
Structured in three parts following a, more or less, chronological order, within this essay Michael Sims condenses a lot of interesting information (from the historical period, the Edinburgh and London of the 19th century, medical advances, the editorial business of the time or nineteenth-century literature, among others) with a simple but voracious writing style; however, he articulates his text with some time leaps and redundant facts both about the author's biography and the creation of the character –and especially about the great influence Joseph Bell exerted on the latter–. And it has been perhaps in that attempt to condense, select and create an idea of unity between the writer and his character(s) where I have found the flaws that made this literary essay not perfect for me. Sims continually cites certain biographical and literature-related data –mainly with references to other authors, books and characters– which makes the text ended up being, at certain times, somewhat repetitive.
In general, I liked it a lot because it is an easily understandable and enriching essay not only to discover, understand or just know more about Conan Doyle and Holmes, but also for the historical and literary parts, but I have the feeling that some details of the author's life that were not interesting for this subject have been omitted. And the ending is simply uneven. On a side note about the text and due to occupational hazard, I have missed a conventional section of bibliographic references and not only a relation of notes at the end of the text without their numerical cross-reference.
All in all, if you love the books and stories of Sherlock Holmes and want to know both how his character was made and a brief biography of the author, I think this is a good starting point to enter that little world. But if you are already great connoisseurs of the secrets and intricacies of Conan Doyle's life and the creation of Sherlock, I think that this text will not be enough for your taste.
«La mediocridad no conoce nada superior a ella; pero el talento reconoce al instante al genio.»
–Arthur Conan Doyle, El Valle del Terror
Reseña en español | Review in English (below)
Arthur y Sherlock. Conan Doyle y la creación de Holmes es un ensayo biográfico sobre, como su título indica, el médico y escritor Arthur Conan Doyle y las varias influencias, tanto literarias como personales, que utilizó para crear al gran detective consultor de ficción Sherlock Holmes.
Estructurado en tres partes siguiendo un orden (más o menos) cronológico, en este ensayo Michael Sims condensa muchísima información interesante (desde la época histórica, el Edimburgo y Londres del siglo XIX, los avances médicos, el negocio editorial de la época o la literatura decimonónica) con un lenguaje sencillo y fácilmente voraz; aunque articula su texto con algunos saltos temporales y redundando ciertos hechos tanto sobre la biografía del autor como en la creación del personaje, y especialmente sobre la gran influencia que ejerció Joseph Bell en esto último. Y ha sido quizás en ese intento de condensar, seleccionar y crear una idea de unidad entre el escritor y su(s) personaje(s), donde he encontrado los fallos que hacen que este ensayo sobre literatura no sea perfecto para mí. Sims recurre (y redunda) de manera constante a ciertos datos literarios –principalmente con referencias a otros autores, libros y personajes (no solamente de la literatura de detectives)– y biográficos, lo que hace que el texto termine siendo, en ciertos momentos, un tanto repetitivo.
En general me ha gustado bastante porque es un ensayo fácilmente subrayable y enriquecedor, y no solamente para descubrir, entender o saber más sobre Conan Doyle y Holmes, sino también por la parte más histórica y literaria, pero me deja la sensación de que se han omitido algunos detalles de la vida del autor que no interesaban por su temática. Y el final es, simplemente, abrupto. Sobre el texto, y por deformación profesional, he echado en falta un buen apartado de referencias bibliográficas, y no solamente la relación de notas a final de texto sin su referencia cruzada numérica. Y como pequeña pega a la edición traducida al castellano, me he encontrado varias erratas durante la lectura y se echa de menos un apartado gráfico.
Con todo, si os encantan los libros y relatos de Sherlock Holmes y queréis conocer tanto cómo se gestó su personaje, como una biografía condensada del autor, creo que este es un buen punto de partida para adentrarse ese pequeño mundo. Pero si ya sois grandes conocedores de los secretos y entresijos de la vida de Conan Doyle y de la creación de Sherlock, creo que este texto os sabrá a poco.
- - - -
«Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.»
–Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear
Arthur & Sherlock. Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes is a biographical essay about, as its title indicates, the doctor and writer Arthur Conan Doyle and the several influences, literary and personal, that he used to create the great fictional consultant detective Sherlock Holmes.
Structured in three parts following a, more or less, chronological order, within this essay Michael Sims condenses a lot of interesting information (from the historical period, the Edinburgh and London of the 19th century, medical advances, the editorial business of the time or nineteenth-century literature, among others) with a simple but voracious writing style; however, he articulates his text with some time leaps and redundant facts both about the author's biography and the creation of the character –and especially about the great influence Joseph Bell exerted on the latter–. And it has been perhaps in that attempt to condense, select and create an idea of unity between the writer and his character(s) where I have found the flaws that made this literary essay not perfect for me. Sims continually cites certain biographical and literature-related data –mainly with references to other authors, books and characters– which makes the text ended up being, at certain times, somewhat repetitive.
In general, I liked it a lot because it is an easily understandable and enriching essay not only to discover, understand or just know more about Conan Doyle and Holmes, but also for the historical and literary parts, but I have the feeling that some details of the author's life that were not interesting for this subject have been omitted. And the ending is simply uneven. On a side note about the text and due to occupational hazard, I have missed a conventional section of bibliographic references and not only a relation of notes at the end of the text without their numerical cross-reference.
All in all, if you love the books and stories of Sherlock Holmes and want to know both how his character was made and a brief biography of the author, I think this is a good starting point to enter that little world. But if you are already great connoisseurs of the secrets and intricacies of Conan Doyle's life and the creation of Sherlock, I think that this text will not be enough for your taste.
January 7, 2018
RATING: 3.5 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)
I enjoyed Sims' book on E.B. White and so I decided to try his Arthur and Sherlock. In this book we see how Arthur creates Sherlock and Sherlock created Arthur. If you are fan of Sherlock, Conan Doyle, and literary biographies, I would recommend this one! Sims is a good storyteller that keeps the book flowing to the last chapter.
(Review Not on Blog)
I enjoyed Sims' book on E.B. White and so I decided to try his Arthur and Sherlock. In this book we see how Arthur creates Sherlock and Sherlock created Arthur. If you are fan of Sherlock, Conan Doyle, and literary biographies, I would recommend this one! Sims is a good storyteller that keeps the book flowing to the last chapter.
May 25, 2024
“Arthur… felt his hero ought to demonstrate his genius, not merely proclaim it… he found it annoying that the hero often triumphed through luck or through methods that were never explained to the reader.”
This nonfiction book about Sherlock Holmes and his author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (ACD) has some mixed reviews on Goodreads. I rather liked this short little book. I had picked it up for a photo for Sherlock Holmes day and decided to read it.
Things I liked: information about ACD and his life, the parts about ACD’s writing style, information on other fictional detectives created by other authors and their influence on ACD, publishing in England in the late 1800s
Things I didn’t like: parts of the book read like a book report, too many sections about ACD’s father in asylums, speculation regarding the Holmes name, formatting of footnotes
Thank you for reading!
This nonfiction book about Sherlock Holmes and his author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (ACD) has some mixed reviews on Goodreads. I rather liked this short little book. I had picked it up for a photo for Sherlock Holmes day and decided to read it.
Things I liked: information about ACD and his life, the parts about ACD’s writing style, information on other fictional detectives created by other authors and their influence on ACD, publishing in England in the late 1800s
Things I didn’t like: parts of the book read like a book report, too many sections about ACD’s father in asylums, speculation regarding the Holmes name, formatting of footnotes
Thank you for reading!
September 6, 2019
The story of Arthur Conan Doyle and how he created Sherlock Holmes. It was great to get background of some of the greatest detective novels ever written. Doyle was inspired by a medical professor he had, who had the special skill of identifying things about people simply by observation. The book goes into detail about how Holmes got his name as well as Watson and how Doyle was inspired by specific things in the novels. We even get to see the initial success of the novels and how he rose to fame.
July 22, 2019
Subtitle: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes.
This is an interesting biography / history of Conan Doyle’s life as a young man. The reader learns of the people and events that influenced and inspired him when he created his most famous character: Sherlock Holmes. There was the professor in medical school who had trained himself to keenly observe a patient’s demeanor, clothing, and general appearance and from those observable “clues” infer the man’s occupation, background, and even marital status. And there were the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, Emile Gaboriau and others, on whose foundations Doyle built his own style.
I also found it interesting to learn of the publishing business in this era, and stunned to discover that Conan Doyle had to basically sell his copyright in order to get that first Holmes mystery published.
This is an interesting biography / history of Conan Doyle’s life as a young man. The reader learns of the people and events that influenced and inspired him when he created his most famous character: Sherlock Holmes. There was the professor in medical school who had trained himself to keenly observe a patient’s demeanor, clothing, and general appearance and from those observable “clues” infer the man’s occupation, background, and even marital status. And there were the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, Emile Gaboriau and others, on whose foundations Doyle built his own style.
I also found it interesting to learn of the publishing business in this era, and stunned to discover that Conan Doyle had to basically sell his copyright in order to get that first Holmes mystery published.
December 31, 2018
Whenever I talked about this book to someone, I thought it self explanatory. The only person who seemed to miss the point of the book is the author. There were continuous passages about anything and everything other than Arthur and Sherlock that it was quite irritating.
It’s really hard for anyone to mess a Sherlock-related material up for me. I just love it too much. But apparently, it’s not impossible.
The first part was pretty good, I’ll give it that. The next two, however, fell down a cliff real fast.
It’s really hard for anyone to mess a Sherlock-related material up for me. I just love it too much. But apparently, it’s not impossible.
The first part was pretty good, I’ll give it that. The next two, however, fell down a cliff real fast.
November 29, 2017
An interesting look at Arthur Conan Doyle's life leading up to and including his creation of Holmes. It doesn't give much information past the first wave of novels and stories, so it avoids most of his later life, but the focus on the inspiration behind the detective stories was interesting. It was also very nice to get a much more fleshed out image of Arthur Conan Doyle. It helped to make him into more of an 'author' instead of the shadow behind the classics.
January 20, 2023
This book knew just when to pick up and where to leave off. I learned a lot about Doyle's influences without feeling as though I was reading an outright biography.
February 16, 2017
I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan since high school, so this was a fun jaunt into the personal and cultural forces that led to his creation.
As one would hope and expect from a book about such a subject, Sims has a keen eye for detail and deconstructing the ingredients that made Holmes Holmes.
Even if you're not a fan, it's an intriguing look at inspiration and the act of creation, heady and boyant in the early days of Holmes' career and hold on the public imagination, before Doyle felt disenchanted and trapped by his creation.
My one hope is that Sims continue with a complimentary volume, to show the lasting impact the world's most famous detective (sorry, Batman) had on both Doyle's world and the world at large.
As one would hope and expect from a book about such a subject, Sims has a keen eye for detail and deconstructing the ingredients that made Holmes Holmes.
Even if you're not a fan, it's an intriguing look at inspiration and the act of creation, heady and boyant in the early days of Holmes' career and hold on the public imagination, before Doyle felt disenchanted and trapped by his creation.
My one hope is that Sims continue with a complimentary volume, to show the lasting impact the world's most famous detective (sorry, Batman) had on both Doyle's world and the world at large.
July 29, 2018
"During his first year in Southsea, Arthur earned only £154, too little to even require a tax payment, as he noted on a form to the government. The form was returned with a scrawled commentary: Most unsatisfactory. Arthur wrote underneath those words : I entirely agree. He then mailed it back."
Despite this being a rather challenging read, I loved it! I was especially surprised to hear that Arthur Conan Doyle had been out to dinner with Oscar Wilde and that it was after that very dinner, Wilde had decided to write The Picture of Dorian Gray.
It is so interesting to see where Conan Doyle got the concept of his characters from. I loved to read some about a few important figures in his life but the information about those figures could have been a bit more brief. I was expecting to read a little more about the writer himself. Sims doesn't even go all the way through the publication and writing process of all the Sherlock novels. A bit of a shame, really. I did enjoy it massively and would recommend it to anyone who is familiar with Conan Doyle's work!
Despite this being a rather challenging read, I loved it! I was especially surprised to hear that Arthur Conan Doyle had been out to dinner with Oscar Wilde and that it was after that very dinner, Wilde had decided to write The Picture of Dorian Gray.
It is so interesting to see where Conan Doyle got the concept of his characters from. I loved to read some about a few important figures in his life but the information about those figures could have been a bit more brief. I was expecting to read a little more about the writer himself. Sims doesn't even go all the way through the publication and writing process of all the Sherlock novels. A bit of a shame, really. I did enjoy it massively and would recommend it to anyone who is familiar with Conan Doyle's work!
July 8, 2017
I really enjoyed this well-written account of Conan Doyle's creation of Sherlock Holmes. It covered a lot of Doyle's biography, including the influence of Poe, Gaboriau, and others, as well as his training with Joseph Bell. Since I've been a life-long reader of the Sherlock Holmes stories and have read a bit about Doyle, there wasn't a whole lot of new info for me in this, but it was still extremely interesting. Instead of being just about Doyle's life or the Holmes stories, it focused on the development of the detective genre itself. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys detective literature.
September 23, 2023
This book is undoubtedly one of the most well-resarched works that seeks to trace the literary birth of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Apart from 'Notes' etc., it has thirty chapters divided among following three sections~
1. Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle;
2. Prophets and Police;
3. Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson.
The book has a lucid style that appeals one to keep reading. However, in comparison to David Pirie's 'Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes', which, despite being fictional do a far better job of reviving the past, this book falls a bit flat.
Nevertheless, recommended.
Apart from 'Notes' etc., it has thirty chapters divided among following three sections~
1. Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle;
2. Prophets and Police;
3. Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson.
The book has a lucid style that appeals one to keep reading. However, in comparison to David Pirie's 'Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes', which, despite being fictional do a far better job of reviving the past, this book falls a bit flat.
Nevertheless, recommended.
May 30, 2017
a fascinating biography of arthur conan doyle, the creator of my favorite fictional character, sherlock holmes. the book focuses on conan doyles early life and the inspiration behind the creation of his master detective. fantasticly written. brilliantly contextualised. would have loved the book to continue on for a few hundred more pages in honesty. thoroughly recommend this to any sherlock holmes fan!
November 6, 2017
Sims gives the account of Arthur Conan Doyle's life up to the point of the swelling of interest in his most memorable character, Sherlock Holmes, with the right level of detail to hold the reader's interest. The detail about Holmes himself, however, is a bit lacking, possibly because there's not much more to be mined from existing correspondence or contemporary interviews. Still, I would have wished for more of the book to be about the interplay between Doyle's and Holmes' characters as the detective stories grew in number over time, rather than just the last 20-30 pages of the book. Even with that shortcoming, it's a very readable, entertaining book.
July 18, 2017
Pretty interesting. Because they were mentioned in the book, I downloaded a bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories I had not read before.
January 21, 2025
An interesting book about the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
June 25, 2017
Nice short biography on Arthur Conan Doyle, too much time spent on his father though in my opinion.
October 19, 2017
A lot of padding and some odd quirks (e.g. referring to Doyle throughout as "Arthur""--I get that it calls back to the title, but it's off putting and marginally confusing when everyone else is referred to by their surname) and pacing (abrupt ending with publication of first collection of Holmes stories in book form; yes, this volume is about the "creation" of Holmes, but you've already gone quite a bit beyond that anyway, why not give us a quick wrap-up of the rest of Doyle's life?) detract from the book. Also, not a lot of info here that's new to even the casual Holmes scholar. Okay, a long rundown of everyone named "Sherlock" or "Holmes" whom Doyle might reasonably have heard of, but nothing that contributes to one's understanding or appreciation of the stories.
August 4, 2017
A few years back I went on a Sherlock Holmes reading spree and read all the Holmes stories for the first time. Since then, I have had a soft spot for Holmes (which he would perhaps scoff at). I stumbled across this book about how Sherlock came to be and enjoyed learning more about where the most famous detective came from. The book is a little slow at times, but there are enough interesting insights and stories to keep the interested reader going. The author provides not only a mini-biography of Arthur Conan Doyle but also highlights some of Holmes' literary ancestors. I learned quite a bit about Doyle and Holmes as well as 19th century England, 19th century publishing, and the history of detective fiction. That's quite an accomplishment for such a brief book.
March 19, 2017
Menuda puta mierda de libro. Hala, lo he dicho. ¿Se pueden poner estrellas negativas?
En primer lugar, este tío no sabe escribir. En un mismo párrafo va atrás y adelante en el tiempo, sin cambio de tiempo verbal y sin ningún tipo de indicación sobre ello. A veces lo pillas porque te dice "a los 17 años" y luego se pone a hablar de otra cosa de adulto.
Pero eso no es todo.
El libro comienza comentando la persona real que inspiró a Sherlock Holmes, el Dr. Bell, uno de sus profesores cuando estudiaba medicina. Las veinte primeras páginas. El problema viene cuando el texto es completamente ilegible. No sabes si está contando cosas de cuando era estudiante, o estaba empezando a ser famoso o cuando ya era un escritor afamado.
Luego las 80 siguientes páginas son una biografía del Conan Doyle. Desde su nacimiento hasta justo antes de empezar a escribir sobre Holmes. Y repetimos ir y venir sin muchas pistas. No sabes si está en la universidad o ya tiene su consulta de médico.
Veinte páginas más sobre la historia de las historias de detectives. Desde el Libro de Daniel de la Biblia hasta Poe, Collins, Dickens, pasando por Voltaire. Pero sin embargo sin citar a Gaston Leroux y su Cuarto Amarillo. Bien, Pepe, bien. Quizás sea esta la parte mejor escrita, pero tampoco sin echar campanas al vuelo.
Ya. Por fin. En la página 120 de las 200 que tiene el libro (las 50 finales son lo típico: índices, citas, etc.), ya empieza a hablar de la gestación de "Estudio en Escarlata" y cómo las pasaba canutas en su consulta mientras escribía la novela.
A partir de aquí, las 80 finales con algo más coherentes porque nos cuenta más o menos la gestación de algunos de sus libros, incluyendo sus novelas históricas pero sin citar al Profesor Challenger, por poner un ejemplo. No obstante, los bandazos temporales sin sentido, y la prosa a veces completamente ininteligible siguen ahí.
¿Y sabéis una cosa? El libro se corta justo a la mitad. Tan solo recorre la primera mitad de la obra Holmesiana, yendo cada vez más rápido como si tuviera prisa por acabar, tanta, que de hecho se queda a medias.
Si el título hubiera sido otro, vale, biografía de Conan Doyle con algo de detalle sobre la creación de Holmes, pero no puedes titular un libro así y usar sólo el 60% del mismo en el tema central, y encima ¡dejarlo cortado a medias!
Podría entender que no hubiera suficiente enjundia para escribir un libro sobre la creación de Holmes y que ocupe 200 páginas, pero si usas 40 para narrar la gestación de una de sus novelas, y 20 para la mitad de las demás, te queda suficiente espacio para llenar no esas 200, sino alguna más. Así que lo siento tío: el libro no vale para absolutamente nada de nada. Pura basura.
En primer lugar, este tío no sabe escribir. En un mismo párrafo va atrás y adelante en el tiempo, sin cambio de tiempo verbal y sin ningún tipo de indicación sobre ello. A veces lo pillas porque te dice "a los 17 años" y luego se pone a hablar de otra cosa de adulto.
Pero eso no es todo.
El libro comienza comentando la persona real que inspiró a Sherlock Holmes, el Dr. Bell, uno de sus profesores cuando estudiaba medicina. Las veinte primeras páginas. El problema viene cuando el texto es completamente ilegible. No sabes si está contando cosas de cuando era estudiante, o estaba empezando a ser famoso o cuando ya era un escritor afamado.
Luego las 80 siguientes páginas son una biografía del Conan Doyle. Desde su nacimiento hasta justo antes de empezar a escribir sobre Holmes. Y repetimos ir y venir sin muchas pistas. No sabes si está en la universidad o ya tiene su consulta de médico.
Veinte páginas más sobre la historia de las historias de detectives. Desde el Libro de Daniel de la Biblia hasta Poe, Collins, Dickens, pasando por Voltaire. Pero sin embargo sin citar a Gaston Leroux y su Cuarto Amarillo. Bien, Pepe, bien. Quizás sea esta la parte mejor escrita, pero tampoco sin echar campanas al vuelo.
Ya. Por fin. En la página 120 de las 200 que tiene el libro (las 50 finales son lo típico: índices, citas, etc.), ya empieza a hablar de la gestación de "Estudio en Escarlata" y cómo las pasaba canutas en su consulta mientras escribía la novela.
A partir de aquí, las 80 finales con algo más coherentes porque nos cuenta más o menos la gestación de algunos de sus libros, incluyendo sus novelas históricas pero sin citar al Profesor Challenger, por poner un ejemplo. No obstante, los bandazos temporales sin sentido, y la prosa a veces completamente ininteligible siguen ahí.
¿Y sabéis una cosa? El libro se corta justo a la mitad. Tan solo recorre la primera mitad de la obra Holmesiana, yendo cada vez más rápido como si tuviera prisa por acabar, tanta, que de hecho se queda a medias.
Si el título hubiera sido otro, vale, biografía de Conan Doyle con algo de detalle sobre la creación de Holmes, pero no puedes titular un libro así y usar sólo el 60% del mismo en el tema central, y encima ¡dejarlo cortado a medias!
Podría entender que no hubiera suficiente enjundia para escribir un libro sobre la creación de Holmes y que ocupe 200 páginas, pero si usas 40 para narrar la gestación de una de sus novelas, y 20 para la mitad de las demás, te queda suficiente espacio para llenar no esas 200, sino alguna más. Así que lo siento tío: el libro no vale para absolutamente nada de nada. Pura basura.
July 3, 2025
I picked up two Arthur Conan Doyle biographies a few days ago, and the first one I started reading I gave up after two chapters. It was filled with cliches, with assumptions that made no sense in the era (or even in ours), and weirdly colloquial euphemisms that hid any actual meaning. It seemed to have no point to existing.
This book is the exact opposite. It’s very focused, tight, and generally to the point. That point is what the title implies: enough of Arthur Conan Doyle’s life to lead into his creation of Sherlock Holmes, and then the process by which Holmes became a success for Doyle.
I had been under the impression that many people thought the connection between Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle’s medical school teacher Joseph Bell was something obscure, something Doyle hid; in fact, he was very vocal, not only that Sherlock Holmes was inspired by Bell but that Holmes was also inspired by Poe’s Dupin and other earlier thinking detectives.
Bell was in fact sought out by the literary press to talk about Sherlock Holmes. Talking about Holmes’s effect on the general public, Bell wrote:
He wasn’t talking about crime detection but about living everyday life. Viewing life in this manner makes Bell sound very much like a successfully-passing Odd.
Doyle, like many authors of his day, had a varied past; before his writing career he had a medical career; and before his medical career he did what he could to pay for his education, including signing aboard a whaling ship, thus the above quote. He was active in sports, in cycling, in swimming. Probably in more than described here, since the point of this sketch is to outline what fed into Doyle’s decision to create Holmes and then his decisions about what Holmes was to be like.
This book is the exact opposite. It’s very focused, tight, and generally to the point. That point is what the title implies: enough of Arthur Conan Doyle’s life to lead into his creation of Sherlock Holmes, and then the process by which Holmes became a success for Doyle.
On this narrow path the writer must walk, and he sees the footmarks of Poe always in front of him. —Arthur Conan Doyle
I had been under the impression that many people thought the connection between Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle’s medical school teacher Joseph Bell was something obscure, something Doyle hid; in fact, he was very vocal, not only that Sherlock Holmes was inspired by Bell but that Holmes was also inspired by Poe’s Dupin and other earlier thinking detectives.
Bell was in fact sought out by the literary press to talk about Sherlock Holmes. Talking about Holmes’s effect on the general public, Bell wrote:
There is a problem, a whole game of chess, in many a little street incident or trifling occurrence, if one learns how to make the moves.
He wasn’t talking about crime detection but about living everyday life. Viewing life in this manner makes Bell sound very much like a successfully-passing Odd.
Many thriller writers had created their protagonist as a kind of heroic alter ego. Physical courage came so naturally to Arthur, however, that he did not have to imagine a contempt for danger and bestow it upon Sherlock Holmes. He merely drew upon his own casual bravery in the face of poison overdoses, thrashing whales, boxing sailors, and circling sharks.
Doyle, like many authors of his day, had a varied past; before his writing career he had a medical career; and before his medical career he did what he could to pay for his education, including signing aboard a whaling ship, thus the above quote. He was active in sports, in cycling, in swimming. Probably in more than described here, since the point of this sketch is to outline what fed into Doyle’s decision to create Holmes and then his decisions about what Holmes was to be like.
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.—Arthur Conan Doyle
May 16, 2017
A thorough, almost exhaustive book about how Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes.
Mr. Sims contends that to know Sherlock Holmes, we should know his creator. He gives us a brief biography of Doyle, whom he calls 'Arthur' throughout, from birth up to the point when the doctor gives up medicine for full time authorship. ['Arthur' makes our hero sound like a schoolboy; but I suppose Sims did not want to get into trouble with anyone who calls Arthur Conan Doyle 'Doyle' or 'Conan Doyle' or 'ACD'. Like some academics in other fields, a few [very few] Sherlockians, Holmesians and Doyleans can be easily offended.] Doyle was brave, strong, observant and, at least once, inclined to test dangerous drugs on himself. So was Holmes. Dr. Joe Bell and his methods of observation and deduction is, of course, a decided influence on the creation of Holmes, as was Doyle's reading of Poe (Dupin), Gaboriau (Lecoq) and Voltaire (Zadig) but the large sections of the book devoted to Doyle's father, Charles Altamont Doyle, and the elder man's drink dependency and insanity makes this book unique, in my opinion. I don't think anyone has written as much about Charles Doyle's life in asylums.
I think a book worthwhile when I find more than a few facts jot down. This is a worthwhile book. I learned about Doyle's experimental self-poisoning with gelseminum, a bit about the history of "The Strand Magazine", "Cornhill's", "Beaton's Christmas Annual", Mormons, the streets around London's children's hospitals that might have provided the names of some of "Study's" characters, mental asylums in Scotland, literary agent A. P. Watt, and publisher George Newnes and editor Herbert Greenhough Smith Lots of thought provoking trivia as well as about the 'birth' of a legend.
The book does not cover everything about Arthur Conan Doyle. There are several full fledged biographies that, together, do cover him quite well. It doesn't cover everything you need to know about Holmes and Watson: just A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four and the first three stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's about the gestation of Holmes, and about the backstory of his author and that author's father.
Now, are there any good biographies of Charles Doyle and his brothers, and about Joseph Bell? My curiousity has been whetted and I have bought a Kindle copy of Zadig.
Mr. Sims contends that to know Sherlock Holmes, we should know his creator. He gives us a brief biography of Doyle, whom he calls 'Arthur' throughout, from birth up to the point when the doctor gives up medicine for full time authorship. ['Arthur' makes our hero sound like a schoolboy; but I suppose Sims did not want to get into trouble with anyone who calls Arthur Conan Doyle 'Doyle' or 'Conan Doyle' or 'ACD'. Like some academics in other fields, a few [very few] Sherlockians, Holmesians and Doyleans can be easily offended.] Doyle was brave, strong, observant and, at least once, inclined to test dangerous drugs on himself. So was Holmes. Dr. Joe Bell and his methods of observation and deduction is, of course, a decided influence on the creation of Holmes, as was Doyle's reading of Poe (Dupin), Gaboriau (Lecoq) and Voltaire (Zadig) but the large sections of the book devoted to Doyle's father, Charles Altamont Doyle, and the elder man's drink dependency and insanity makes this book unique, in my opinion. I don't think anyone has written as much about Charles Doyle's life in asylums.
I think a book worthwhile when I find more than a few facts jot down. This is a worthwhile book. I learned about Doyle's experimental self-poisoning with gelseminum, a bit about the history of "The Strand Magazine", "Cornhill's", "Beaton's Christmas Annual", Mormons, the streets around London's children's hospitals that might have provided the names of some of "Study's" characters, mental asylums in Scotland, literary agent A. P. Watt, and publisher George Newnes and editor Herbert Greenhough Smith Lots of thought provoking trivia as well as about the 'birth' of a legend.
The book does not cover everything about Arthur Conan Doyle. There are several full fledged biographies that, together, do cover him quite well. It doesn't cover everything you need to know about Holmes and Watson: just A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four and the first three stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's about the gestation of Holmes, and about the backstory of his author and that author's father.
Now, are there any good biographies of Charles Doyle and his brothers, and about Joseph Bell? My curiousity has been whetted and I have bought a Kindle copy of Zadig.
April 23, 2022
This book is a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with a heavy emphasis on his work creating the fictional character Sherlock Holmes.
First third of book is basically a biography of Conan Doyle's early life. Quite poor, had to be economical in starting his practice. Doyle studied heavily: Sims notes that this shows up in the detail of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Conan Doyle was strong physically and mentally, and showed much initiative and persistence.
The middle part of the book considers the development of the idea of the private detective. Remarkably, the idea was new for the times. It was only thirty years before Conan Doyle was born that the popular Home Secretary Robert Peel succeeded in getting Parliamentary approval for his proposed Metropolitan Police Act. Robert Peel’s new police officers were nicknamed “bobbies” in England and “peelers” in Ireland. Not until 1842, following the public outcry over a scandalous case in London that helped create a more welcoming political atmosphere for it, did Scotland Yard create the Criminal Investigation Department.
Conan Doyle's medical instructor, Dr. Joseph Bell, had a huge influence on the idea of Sherlock Holmes. It would have been nice if Sims had explored this aspect of the creation of Sherlock Holmes more fully. Sims states: "He imagined that if a keen observer à la Dr. Bell applied himself to crime instead of to medicine, he would represent an almost invincible combination of perception and knowledge — at least in the stage-managed world of popular fiction."
The last third of book describes the publication of Doyle's books - "A Study in Scarlet", in particular - in great detail, but also describing everything else that was published at that time. One chapter compares the Sherlock mysteries to other authors, establishing Conan Doyle's adherence to induction (termed deduction by Conan Doyle in reference to Bell's usage) based on scientific knowledge.
First third of book is basically a biography of Conan Doyle's early life. Quite poor, had to be economical in starting his practice. Doyle studied heavily: Sims notes that this shows up in the detail of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Conan Doyle was strong physically and mentally, and showed much initiative and persistence.
The middle part of the book considers the development of the idea of the private detective. Remarkably, the idea was new for the times. It was only thirty years before Conan Doyle was born that the popular Home Secretary Robert Peel succeeded in getting Parliamentary approval for his proposed Metropolitan Police Act. Robert Peel’s new police officers were nicknamed “bobbies” in England and “peelers” in Ireland. Not until 1842, following the public outcry over a scandalous case in London that helped create a more welcoming political atmosphere for it, did Scotland Yard create the Criminal Investigation Department.
Conan Doyle's medical instructor, Dr. Joseph Bell, had a huge influence on the idea of Sherlock Holmes. It would have been nice if Sims had explored this aspect of the creation of Sherlock Holmes more fully. Sims states: "He imagined that if a keen observer à la Dr. Bell applied himself to crime instead of to medicine, he would represent an almost invincible combination of perception and knowledge — at least in the stage-managed world of popular fiction."
The last third of book describes the publication of Doyle's books - "A Study in Scarlet", in particular - in great detail, but also describing everything else that was published at that time. One chapter compares the Sherlock mysteries to other authors, establishing Conan Doyle's adherence to induction (termed deduction by Conan Doyle in reference to Bell's usage) based on scientific knowledge.
December 31, 2018
1.5 stars.
I had high hopes for this one, but goodness, what a dry and long-winded book this was, despite the length being just around 200 pages! The writer talks paragraph after paragraph and chapter after chapter about some random people Doyle might have met or who might have inspired him or whose works could be or are considered early examples of detective fiction. After a few chapters of nothing but that, the small instances of actual interesting tidbits about ACD seem too little and too late.
The ending is also very abrupt -- I assumed the book would cover most if not all of ACD's life, from his childhood to his later years, but instead the author stops right when things are about to get interesting, around the publication of the "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". I mean, sure, the name of the book is "Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes", but it still feels odd to leave out most of ACD's Holmes stories, the complicated relationship he had with his creation, his views on spiritualism, his second marriage and all that other good, interesting stuff.
The book feels almost more like an academic paper or a thesis with strict guidelines and limits instead of a biography meant for the general public. One and a half stars for the few nice facts about ACD and Joseph Bell, for the last chapters which were starting to feel interesting before the abrupt ending, for the pictures, and for the quotations in the beginning of each chapter, but honestly -- this needs more Holmes and less random people.
I had high hopes for this one, but goodness, what a dry and long-winded book this was, despite the length being just around 200 pages! The writer talks paragraph after paragraph and chapter after chapter about some random people Doyle might have met or who might have inspired him or whose works could be or are considered early examples of detective fiction. After a few chapters of nothing but that, the small instances of actual interesting tidbits about ACD seem too little and too late.
The ending is also very abrupt -- I assumed the book would cover most if not all of ACD's life, from his childhood to his later years, but instead the author stops right when things are about to get interesting, around the publication of the "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". I mean, sure, the name of the book is "Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes", but it still feels odd to leave out most of ACD's Holmes stories, the complicated relationship he had with his creation, his views on spiritualism, his second marriage and all that other good, interesting stuff.
The book feels almost more like an academic paper or a thesis with strict guidelines and limits instead of a biography meant for the general public. One and a half stars for the few nice facts about ACD and Joseph Bell, for the last chapters which were starting to feel interesting before the abrupt ending, for the pictures, and for the quotations in the beginning of each chapter, but honestly -- this needs more Holmes and less random people.
July 5, 2018
Now well into its 2nd century, public fascination with all things Sherlock Homes shows no sign of abating. A partial list, created in 2012 by imdb, came up with 290 Holmesian movies, shows and shorts (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls002653844?...). That list would only be longer today, and that doesn’t even include books — as proof of our insatiable appetite for Holmes-related material it is necessary only to adduce Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “Mycroft Holmes” (well-received, at that: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/bo...).
What explains this seemingly bottomless demand? Great question, if one Michael Sims doesn’t purport to address let alone answer, in his scintillating “Arthur and Sherlock.” He doesn’t really have to. Instead, he paints vivid portraits of a young Arthur Conan Doyle and his real-life model for Holmes, medical professor Joseph Bell. If the tale seems to end abruptly, it’s because Sims' aim is limited: it is about “Conan Doyle and the creation of Holmes,” and no more, as the subtitle puts it. But that hardly makes the goal a modest one. Read this throughly enjoyable book and you’ll come away not just with a new-found appreciation of its subject, but a pretty good sense of why we remain endlessly mesmerized by it.
What explains this seemingly bottomless demand? Great question, if one Michael Sims doesn’t purport to address let alone answer, in his scintillating “Arthur and Sherlock.” He doesn’t really have to. Instead, he paints vivid portraits of a young Arthur Conan Doyle and his real-life model for Holmes, medical professor Joseph Bell. If the tale seems to end abruptly, it’s because Sims' aim is limited: it is about “Conan Doyle and the creation of Holmes,” and no more, as the subtitle puts it. But that hardly makes the goal a modest one. Read this throughly enjoyable book and you’ll come away not just with a new-found appreciation of its subject, but a pretty good sense of why we remain endlessly mesmerized by it.
January 14, 2022
Arthur Conan Doyle is most renowned as the inventor of Sherlock Holmes, the astute, determined and steadfast London detective whose many solved cases contribute to what we now consider the mystery genre in its infancy. Doyle's inspiration for his famously analytical protagonist came not from his own imagination but instead from a respected medical professor he studied under in Edinburgh. In this biography, author Michael Sims illustrates Doyle's life before and after his "Sherlock" fame.
I thought I initially heard about this book on the SYMHC podcast, but I'm not finding the episode now to confirm. It was interesting to learn of Doyle's background and of his desire to become a writer despite having been educated as a physician. There was one scene in which I took exception to Sims' choice of phrase, when he declared that "Arthur delivered at home their first child" — doctor notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure we know who did all of the work. Amusing side note: When the categories were released for Read Harder 2022 and the first one was "a biography of an author you admire," I was already in the middle of this book. I'm unsure about the term "admire," since I knew nothing about Doyle personally or as a writer, but I suppose I admire or respect him about as much as I do any other author, so SCORE!
I thought I initially heard about this book on the SYMHC podcast, but I'm not finding the episode now to confirm. It was interesting to learn of Doyle's background and of his desire to become a writer despite having been educated as a physician. There was one scene in which I took exception to Sims' choice of phrase, when he declared that "Arthur delivered at home their first child" — doctor notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure we know who did all of the work. Amusing side note: When the categories were released for Read Harder 2022 and the first one was "a biography of an author you admire," I was already in the middle of this book. I'm unsure about the term "admire," since I knew nothing about Doyle personally or as a writer, but I suppose I admire or respect him about as much as I do any other author, so SCORE!
November 5, 2018
Non-Fiction - 2017 analysis of the early life of Arthur Conan Doyle and the evolution of his development of his great fictional creation - Sherlock Holmes. Quite dry in places with long segments on his fathers descent into alcoholism and eventual confinement and insanity. The title notes that it treats the creation of Holmes and it essentially ends with Conan Doyle's eventual success after the problems related to the publication of his first Holmes novel Study in Scarlet and the triumphant publication of his second novel The Sign of Four. Worth reading although prone to lengthy digression about peripheral characters.
823.8 Literature - English fiction - Victorian Period - As the creator of the most famous detective in English literature, Arthur Conan Doyle led an intriguing life himself. As a medical student at the University of Edinburgh, he found one of his professors, Joseph Bell, would note minute details of his patients and from those clues diagnose their illness. Thus was born the idea for Sherlock Holmes who possesses similar skills of observation. This blend of biography and literary criticism traces Doyle's life from his early days in poverty to his eventual success as a writer and charts the development of Holmes into the iconic detective readers know so well.
823.8 Literature - English fiction - Victorian Period - As the creator of the most famous detective in English literature, Arthur Conan Doyle led an intriguing life himself. As a medical student at the University of Edinburgh, he found one of his professors, Joseph Bell, would note minute details of his patients and from those clues diagnose their illness. Thus was born the idea for Sherlock Holmes who possesses similar skills of observation. This blend of biography and literary criticism traces Doyle's life from his early days in poverty to his eventual success as a writer and charts the development of Holmes into the iconic detective readers know so well.
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