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.
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