Οι Συνοδοιπόροι του Σέρλοκ Χολμς: Οι Σπουδαιότερες Ιστορίες Μυστηρίου: 1837 - 1914

by Graeme Davis, Ιωάννα Χονδρού (Translator)

Ανακαλύψτε την απαρχή του αστυνομικού μυθιστορήματος

Με χαρά οι Εκδόσεις Οξύ, μέσα από τη σειρά τους Οξύ – Crime, παρουσιάζουν στο αναγνωστικό κοινό μια ανθολογία ιστοριών αστυνομικού μυθιστορήματος, επάνω στις οποίες στηρίχτηκε ο σερ Άρθουρ Κόναν Ντόιλ για να χτίσει το μύθο του Σέρλοκ Χολμς.

Δεκαεπτά ιστορίες μυστηρίου από το 1837 έως το 1914, με τους αντίστοιχους ήρωές τους, από καταξιωμένους και διάσημους –λιγότερο ή περισσότερο- συγγραφείς, οι οποίοι πρόλαβαν και άφησαν το στίγμα τους σε ένα λογοτεχνικό είδος από το οποίο έμελλε να ξεπηδήσουν στοιχεία και πρωταγωνιστές που συνεχίζουν να μας απασχολούν μέχρι και σήμερα, επηρεάζοντας ένα μεγάλο κομμάτι της ποπ κουλτούρας.

Τα φανταχτερά ονόματα των Poe και Dickens ακολουθούνται και από άλλα, όπως αυτά των Stevenson και Burton ή των Γάλλων Leroux και Vidocq, συγγραφέων που με τα γραπτά τους συνέβαλαν και πυροδότησαν στο μυαλό του Conan Doyle τη δημιουργία του Σέρλοκ Χολμς.

Η συγκεκριμένη ανθολογία έχει και μεγάλη ιστορική σημασία, γιατί πληροφορεί τον αναγνώστη για την τεράστια αυτή γκάμα συγγραφέων και ηρώων της νουάρ λογοτεχνίας.

Ο Σέρλοκ Χολµς είναι πλέον µια φιγούρα που έχει ξεπεράσει και τον δηµιουργό του (τον περίφηµο Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) και την εποχή του (1880-1914). Ανήκει πλέον στην ευρύτερη ποπ κουλτούρα, µε την πίπα του, το κυνηγετικό καπέλο του, την παροιµιώδη ευφυΐα του και τη φλεγµατική παρατηρητικότητά του. Άντεξε στον χρόνο, πέρασε στη µικρή και στη µεγάλη οθόνη, εκµοντερνίστηκε, έγινε αντικείµενο παρωδίας, video game... και το σηµαντικότερο, έγινε σηµείο αναφοράς για κάθε ερευνητή.

Είναι όµως όντως ο Σέρλοκ ο πρώτος των πρώτων; Στο βιβλίο Οι συνοδοιπόροι του Σέρλοκ Χολµς θα συναντήσετε 17 διαφορετικούς συγγραφείς του λεγόµενου crime fiction (ο όρος «αστυνοµική λογοτεχνία» εµφανίστηκε δεκαετίες αργότερα), που όχι µόνο είναι προγενέστεροι, αλλά επηρέασαν και άµεσα τον Arthur Conan Doyle σε όλο το σύµπαν που έχτισε γύρω από τον διαχρονικό πρωταγωνιστή του.

Τρεις συγγραφείς από την Αµερική (Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Benjamin Reeve, Jacques Futrelle), τέσσερις από τη Γαλλία (Émile Gaboriau, Gaston Leroux, Maurice Leblanc, William Tufnell Le Queux), εννέα από το Ηνωµένο Βασίλειο (William Evans Burton, Charles Dickens, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Morrison, Richard Austin Freeman, Ernest Bramah, Ernest William Hornung, Charles Warren Adams – ο τελευταίος µε το ψευδώνυµο Charles Felix) και µία βαρόνη από την Ουγγαρία (Baroness Orczy), οι περισσότεροι µεταφρασµένοι για πρώτη φορά στα ελληνικά σε κείµενα ιδιαίτερα δυσεύρετα που ανθολογούνται από τον Graeme Davis.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Classics

632 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2019

About the author

Graeme Davis was born at an early age and has lived ever since.

His enduring fascination with creatures from myth and folklore can probably be blamed equally on Ray Harryhausen and Christopher Lee. He studied archaeology at the University of Durham before joining Games Workshop in 1986, where he co-wrote the acclaimed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game among others.

He has worked on over 40 video games, countless tabletop roleplaying game products, and a few more sensible books in the realms of history, mythology, and folklore. Most recently, he has written multiple titles for Osprey Publishing's Dark Osprey and Myths and Legends lines.

He blogs at graemedavis.wordpress.com and tweets as @GraemeJDavis. His Patreon page is at https://www.patreon.com/c/Monsterofth... and you can help support his work at https://buymeacoffee.com/graemedavis

Reviews

[Graham Connors]

I really wanted to enjoy this, to enjoy it more than I did. I had to talk myself into giving it 3 stars! I am a Sherlock Holmes fan, but, in recent years I realised that I have read very little of Holmes's contemporaries. So, when I saw this book, I thought it was providence, my opportunity to correct the ledger. I was excited and intrigued. It did not last. Now, that is not to say that this is a poor collection. It just didn't do for me what I had hoped it would.

There are seventeen stories in this collection, and, for me, only about 4 of them are truly great. A few are actually snippets from or truncated elements of novels in their own right. One seemed like a parody of Holmes, the sleuth being Herlock Sholmes! Confounded!! Listen, it was great to read these stories, but it only put the grá (pronounced "graw," which is Gaelic for "love") on me to read more Sherlock Holmes!

Would I recommend this book? This is a yes and a no, yes if you love Holmes, no if you have no interest in Holmes as some of these stories may very well turn you off late 1800's/early 1900's detective fiction.

[Library Queen]

2 of these were absolutely fantastic. However, there were a few I was completely bored by and skipped, and most were just meh.

Apparently I am not a fan of Poe, but very much enjoy Emmuska Orczy.

[Jo Berry ☀️]

A DNF, after several failed attempts to find a story I liked in this collection. I love cosy crime, I love short stories and I love Victorian literature, so this should have been a good book for me. Unfortunately, all the ones I started were stuffy, slow and boring. I think there’s a reason these stories have dropped into the background of detective fiction.

[Dennis Fischman]

As with any anthology, this one had its brighter and duller moments. I didn’t read any of the extracts from the novels: they were there to give the flavor of the author’s writing, I think, so for documentary purposes rather than pleasure reading. I did discover a couple of writers I would read again, notably Ernest Bramah and Arthur Morrison, and I was reminded of the enjoyment of reading Wilkie Collins and Baroness Orczy.

[Edward Monrad]

Hit or miss, some of the stories quite compelling others pretty meh

[Jill Rebryna]

For Hutchinson Hatch.
For Doctor Jervis.
For Mary Granard.
For Gus (Augustus) Darley.
For M. Plantat.
For Brett.
For Sainclair.
For Walter Jameson.
For Wilson. (That poor, cheap copy.)
For Dupin's nameless roommate.
Mostly for Bunny Manders.
For all these pieces who aren't missing because we have an expectation for them to be there. The rivals of Sherlock Holmes? Yes. But there is no rival to John Watson. They may be reflections, but they are needed, all of them. They are most worthy to stand beside their protagonists and play the part that was written for them because I hope a story could never be written without them.

[Rubin Carpenter]

This collection of early
Detective stories that predate compete with and even emulate Sherlock Holmes are very dry,dull,and underwhelming as a whole while 2 stories are excellently narrated by Maxwell Caulfield the rest are substandard and the only 2 stories that actually good are the Man with Nailed Shoes and the superfluous finger
The history of the genre and the authors given here before each tale is interesting with huge literary names such as Poe and Dickens both whom I love but the Detective stories here only prove that Sherlock Holmes may have rivals but certainly no equals

[Ruth]

Admittedly a DNF. I never much cared for mystery, crime, or detective stories before I fell down the Sherlock Holmes hyperfixation rabbit hole recently and evidently I still can’t maintain interest if it’s not Holmes the sleuthhound and good old Watson. As a young person I enjoyed the aesthetic texture of Poe but that attraction to Gothic Romanticism is about as far as it goes. I appreciated the essay at the very beginning of the collection, though!

[Cindy]

I have this book its rating based on the collection; too difficult to do otherwise since it's a collection of detective stories written before or shortly after Conan Doyle's stories. The collection includes two tales written by women. I feel that the stories were more interesting the later they appeared in the book.

[Laura]

Who knew there were so many contemporaries of Holmes? I didn't, but I'm glad I found this book. The majority of the stories were entertaining and enjoyable - one or two could've been left out, in my opinion - but I'd no clue the genre was as expansive as it was at that point in history.

[Silena]

A wonderful collection of detective stories published before or during Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series. One story is very difficult to read as the author created a gentleman thief to face off with "Herlock Sholmes."

[Santosh Bhat]

Almost all of the stories collected here are only mildly interesting (and sometimes not even that). There are a few famous authors here including Poe, Dickens, etc. Poes story is especially turgid.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[R Neil McDowell]

A fun look at other writing at the time we don't usually get to see. Would've been great if, instead of Enola Holmes, they'd looked to the female detective here and brought her back to prominence.

[Tom Rechtien]

Interesting if you like old-timey detective stories, or the history of the genre.