The Case Book Of Sherlock Holmes
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“Christopher Lee is a worthy inheritor of the deerstalker headwear and S-bend pipe. His tones are august and measured and he can break off to do the character voices nicely.”
Ham & High 22/5/98
Review
"Christopher Lee is a worthy inheritor of the deerstalker headwear and S-bend pipe. His tones are august and measured and he can break off to do the character voices nicely." Ham & High 22/5/98
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's no secret that by this point Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle was bored with Sherlock Holmes and wished to let him go forever but the public kept hounding him and he only wrote them out of obligation. The lack of inspiration shows and the stories seem generic.
A few of them are not even told from Watson's perspective, with one being a rather odd third-person story and two being told by Holmes himself. Perhaps the constant narration by Watson is what led to so many movies casting Conan-Doyle lookalikes to play him as a bumbling fool who does no more than follow Holmes around. Or maybe Conan-Doyle was just trying to experiment by not sticking to formula. But Watson is missed in the story 'The Lion's Mane', in which there isn't even any damn crime committed. And there's not even any mystery in the 'Veiled Lodger' story. It was 19 pages of pointlessness!
Don't get me wrong, there are couple of good stories, such as 'The Blanched Soldier' and the one with the wife who commits suicide (the name of that story escapes me). But 'The Case of the Sussex Vampire' and 'The Creeping Gentlemen' have intriguing set-ups but lame endings. And in the case of the latter, just down-right far-fetched and ill-fitting in the Holmes universe.
I think the main problem with most of these is that the never really go anywhere. Literally. Holmes seems to solve them without even leaving his office. Come on! Let's go out and have an adventure rather than staying in and doing work!
By this point Holmes was past his prime and any discriminating fan will realize this.
A few of them are not even told from Watson's perspective, with one being a rather odd third-person story and two being told by Holmes himself. Perhaps the constant narration by Watson is what led to so many movies casting Conan-Doyle lookalikes to play him as a bumbling fool who does no more than follow Holmes around. Or maybe Conan-Doyle was just trying to experiment by not sticking to formula. But Watson is missed in the story 'The Lion's Mane', in which there isn't even any damn crime committed. And there's not even any mystery in the 'Veiled Lodger' story. It was 19 pages of pointlessness!
Don't get me wrong, there are couple of good stories, such as 'The Blanched Soldier' and the one with the wife who commits suicide (the name of that story escapes me). But 'The Case of the Sussex Vampire' and 'The Creeping Gentlemen' have intriguing set-ups but lame endings. And in the case of the latter, just down-right far-fetched and ill-fitting in the Holmes universe.
I think the main problem with most of these is that the never really go anywhere. Literally. Holmes seems to solve them without even leaving his office. Come on! Let's go out and have an adventure rather than staying in and doing work!
By this point Holmes was past his prime and any discriminating fan will realize this.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although the latter Holmes stories have received much criticism, I personally feel that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was brilliant to the very end. For the most part, the plots in these stories are as ingenious as any of the ones in the earlier stories. The only thing about these stories that is somewhat disappointing is that they do not add very much to Holmes' character. The emphasis is more on the mystery instead of on the intrigue of Holmes' character as most of the earlier stories were. While some may find it annoying that Doyle left so much mystery about Holmes, I feel strongly that this is the very reason that Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular characters in fiction. The only other way that Doyle could have done it would have been to give Holmes the typical dark or tragic past with some personal tragedy to explain his character and justify all his faults. In which case, Holmes would be a very typical character. The dark, tragic past might not have been typical in the late 19th century but it most certainly is so today. And brilliant writing is not about just creating something that's new and original at the moment. It's about creating something that can remain new and original. Some may disagree, but I most definitely feel that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a brilliant writer.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This collection, the final in the Sherlock Holmes series, is often thought of as being inferior to the others in the series. This is not so. It's true that the mysteries themselves are not quite as diabolically clever as the best of Holmes, but by any other standard they are outstanding. In addition, the stories are marked by a more realistic and darker psychological portrayal of the villains. Doyle's writing is as good in these stories as anywhere else. These stories contain some of the wittiest repartee by Holmes and Watson, with Holmes at his most sarcastic. As an added bonus, the collection contains the only two stories narrated by Holmes himself (and he turns out to be a very good writer!) This book is a must for mystery fans and general readers alike. Don't make the mistake of thinking that because these stories are "classics," they are going to be stodgy reading, or that you have to be a Holmes fan to enjoy them. "The Case Book" is still one of the most entertaining books ever written. Perfect for airplane or beach!
WARNING!!: DO NOT READ THE EARLIEST REVIEW OF THIS BOOK POSTED BELOW (DATED 1/22/98) UNTIL YOU READ THE BOOK. THE CONTRIBUTOR THOUGHTLESSLY GIVES AWAY THE ENDINGS OF MANY STORIES AND WILL SPOIL YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THEM.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great mystery
Having read the Sherlock Holmes books I must say that the case-book left me a little disappointed. There seems to be something lacking in the stories and they don't have the same... Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. S. Bancroft
Sherlock Holmes-Casebook and His Last Bow
An excellent collection of short stories by the original and best Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, using his most celebrated of characters, set in a time when all was as it should be.
Published 16 months ago by Edgar Oz
A remarkable collection
I bought "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", "The Return of Sherlok Holmes", "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes","The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes","The Sign of Four" in the "World's... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Bretfan
Extremely good read, and very good service
Very pleased with the service - book arrived within a week (before the delivery estimate) and in brand new condition.
A very good read. Read more
A very good read. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2009 by Mark Kirk
The final adventures of the worlds premier consulting detective
First published in 1927, "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" contains 12 short stories written by Sir Athur Conan Doyle over a six year period from 1921 onwards. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2009 by D. Evans
Excellence as standard with Holmes as good as ever
There is a general feeling - refelcted in reviews here, and in the "sherlockian" world that these are somehow inferior stories to those in the earlier collections. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2008 by The Penguin
More for completists than beginners
Probably the main weakness is that, perhaps inevitably, some of the plots are either comparatively weak or have been partly recycled from previous stories (this was after all the... Read more
Published on 11 May 2007 by D. Gates
A lovely edition
This lovely hardback edition of 'The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes' works out cheaper than a standard paperback! It's much nicer to look at and to handle. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2006 by Roger Johnson
It's really a great lovely book.
I found it very interesting.It is worth to be read,as well as all the British great works.Most of my friends think the same. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2000
This book is adventurous and can catch any readers eye!
I am 10 years old and have read many books and this is one of my favorites. The Hound of the Baskervilles is my favorite story. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 1998
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