The Sherlock Holmes Stories

by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sidney Paget (Illustrator)

Book by Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

352 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Sir 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.

Reviews

[Alex Lee]

I've never read Sherlock Homes before. These stories are written fairly clearly, with the very unrealistic notion that Homes can somehow notice all the right details in order to ensure the conclusion as to how and what crime was committed. This is silly because in real life we cannot know what details are relevant to a crime and which are not. This is also silly because in order for this to work Homes would have to have a sense of what is normal -- so as to see which details stand out and are "not normal" -- which is a fantasy.

I am somewhat shocked to see that Homes takes cocaine regularly -- this was common enough back when the book was written. I assume this detail is provided because Homes has an uncommon mind which "needs constant stimulation" when he is not busy solving cases. Still it was somewhat entertaining to read, and as this is considered a subject matter for children, it does beg the question as to what kind of education children are expected to attain when they are in the process of growing to be adults. The values presented here are perhaps unbalanced, but one consistent with the goals of Victorian England in the throes of the industrial revolution.

[Oscar Bui]

This book is a very scary and mysterious adventure about Sherlock homes. He is one of the most famous detective, with his partner Watson, they made a perfect duo of a very intelligent detective and a very kind and nice doctor. They broke many different very hard cases including the four unknown signature, the scarlet house and many others. Although most of the cases listed are very scary, i still think that this book is very recommended to others as it is very nice as a book.

[Natalie]

This was the book all our guests signed at our wedding. It was also the first book my husband and I read aloud to each other. We love these stories and this selection is great-- incorporating in some of the lesser-known stories that I hadn't recalled when reading the tome from Barnes & Noble. Highly recommended, especially as a gift for a young reader.

[Kim Yusin]

awesome!