Sherlock Holmes discussion

Finished this one today! I really enjoyed it as I had never even heard of it before reading.

I enjoyed the fact it was so involved and how the mystery unfolded.

This one was not my favorite but it is a good story. I never understood how Moriarty was involved

I'm about to start studying this in my lit. class actually. I haven't read this in a looooong time lol, but I'm excited!

Krystal wrote: "This one was not my favorite but it is a good story. I never understood how Moriarty was involved"

Yes. When he was mentioned at the beginning I expected him to play a part in the climax but he only seemed to be mentioned for the sake of mentioning him. I really enjoyed the story though.

Hmmm. I'm working my way through all the stories. Trying to read them in the order published. It's hard to put together a chronology of action, though, since "Watson" doesn't tell them in order of occurrence. As they are written, or at least as I have them, he is reminiscing on his experiences. So, as he alludes to other cases, some I have read and some are still to come. If this is Doyle's literary device (and not just that the stories have come to me disordered) then it is genius!

I wonder if this mention of Moriarty here is much the same. Name dropping here and there to make him seem a more realistic nemesis. Has anyone seen other allusions since "The Final Problem?"

Has anyone seen the movie version, circa 1935, called The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes?

"Trying to read them in the order published. It's hard to put together a chronology of action, though, since "Watson" doesn't tell them in order of occurrence. As they are written, or at least as I have them, he is reminiscing on his experiences. So, as he alludes to other cases, some I have read and some are still to come. If this is Doyle's literary device (and not just that the stories have come to me disordered) then it is genius!"

Did Doyle ever publish a chronology of the works? If so it would be interesting to look at. I'm reading the Adventures right now and they all seem to be placed in order of when they happened.

Doyle also used to drop in cases that were unrecorded, "The Giant Rat of Sumatra". There is no book that has a case called "The Giant Rat of Sumatra" (which is a shame, as it sounds firggin' awesome), but Doyle just plops it in there anywhere for the fun of it.

"I wonder if this mention of Moriarty here is much the same." As far as I can tell, it is. Valley of Fear is meant to be set pre-Final Problem, so it would be a reference to Moriaty's Machiavellian machinations.

Right, Lichen! Set before, but, I believe, written after... As was Hound of Baskervilles but no Moriarty there.

Most of the allusions are to previously published stories. The first example is at the beginning of Sign of Four, when Watson refers to Study in Scarlet and they discuss that he has written it up. I love this. As though, we are all together on this journey of experience. It probably made a great deal of sense due to the fact that the stories were originally published in serial for in The Strand.

I also love the fake cases! each makes the reader wonder. But, I thought I had noted one or two times when the fake case turned into a later published work. Although, the only one I can find right now is the mention of Mary Sutherland before Case of Identity appears in Adventures. In my imagination, Conan Doyle is so taken with his fake case that he decides to write it up. Or, possibly, he has outlined several "cases" but was actually picking and choosing among them, as he has Watson do fictionally.

I don't consider this a Sherlock Holmes novel. It is story that has no need of Sherlocks Holmes, Holmes was just thrown in at the beginning and end, probably to help it sell or to meet an obligation. But the story itself, the meat and potatos that doesn't involve Holmes and Watson, is absolutely gripping. This is one of my favorite stories of all time, and Holmes and Watson have nothing to do with it.

Re-read this a year or so ago along with the other 3 Homes novels, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed VOF...The second half was as much enjoyable as the Holmes section.

I found the Moriarty thing a but unecessary and 'tacked on' almost, however...

Yes, Moriarty does seem 'tacked on' to give weight to his place as Sherlock's greatest enemy. "Look! He was there all along!" Since this story was supposedly written by Watson about a case from before the falls.

Speaking of which, did anyone else pick up the reference to 'The Giant Rat of Sumatra' in the SHERLOCK episode called The Empty Hearse? I loved how the writers blend in elements from the actual stories.