‘Elementary, dear Watson!’ Whenever somebody mentions this well known phrase , all thoughts immediately center on the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. When Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, he might have found it hard to believe just how famous his character would get to be. There have been several famous fictional detectives but Doyle’s Holmes deserves a special mention.
As Doctor Watson; Holmes friend and confident for most of his detective work aptly puts it, Sherlock Holmes was a rare character. A man of regular clean habits who devoted endless hours to his chemical experiments; a man who was as eccentric as he was arrogant, Sherlock Holmes was indeed a most believable character. Watson, a steady retired army doctor who chooses quiet retirement after getting injured in the Afghan war decides to take up lodgings in London with an enigmatic Holmes. The two become friends and most of Holmes’s exploits are narrated by Dr. Watson who comes to admire the man’s keen sense of observation and uncanny ability to solve any mystery.
As Dr. Watson himself tries to analyze Holmes’s character, we are exposed to its various nuances. A man of clean habits who hoards up bizarre knowledge in various fields such as medicine and chemistry, Holmes does not appear as a student of any university. Instead, in one of his many conversations with Dr. Watson, he actually shows his ignorance of the Copernican theory that the earth revolves around the sun; a fact that leaves the faithful doctor rather thunderstruck. Indeed the detective tells the shocked doctor that this piece of knowledge will not be stored up in his brain as a human brain has limited space for keeping knowledge and that his own knowledge helps serve him in his profession which is detective work. Holmes is also something of an artist; he has a keen ear for music and plays the violin himself. But the most familiar aspect of Holmes is his pipe that he smokes whenever he is thinking of a rather knotty problem.
Sherlock Holmes is and remains to be one of the literary worlds’s best loved and best formed characters. His arrogance has no limits and he is as sensitive to his work as an opera singer to her profession. In one instance, he actually passes disdainful comments on Edgar Allen Poe’s character Dupin and his techniques for solving crime. This actually caused so many ruffled feathers that Arthur Conan Doyle was forced to write a merry verse suggesting that he did not actually agree with his own character’s thoughts on the subject!
Whether it was solving a simple puzzle for a humble governess or helping out an important cabinet minister with his terrible dilemma, no problem was beneath the notice of the engaging Mr. Holmes. Through the series of stories, the reader will recognize the undeniable truth that Mr. Holmes loves to solve the crime for its own sake rather than for any reward. Nothing gives him the satisfaction than pondering about some problem that needs solving. Even the good doctor is forced to agree that solving mysteries is the only way to keep Holmes from his worst fault; cocaine. To read the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes is in some way to understand the basic human nature.
“What peace reigns in the country,” remarks Dr. Watson as he shares a carriage on a train taking him and his detective friend to a scene of crime. “I shudder to think of the crime that is committed and goes unnoticed,” replies his friend. Holmes’ keen sense of observation is fine honed and it is really simple for him to solve mysteries just by observing carefully objects left at the scene of crime. Unlike most detectives that tend to use human psychology, Holmes prefers to study the scene of crime and measure footprints. Indeed, critics of the series might even accuse Doyle of setting the stories with similar situations. A crime committed in some far away country brings retribution in jolly good England. Despite its critics, the Sherlock Holmes series remains one of the best works of detective fiction ever written.
As Holmes got famous, Doyle reported got more and more dissatisfied. The pressures of writing about a famous detective took their toll and after a few adventures, Doyle thought to end it all by killing Holmes along with his arch rival professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach falls in ‘The Final Problem’. This situation however created such an outcry that Doyle was forced to pick up his pen once again and save the detective from the clutches of death and return to his admiring fans once again. One is glad that this event occurred since some of the best cases of Sherlock Holmes are penned after his comeback; ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ being the most famous example.
Critics also point out the dislike that the great detective bore towards women. ‘To Sherlock Holmes, she is always a woman,” says Doctor Watson who himself finds love at the end of the novel ‘The sign of four’. As the ‘Scandel in Bohemia’ indicates, Sherlock Holmes has scanty respect for women in general until he deals with the beautiful and formidable Irene Adler. After solving that case, his general opinions on the capability of women are rightfully changed to some extent.
So has the detective ever been bested? “By four men and one woman,” he replies with shades of chagrin. Doyle’s detective is not fool proof and can make mistakes and even lose a client as is seen in ‘The five orange pips’. A man who is secretive to a fault, the doctor discovers much later in his friendship that Holmes is not an orphan as he originally supposed but has a mysterious brother Mycroft who is just as observant as his brother but too indolent to play the role of a detective.
The joys of reading and re-reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries are known only to the passionate admirers of Holmes. Set in an era before the world wars, the stories not only provide a good mystery but also impart in some subtle way, the lifestyles of the Victorians. Doyle treats his viewers with the English countryside and rare country homes that are visited by crime just like the cramped Victorian London. The books themselves have been dramatized and made into movies and television series. There are three popular versions that come to one’s mind when the topic revolves around a Sherlock Holmes movie. The first series had Basil Rathbone playing the great detective. While there are several viewers who feel that Mr. Rathbone is the best person playing the detective, two great flaws mark the series. Firstly, most of the adventures filmed in this series are not the ones written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Secondly, the series moves Holmes and Watson from the Victorian era to 1940’s during the world war. That digression in the humble opinion of this author takes away from the authenticity of the books. Also, critics complain that the character of Dr. Watson seems to have been modified significantly to provide comic relief. The second series starring Ron Howard also suffers in that it is significantly different in content from Doyle’s original stories. In addition, the cast was American and the series was filmed in France. Of all the series filmed on Holmes, probably the most popular and authentic series is the one featuring Jeremy Brett as the great detective. The episodes were almost all based on Dolye’s original stories and Jeremy Brett slipped into the role of the arrogant and keenly observing detective with ease. As he popularly put it later, all his roles seemed to restrict him from the 20th century. All three series are available in DVD on Amazon.com
There have been several great detectives in literature; ranging from G.K.Chesterton’s Father Brown to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. However, Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes will always be remembered by fans as one of literature’s favorite character.
As Doctor Watson; Holmes friend and confident for most of his detective work aptly puts it, Sherlock Holmes was a rare character. A man of regular clean habits who devoted endless hours to his chemical experiments; a man who was as eccentric as he was arrogant, Sherlock Holmes was indeed a most believable character. Watson, a steady retired army doctor who chooses quiet retirement after getting injured in the Afghan war decides to take up lodgings in London with an enigmatic Holmes. The two become friends and most of Holmes’s exploits are narrated by Dr. Watson who comes to admire the man’s keen sense of observation and uncanny ability to solve any mystery.
As Dr. Watson himself tries to analyze Holmes’s character, we are exposed to its various nuances. A man of clean habits who hoards up bizarre knowledge in various fields such as medicine and chemistry, Holmes does not appear as a student of any university. Instead, in one of his many conversations with Dr. Watson, he actually shows his ignorance of the Copernican theory that the earth revolves around the sun; a fact that leaves the faithful doctor rather thunderstruck. Indeed the detective tells the shocked doctor that this piece of knowledge will not be stored up in his brain as a human brain has limited space for keeping knowledge and that his own knowledge helps serve him in his profession which is detective work. Holmes is also something of an artist; he has a keen ear for music and plays the violin himself. But the most familiar aspect of Holmes is his pipe that he smokes whenever he is thinking of a rather knotty problem.
Sherlock Holmes is and remains to be one of the literary worlds’s best loved and best formed characters. His arrogance has no limits and he is as sensitive to his work as an opera singer to her profession. In one instance, he actually passes disdainful comments on Edgar Allen Poe’s character Dupin and his techniques for solving crime. This actually caused so many ruffled feathers that Arthur Conan Doyle was forced to write a merry verse suggesting that he did not actually agree with his own character’s thoughts on the subject!
Whether it was solving a simple puzzle for a humble governess or helping out an important cabinet minister with his terrible dilemma, no problem was beneath the notice of the engaging Mr. Holmes. Through the series of stories, the reader will recognize the undeniable truth that Mr. Holmes loves to solve the crime for its own sake rather than for any reward. Nothing gives him the satisfaction than pondering about some problem that needs solving. Even the good doctor is forced to agree that solving mysteries is the only way to keep Holmes from his worst fault; cocaine. To read the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes is in some way to understand the basic human nature.
“What peace reigns in the country,” remarks Dr. Watson as he shares a carriage on a train taking him and his detective friend to a scene of crime. “I shudder to think of the crime that is committed and goes unnoticed,” replies his friend. Holmes’ keen sense of observation is fine honed and it is really simple for him to solve mysteries just by observing carefully objects left at the scene of crime. Unlike most detectives that tend to use human psychology, Holmes prefers to study the scene of crime and measure footprints. Indeed, critics of the series might even accuse Doyle of setting the stories with similar situations. A crime committed in some far away country brings retribution in jolly good England. Despite its critics, the Sherlock Holmes series remains one of the best works of detective fiction ever written.
As Holmes got famous, Doyle reported got more and more dissatisfied. The pressures of writing about a famous detective took their toll and after a few adventures, Doyle thought to end it all by killing Holmes along with his arch rival professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach falls in ‘The Final Problem’. This situation however created such an outcry that Doyle was forced to pick up his pen once again and save the detective from the clutches of death and return to his admiring fans once again. One is glad that this event occurred since some of the best cases of Sherlock Holmes are penned after his comeback; ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ being the most famous example.
Critics also point out the dislike that the great detective bore towards women. ‘To Sherlock Holmes, she is always a woman,” says Doctor Watson who himself finds love at the end of the novel ‘The sign of four’. As the ‘Scandel in Bohemia’ indicates, Sherlock Holmes has scanty respect for women in general until he deals with the beautiful and formidable Irene Adler. After solving that case, his general opinions on the capability of women are rightfully changed to some extent.
So has the detective ever been bested? “By four men and one woman,” he replies with shades of chagrin. Doyle’s detective is not fool proof and can make mistakes and even lose a client as is seen in ‘The five orange pips’. A man who is secretive to a fault, the doctor discovers much later in his friendship that Holmes is not an orphan as he originally supposed but has a mysterious brother Mycroft who is just as observant as his brother but too indolent to play the role of a detective.
The joys of reading and re-reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries are known only to the passionate admirers of Holmes. Set in an era before the world wars, the stories not only provide a good mystery but also impart in some subtle way, the lifestyles of the Victorians. Doyle treats his viewers with the English countryside and rare country homes that are visited by crime just like the cramped Victorian London. The books themselves have been dramatized and made into movies and television series. There are three popular versions that come to one’s mind when the topic revolves around a Sherlock Holmes movie. The first series had Basil Rathbone playing the great detective. While there are several viewers who feel that Mr. Rathbone is the best person playing the detective, two great flaws mark the series. Firstly, most of the adventures filmed in this series are not the ones written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Secondly, the series moves Holmes and Watson from the Victorian era to 1940’s during the world war. That digression in the humble opinion of this author takes away from the authenticity of the books. Also, critics complain that the character of Dr. Watson seems to have been modified significantly to provide comic relief. The second series starring Ron Howard also suffers in that it is significantly different in content from Doyle’s original stories. In addition, the cast was American and the series was filmed in France. Of all the series filmed on Holmes, probably the most popular and authentic series is the one featuring Jeremy Brett as the great detective. The episodes were almost all based on Dolye’s original stories and Jeremy Brett slipped into the role of the arrogant and keenly observing detective with ease. As he popularly put it later, all his roles seemed to restrict him from the 20th century. All three series are available in DVD on Amazon.com
There have been several great detectives in literature; ranging from G.K.Chesterton’s Father Brown to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. However, Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes will always be remembered by fans as one of literature’s favorite character.
3 comments:
Yes, nothing beats the joy of reading or watching Holmes on a cold dreary night (like today!). That is in fact, "Elementary".
A very good article. Thoroughly reserched on Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is very addictive series to read or watch on TV.
A very good writing style. enjoyed reading your blog. keep up the good work.
Sujatha
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