- Paperback: 140 pages
- Publisher: White Crow Books; 1st edition (2 Jan 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1907355804
- ISBN-13: 978-1907355806
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 12.6 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 616,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Conversation with Arthur Conan Doyle
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Product Description
Review
THE NEW YORKER August 30th 2010 SIMON PARKE SPEAKS WITH THE DEAD Book trailers-the low-budget previews modelled on those used by the film industry-have quickly grown tiresome. They're never very interesting, often overly impressionistic and pretentious, and rarely rise above the level of those silly historical reA"nactments you see on cable. They might get better over time, or die out; either is preferable to their current state. An exception, though, are the finely wrought previews for Simon Parke's Conversations with - A" biographies, published by White Crow Books. In this series, Parke bypasses the more quotidian aspects of historical biography by conducting interviewsA" with his subjects-Jesus, Meister Eckhart, Arthur Conan Doyle, Vincent van Gogh, and Leo Tolstoy-with the answers coming from their published writings. The trailers are stagey-with Parke and the actor playing his subject shown in the recording studio while a musical score soars behind their voices-yet the interviews nonetheless feel natural. Much of this feeling owes to the straightforward and unadorned nature of the exchanges, as when Parke asks Vincent van Gogh why he drinks, and the master answers, If the storm gets too loud, I take a glass too much to stun myself.A" The shot cuts to At Eternity's Gate,A" van Gogh's portrait of a man with his head in his hands, but you can imagine the whorls and swirls of the artist's favored darkened skies as well. Here, Parke conducts his interview with Tolstoy in the assured and chatty style of a British talk-show host: http://whitecrowbooks.com/conversations/page/conversations_with_leo_tolstoy This gambit may be viewed as simply a clever gimmick, but there is something compelling about Parke's style, which in a way that is always promised but rarely delivered, does, in fact, bring his subjects to life. Parke's role as the good-natured interlocutor seems to be an essential component of the project, a disposition on display in this cheeky description of his imagined time spent with Tolstoy: He also proved an appalling husband, hated Shakespeare, never came to terms with his sexual appetite and yet had a profound influence on the non-violence of the young Gandhi. My time at Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy's country estate, was never dull; and sometimes, surprisingly comic. Soon after I left the great man, at the age of 82, he ran away from home. by Ian Crouch Loose leafs from the New Yorker Books Department.
Product Description
At the end of the 19th century, perhaps every man wanted to be Arthur Conan Doyle. He had written historical novels, short stories of horror and the supernatural; and displayed huge energy and talent in a variety of fields. He was a fine cricketer (he once took the wicket of the great WC Grace); played football, rugby and golf. He practiced as a doctor; campaigned for underdogs, introduced skis to Switzerland; and knew both Harry Houdini and Oscar Wilde. He was an adventurer, a controversialist, war reporter and knight of the realm. But most famously of all, he had created Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous detective - based on his former medical professor, Joseph Bell. All in all, Doyle was a Boy's Own dream. Yet for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, all such achievements paled into significance when set against his commitment to spiritualism. Although interested in the subject for many years, he publicly converted to the cause around time of the First World War - much to many people's amazement: 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has many striking characteristics,' wrote Ruth Brandon. 'He is gigantically tall and strong. He is a gifted story teller. He is a man of strong opinions and considerable political influence. But perhaps the most extraordinary thing about him is the combination of all the attributes of worldly success with an almost child-like literalness and credulity of mind, manifested particularly in relation to spiritualism.' 'Conversations with Conan Doyle' is an imagined conversation with this remarkable figure. But while the conversation is imagined, Doyle's words are not; they are all authentically his. 'For many, Conan Doyle's commitment to spiritualism is an embarrassing aberration,' says Simon Parke. 'They want him to go back and just be the creator of Sherlock Holmes. But people don't fit into boxes, and Doyle certainly doesn't! So I want people to meet the man, hear him speak - and then make up their own minds. He's often passionate; but never dull.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, wacky man!,
By
This review is from: Conversations with Arthur Conan Doyle: In His Own Words (Paperback)
Of all the books by Simon Parke in this series (there are three others at the time of writing this review), this 'conversation' is the most unusual. Simply because the subject turns out to be such a fascinating, excentric and unpredictable man.
I was intrigued by Arthur Conan Doyle, not knowing much beyond his literary claim to fame. Now I do know. The book is a joy to read for its wealth of information about such a variety of things: his friendship with Houdini, views on Suffragettes fairies (yes, fairies!), and most wacky of all - belief in Spiritualism. But never mind the ultimate questions of the human existence, and the even more ultimate lack of unswers; I was just as delighted to discover that Conan Doyle went to the Arctic on a whaling boat Hope as a ship's surgeon. Here's a glimpse of that experience, in his own words: "The perpetual light, the glare of the white ice, the deep blue of the water, these are things which one remembers most clearly; and the dry, crisp, exhilarating air, which makes mere life the keenest of pleasures." For all his interest in the afterlife, this was a man intensly in love with life on earth, and this litle book succeeds in showing him in all his multifaceted complexity.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, wacky man!,
By Ms. M. Foley - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Conversations with Arthur Conan Doyle: In His Own Words (Paperback)
Of all the books by Simon Parke in this great series (there are three others at the time of writing this review), this 'conversation' is the most unusual. Simply because its subject turns out to be such a fascinating, excentric and unpredictable person.
I was intrigued by Conan Doyle, not knowing much beyond his literary claim to fame. Now I do. The book is a joy to read for its wealth of information about so many different things: his friendship with Houdini, views on Suffraguettes, fairies (yes, fairies!), and most wacky of all - belief in Spiritualism. But never mind the ultimate questions about human existence, and the even more ultimate lack of unswers; I was just as delighted to discover that Conan Doyle went to the Arctic on a whaling boat 'Hope' as a ship's surgeon. Here is a glimpse of that experience in his own words: "The perpetual light , the glare of the white ice, the deep blue of the water, these are things which one remembers most clearly; and the dry, crisp, exhilarating air, which makes mere life the keenest of pleasures." For all his interest in the sfterlife, this was a man intensly in love with life on earth, and this book shows him in all his multifaceted complexity.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth investigating,
By Joe Jacobs - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Conversations with Arthur Conan Doyle: In His Own Words (Paperback)
I'd been reading Sherlock Holmes for years before I discovered that Conan Doyle wrote on many other subjects, some controversial. I thought I'd check out what all of the fuss was about and stumbled upon this book online. In this book the writer imagines what Conan Doyle's response would be to a number of well thought- out questions and the result is that the imaginary Conan Doyle comes to life and explains in simple language his philosophy and thoughts on a myriad of topics. The book is very interesting and worth investigating, if you'll pardon the pun!
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