After an enjoyable experience reading Sherlock Holmes for the first time, I decided to buy another book by Arthur Conan Doyle (also, the fact that I like this series of covers may have played a role in it). The Adventure of the Six Napoleons and other cases is a baker’s dozen of Sherlock Holmes short stories, ending with an essay by Michael Saler on why people believe that Holmes is real.
Each of the stories here work as standalone tale, and my personal favourites were:
- The Adventures of the Six Napoleons – I will neither confirm nor deny that this is because it’s related to the series Sherlock
- The Problem of Thor Bridge – to be honest, I was a bit hesitant about including this because it does depend on stereotypical language about foreigners (being passionate, etc) but the mystery is one of the more ingenious ones
- The adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clear – another clever mystery with a satisfying ending
One thing I noticed in this collection was that not all the mysteries are huge dramatic ones. Some are about wives acting suspiciously, one is about a cyclist, and one is about a bird. In several of them, Sherlock shows his humanity, which I suspect is surprising only because the adaptations have pushed his “eccentric genius” to a whole other lever. In the books, Sherlock is smart and needs constant puzzles, but he’s definitely not a thinking machine that needs to learn emotions.
While I prefer the longer mystery (like A Study in Scarlet) to the short stories, I still enjoyed this collection very much. The essay at the end, on the appeal of Sherlock and why he seems like a real human, is also interesting and worth reading. When I find another excuse to buy more books, I will have to pick up another Sherlock Holmes story.
You should try going Bras Basah or book depository to get the full collection of his short stories, it’s one of my treasured books ;D
You should try Bras Basah or Book Depository for his complete collection of short stories, it’s one of my treasured books ;D
Oooh I didn’t think about that! Thank you!
I need to read this collection. I imagine I would like the longer work more too, but I’m really curious about these stories.
These are fun stories! I would say to start with a longer one (Study in Scarlet was a really good intro) so you get a feel of what the book-versions/original characters were like, and then these stories help to explore the world and the people in it.
That Sherlock is a character that can prevail until these modern times makes him all the more intriguing. The books by Arthur Conan Doyle have been on my TBR for a long time, maybe in these days where we’re encouraged to stay home I could finally pick them up! I find it interesting that not all the mysteries are large-scaled or dramatic, like you mentioned. Even little things can have their own adventures, charms, and mysteries. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you enjoy them when you read them! I really like the stories so far!
There’s definitely a few in this collection that I’ve not read, I need to pick it up!
Yay! Hope you get to read them soon!