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Sherlock Holmes Short Stories
The fascination with Conan Doyle's enigmatic anti-hero Sherlock Holmes, and his pompous narrator Dr Watson, has barely subsided over the years. Inspiring a long line of detective stories and Whodunnits, Holmes is a constant feature on TV, and movie screens, with new audio and radio shows joining the frenzy. The Holmes tales have earned their place amongst the most influential of popular fantasy, crime and gothic stories.
480 pages, Hardcover
Published September 4, 2017
35 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.8k books24.4k 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 31, 2020
I have watched so many TV shows and movies of the famous Sherlock Holmes, but I never read the books. One day in Half Priced Books, I saw this Gothic Fantasy Collection and said, "This is the time." I started on the journey back in October and only planned to read a few stories at a time. However, sometime on Saturday or Sunday, I got a determination to read over 300 pages by years end and I did.
Let me start by saying, the stories in this book are great, including the first one he ever wrote. I never knew the stories were told from Watson's narrative, which added a coolness factor to it. I loved their relationship and I loved how they grew in friendship over time. That was the original Bromance. I loved the way he weaved the mystery and resolution and craziness to it all.
The stories go by quickly. But I will say that there were a lot of the stories. After awhile, I was a bit bogged down with reading them all at once. I would say to others to yes, read this collection, but take it slowly and have fun.
Let me start by saying, the stories in this book are great, including the first one he ever wrote. I never knew the stories were told from Watson's narrative, which added a coolness factor to it. I loved their relationship and I loved how they grew in friendship over time. That was the original Bromance. I loved the way he weaved the mystery and resolution and craziness to it all.
The stories go by quickly. But I will say that there were a lot of the stories. After awhile, I was a bit bogged down with reading them all at once. I would say to others to yes, read this collection, but take it slowly and have fun.
October 23, 2024
Not my style
July 26, 2022
What an extraordinary trip to the past with this collection; it is a little bit difficult to read because it has a lot of old-fashioned vocabulary and a different way to tell things that it's weird to understand at first but then you get used to.
You'll need time to read this book but it worth it, small adventures, two amazing characters (John and Sherlock) and crazy ideas in every tale.
You'll need time to read this book but it worth it, small adventures, two amazing characters (John and Sherlock) and crazy ideas in every tale.
June 22, 2024
The book covers the first 2 Sherlock Holmes novels and the 24 short stories that follow up to Holmes’s demise in “The final problem”. (This is not a complete list of everything written for Holmes but covers up to a reasonable stopping point).
The first 2 novels “A study in scarlet” & “The sign of the four” are absolutely fantastic and easily the best stories in the collection. If you were to only read two of the Holmes stories, I’d recommend these two.
The following short stories are not as strong, exclusively due to the limited length afforded by the nature of the publication at the time. Many of these short stories don’t exceed 15 pages in length, which makes them great for light reading but leave a strong desiring for something more which was presented (and excellently so) in the initial 2 novels.
The end result is unfortunate; the 2 novels give you a glimpse of absolute greatness and then you get the feeling that every story presented afterwards is harshly edited down to fit into a short neatly wrapped bow.
If you can separate the novels to the short stories and read them as being two different types of publication then all of them are fantastic, however the way this collection is presented is to give you the 2 novels first then the short stories.
This is of course chronologically accurate to how they were published but can leave a sour taste in your mouth with the transition.
I’ve rated 5 stars. My wish would be that each short story was expanded into a full length novel though it would be impossible to award 6 stars if that was achieved.
The first 2 novels “A study in scarlet” & “The sign of the four” are absolutely fantastic and easily the best stories in the collection. If you were to only read two of the Holmes stories, I’d recommend these two.
The following short stories are not as strong, exclusively due to the limited length afforded by the nature of the publication at the time. Many of these short stories don’t exceed 15 pages in length, which makes them great for light reading but leave a strong desiring for something more which was presented (and excellently so) in the initial 2 novels.
The end result is unfortunate; the 2 novels give you a glimpse of absolute greatness and then you get the feeling that every story presented afterwards is harshly edited down to fit into a short neatly wrapped bow.
If you can separate the novels to the short stories and read them as being two different types of publication then all of them are fantastic, however the way this collection is presented is to give you the 2 novels first then the short stories.
This is of course chronologically accurate to how they were published but can leave a sour taste in your mouth with the transition.
I’ve rated 5 stars. My wish would be that each short story was expanded into a full length novel though it would be impossible to award 6 stars if that was achieved.
June 25, 2024
Sherlock Holmes Short Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Gothic Fantasy) was wonderful. As I read the stories I remembered the series with Jeremy Brent. I couldn't help but compare the stories to the ones I had seen on TV. Of course, several were the same, but some were entirely different. That showed me how Hollywood or British television would tweak the stories to entice viewership. Some stories were changed due to their political views not being acceptable even during the time of the series(i.e. The Five Orange Pips).I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a Holmes fan.
April 21, 2021
Clearly Sherlock Holmes just isn't for me. I realize the detective story originated with this character by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but it's just too dated for the contemporary reader. Some of the stories are quite good, but the writing style is endless narration and explanation -- Conan Doyle never shows you anything if he can tell you. Moving on to better works.
July 4, 2023
I only read A Study in Scarlet from this beautiful compilation.
While the characters are great, I think I prefer them in movies or tv shows.
I am happy I tried out one of the original stories though and I learned that Gregson was an actual character in the stories which was nice, most times it's LeStrade that gets mentioned so I didn't realize there were other inspector's/detective's in the series.
I also find it weird how the author tells a very short Holmes story and then jumps across the globe to tell a western about Mormons even though it does eventually make sense.
While the characters are great, I think I prefer them in movies or tv shows.
I am happy I tried out one of the original stories though and I learned that Gregson was an actual character in the stories which was nice, most times it's LeStrade that gets mentioned so I didn't realize there were other inspector's/detective's in the series.
I also find it weird how the author tells a very short Holmes story and then jumps across the globe to tell a western about Mormons even though it does eventually make sense.
July 29, 2021
this book is perfect to learn and practice english.
This book is about a short stories where the detective, Sherlock Holmes had a mystery to solve as he had to do in all of the similar books hahaha.
This book is about a short stories where the detective, Sherlock Holmes had a mystery to solve as he had to do in all of the similar books hahaha.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews