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Available
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New York : Heritage Press, c1952.
Description
A tie-in edition of Conan Doyle's The Return of Sherlock Holmes -- the detective's triumphant return from the dead -- with an introduction by Sherlock creator Mark Gatiss.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The hit BBC series Sherlock has introduced a new generation to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective. This edition of the classic collection of stories, with an introduction by Sherlock creator Mark Gatiss, allows fans to discover the power of those original adventures. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;After his deadly plunge over Reichenbach Falls, Sherlock Holmes seemed gone forever -- but, as mysteriously as he left, he returns three years later. Now, reunited with Watson, a host of thrilling new adventures through London's underworld awaits, battling thieves, kidnappers and killers alike. But Holmes is about to meet his most despised villain yet: the dastardly Charles Augustus Milverton.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member MuuMuuMousie
Well, he’s back. After being presumed dead for three years, Sherlock dramatically reappears. And it IS very dramatic: there’s enough of a narcissist in Sherlock to want to stage his entrance properly. This collection is my dad’s favorite; he says that this book features several years’ worth
But it’s not all fun and games—this collection also exemplifies what is, for me, the single most frustrating element of these stories: the endings that get dropped. I’m going to make a Shakespeare analogy here, so hang tight. Spoilers for Romeo and Juliet. Okay, here goes: You know how Romeo and Juliet fall in love pretty early on in the story, and you spend the whole play rooting for them to be all right? And in Act IV, they have this scheme with Friar Lawrence, and you kind of let yourself think, just for a moment, that it will end happily, even though you know it won’t? You keep hoping that they’ll get their HEA? And then Act V happens, and it’s so sad, and you understand how and why they die, and despite the tragedy, you at least feel like you’ve followed them on their star-crossed journey? Well, Doyle’s story is the opposite of that. Spoilers for something that happens between “Memoirs” and “Return.” The Sign of Four was the great love story, with John and Mary falling in love and getting married. Now, in this collection, Mary has already died of something, and we don’t see it or know what it was, and we don’t see Watson’s reaction (or anyone else’s, for that matter). She’s dead when it opens, and she’s mentioned ONCE. And not even by name. So this is like Romeo and Juliet, if R&J ended with Act IV, and then the chorus came out with an epilogue in which they said, “Oops! They died, not sure how, too bad you missed it!!” This is THAT level of frustrating, for me. Here’s Mary’s great death scene from “Empty House”: “In some manner he had learned of my own sad bereavement, and his sympathy was shown in his manner rather than in his words. ‘Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson,’ said he.” And that’s IT. “Norwood Builder” opens with Watson selling his practice and moving back in with Sherlock, and he finds out afterward that Sherlock had arranged for Watson to get a good price, so Sherlock is looking out for his widowed friend. So that was nice to see. And I know that Mary was more of a side character, so probably my Shakespeare comparison isn’t fair; these stories are not supposed to be about Watson’s marriage. They’re about Watson’s friendship with Holmes. But we, as readers, got to witness their courtship. We had the chance to root for Watson when he felt so unworthy of Mary’s hand. We had the chance to cheer when it looked like things would work out. And then, hey, guess what, she’s been dead for a while already. I’m sure it was done to make it easer for Sherlock and John to have their adventures, and by having it happen in the in-between time, Doyle can have a very sad and lonely Watson who is at his most vulnerable when Sherlock comes back. Even so, I feel cheated. Despite all this, still a very strong collection of stories, with much to recommend it.
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of ideas that percolated during Doyle’s Sherlock hiatus. It certainly has some memorable stories. “The Norwood Builder,” “The Solitary Cyclist,” “The Dancing Men,” “The Priory School,” “The Six Napoleons,” and “The Golden Pince-Nez” are all top-notch. “The Abbey Grange” is one of my all-time favorites, probably in my top 3, definitely top 5. The writing is solid, and Doyle uses humorous touches to great effect. And this collection is bookended by two drastic life events for Sherlock: “The Empty House” is Sherlock’s triumphant return from exile, and “The Second Stain” opens with Watson informing readers that Sherlock has retired to study bees on the Sussex Downs. So no more stories! Yeah, right. ;)But it’s not all fun and games—this collection also exemplifies what is, for me, the single most frustrating element of these stories: the endings that get dropped. I’m going to make a Shakespeare analogy here, so hang tight. Spoilers for Romeo and Juliet. Okay, here goes: You know how Romeo and Juliet fall in love pretty early on in the story, and you spend the whole play rooting for them to be all right? And in Act IV, they have this scheme with Friar Lawrence, and you kind of let yourself think, just for a moment, that it will end happily, even though you know it won’t? You keep hoping that they’ll get their HEA? And then Act V happens, and it’s so sad, and you understand how and why they die, and despite the tragedy, you at least feel like you’ve followed them on their star-crossed journey? Well, Doyle’s story is the opposite of that. Spoilers for something that happens between “Memoirs” and “Return.” The Sign of Four was the great love story, with John and Mary falling in love and getting married. Now, in this collection, Mary has already died of something, and we don’t see it or know what it was, and we don’t see Watson’s reaction (or anyone else’s, for that matter). She’s dead when it opens, and she’s mentioned ONCE. And not even by name. So this is like Romeo and Juliet, if R&J ended with Act IV, and then the chorus came out with an epilogue in which they said, “Oops! They died, not sure how, too bad you missed it!!” This is THAT level of frustrating, for me. Here’s Mary’s great death scene from “Empty House”: “In some manner he had learned of my own sad bereavement, and his sympathy was shown in his manner rather than in his words. ‘Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson,’ said he.” And that’s IT. “Norwood Builder” opens with Watson selling his practice and moving back in with Sherlock, and he finds out afterward that Sherlock had arranged for Watson to get a good price, so Sherlock is looking out for his widowed friend. So that was nice to see. And I know that Mary was more of a side character, so probably my Shakespeare comparison isn’t fair; these stories are not supposed to be about Watson’s marriage. They’re about Watson’s friendship with Holmes. But we, as readers, got to witness their courtship. We had the chance to root for Watson when he felt so unworthy of Mary’s hand. We had the chance to cheer when it looked like things would work out. And then, hey, guess what, she’s been dead for a while already. I’m sure it was done to make it easer for Sherlock and John to have their adventures, and by having it happen in the in-between time, Doyle can have a very sad and lonely Watson who is at his most vulnerable when Sherlock comes back. Even so, I feel cheated. Despite all this, still a very strong collection of stories, with much to recommend it.
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