Similar to many of my classmates, I have not
read any Sherlock Homes stories until now. I really enjoyed the first two
stories we read, which I was pleasantly surprised about. Then, I read “The
Speckled Band”, and loved it, even though the ending was somewhat anticlimactic
for me; anyone agree?
Next, I read “The Final Problem”… and he DIED?
What? I was definitely not expecting that to happen. I never expected that, and
assumed if I had a problem accepting this after only reading four stories, other
people must have been pissed when the story came out. I did some researching to
see… turns out they were in fact pissed. Apparently a lot of people even
canceled their subscriptions to The
Strand, the magazine that published the stories. So I bet The Strand was
also pretty pissed at Conan Doyle.
Furthermore, he did not really die. In the
afterword we read that he “foiled Moriarty” by faking his death. Spoiler if you
want to read the story “The Empty House”,
sorry. I suppose if anyone could successfully pull of faking their own death,
it would be Sherlock Holmes. I would be interested in reading “The Empty House”
if it explains how Holmes pulled that off. I have to wonder if Conan Doyle
always planned on bringing Holmes back. I think he did, because he added the
detail that “recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless”. If he did not plan
on continuing the story of Homes why include the detail of never recovering his
body.
Next I read “The Dancing Men”, which
I found just as interesting. I enjoyed the plot line of this one. The reader
really got to see all the skills Homes has, other than observing. He deciphers
what seems like an impossible code.
 |
| really who makes a code made out of stick figures, that’s just plain dumb |
He also catches where a third bullet was
shot, a fact that the authorities missed. Who needs the cops when Holmes is
around?
Lastly, I attempted to read “Charles
Augustus Milverton”. This story I found confusing, so I am hoping someone can
comment and explain it to me. I understand that there was a man threatening
Lady Eva with letters, but why was he bothering her? Did they have history or
is he just a jackass? Also Homes kinda gets engaged? What? Then, Watson and him
witness a murder… later recognize who the shooter was… and did NOTHING? Help
please!!
I was extremely surprised to find out that Holmes died in "The Final Problem". He really became an interesting and exciting character. I would have also been very upset if I was reading the Sherlock Holmes stories when they were being published and they suddenly ended. I was amazed that this was the first situation where people became "fans" of a book and really popularized these stories. I do however, feel kind of bad for Doyle because he really came to dislike these stories. They were so popular but he didn't enjoy them or the attention they received. None of his other works ever became as popular and it is sad because those were the ones he was really passionate about.
ReplyDeleteCharles Augustus Milverton is a tad bit of a confusing story. The general "what happens" is that, Milverton is an evil gentleman who blackmails everyone. He takes pictures that belong to Ava Blackwell, who comes to Sherlock for help. He gets close to Milverton by courting his maid in the disguise of a plumber, and becoming engaged to her. Once Sherlock finds out where Milverton keeps all his materials, he and Watson plan to break in, and while there are interrupted by the appearance of a young woman who confronts and murders Milverton. Sherlock tells Watson not to intervene in the interest of justice being served for all the evil Milverton has done, and then all three of them escape. The following morning Lestrade comes to Sherlock to ask his help with the murder, where Lestrade gives a description of someone who could've been Watson (haha) and Sherlock turns down helping Lestrade as he believes justice was served. Later he realizes who the woman was, and it is left as a mystery so as to not spoil the justice the woman sought after (this is my own presumption) presumably being one of Milverton's victims.
ReplyDeleteHope this maybe helps clear it up a little bit.
I agree that the end of the speckled band was anticlimatic, but I feel it was that way because there wasn't a lot to do because the victim was already dead so all holmes had to do was solve who did it. I also felt that it was extremely abrupt that Holmes died. Ava was blamailed by old love letters because she was getting married to a rich guy.
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