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The Holmes who now scours the streets of London and tramps across the English countryside is as keenly observant and nimble of mind as ever, but his patience with British justice is wearing thin. At times he takes the law into his own hands. At other times, he knowingly breaks the law. And, on one memorable occasion, he acts very unlike the gentleman we know him to be. What can have happened to produce such uncharacteristic behavior in the world’s greatest detective?
Although, like all of Holmes’s adventures, these stories are set in the late Victorian era, they were written in the twentieth century. Included in this volume are the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear, and the thirty-three stories comprising The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow, and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.
Once, wearying of Holmes, his creator killed him off, but was forced by popular demand to resurrect him. Sir Arthur -- he had been knighted for this defense of the British cause in his The Great Boer War -- became an ardent Spiritualist after the death of his son Kingsley, who had been wounded at the Somme in World War I. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died in Sussex in 1930.
Author biography courtesy of Penguin Group (USA).
I suppose I started reading this collection for the same reason I watch regular TV shows every week. I wanted consistently interesting short stories, and that's exactly what I got. However I made a mistake reading them all straight through in this convenient collection, and the formulaic plots bothered me more than they would have otherwise.
I did notice an improvement in terms of the mystery complexity, which I appreciated. No where is this more evident than in "The Valley of Fear", which uses an extremely similar set-up to "A Study in Scarlet". Both stories have two parts, the first of which takes place in 1890's England and the second some years previous in America. However everything else about "The Valley of Fear" is a vast improvement! The murder mystery is much more clever, the action is better paced, and the second part was well-introduced as well as being a mystery story in it's own right! Clearly Sir. Doyle had come into his own as an author by this point, and his skills greatly improved with practice.
I also enjoyed the change in Watson's "voice" over time. Sir Doyle seems much more comfortable in his writing abilities by "The Valley of Fear", and I felt there was less awkward prose. I noticed Sir Doyle has a very fanciful way of describing the scene, which appeals to me greatly. I shall always imagine a foggy London day as John Watson saw it.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Darko
Posted Wed May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2010
So you think you know Sherlock Holmes. Be prepared to get the details of Holmes' life and thought processes. He lives for the chase and does not know what to do with himself without one. Many stories are told by Dr. Watson as the keeper of the case records. You'll learn about Watson as well and how he and Holmes ended up living together.
Mostly short readings for one evening with some longer stories included. Classics like The Hound of the Baskervilles and more.
A real opportunity to get inside Holmes' head. Highly recommend!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Oct 05 00:00:00 EDT 2009
Fantastic! I've been a Sherlock fan since a little girl and to have all his stories in one collection is good. I try to draw my conclusion as I read the stories and see if I'm as good as he is. It is great reading. He's the most fascinating character ever.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Jan 03 00:00:00 EST 2008
When i first had to read this book, i had the notion that it was some old boring book but it is NOT!!! The adventures in the book are captivating. This book is truly worth the read. It is so awesome! Be not afraid of the length because it is composed of only short stories.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Mon Jan 16 00:00:00 EST 2012
Well, you wish to know whether you ought to buy it? Well, it's elementary, my dear Watson.
Of course.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2011
Is it worth buying both volumes?
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2011
B&N version is perfect!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Mar 09 00:00:00 EST 2013
love Sherlock
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.LDAJr
Posted Fri Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2012
This B & N Classics edition is well organized and has the benefit of a thoughtful and illuminating introduction by Kyle Freeman.
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Posted Fri Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Cool
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Posted Tue Feb 21 00:00:00 EST 2012
Highly entertaining as well as a cliff hanger
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2012
I loved Sherlock Holmes. I always wanted to read all of his stories.
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Posted Wed Jan 25 00:00:00 EST 2012
Bioigraphy and history but very few stories.
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Posted Fri Nov 18 00:00:00 EST 2011
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.enlightenedLV
Posted Wed Oct 26 00:00:00 EDT 2011
Have enjoyed reading both volumes and wonder why I hadn't done it sooner.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Sherlock Holmes stories are AMAZING!!!! Just don't read them if you have a short attention span as they can be a bit dry at times, due to the time period in which they were written. The full-length stories aren't AS good as the short ones, with the exception of Hound of the Baskervilles, because they go into a lot of background information with no Holmes-Watson-deduction action going on whatsoever. But other than that they are fantastic! This edition was really great, besides being really fat. I didn't have to worry about which story came chronologically next, and there were interesting little footnotes that tell you things that you wouldn't have otherwise found out unless you are an expert on Holmes and Watson.
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Posted Mon Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2011
Wonderful book.
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Posted Thu Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2011
Always worth any avid readers time. Very good piece of literature. Would highky recommend volume 1 over this volume though
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Posted Sun Feb 13 00:00:00 EST 2011
this book was pretty good it is pretty much justca overall review off the sefi
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This volume isn't any different than Volume I. The writings of late 18th century and early 20th century were interesting. Up against present day writings, broring.
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
The ...