lo-fi & lovely
Where to Begin Reading Sherlock Holmes (& other elementary musings)
This little bit of nothing stems from an even smaller bit of nothing that I was privy to (& weighed in on) over at Reddit. The question was simple enough: where should one begin reading Sherlock Holmes canon? I'd say 5th grade but that's equally if not more of when. Nevertheless, if you have not yet begun or are perchance beginning again--where to (re)start? How about this as a course of action: I'll posit three jumping-off options and then tell you it's all bullshit and that you should just get in there anywhere. You've already wasted so much time. I mean it's not quite like hopping a rolling train with this stuff; none has been added since 1927*. You can leisurely lollygag from stalled car to stalled car and back again.
Or...
::: THE VERY BEGINNING :::
That would be A Study in Scarlet [STUD] published in 1887, this is the first appearance of the original dynamic duo of Holmes and Watson. Seems like a no-brainer, no? Well, only kinda. You see there is publication chronology & 'in-universe' chronology. For more info on the latter, I'd direct you to William Stuart Baring-Gould and his brilliant bit of Sherlockian scholarship there. As to the former--again, sheer real-world publication dates--STUD is the start. Although it should come with a heads up regarding its 'American Section.' You'll know what I mean when you get there, and a thing like that only ever occurs again in The Valley of Fear [VALL] on the opposite side of in-between the bookends.
::: WHERE I STARTED :::
I was started, I did not start, per se. I was probably ten or 11 years old when my dad brought me home a copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles [HOUN] a cheap maybe used paperback edition thereof. I, like almost everyone else, loved the hell out of the book. It's great! It's got it all! Except for it doesn't have all that much Holmes. Two bits about HOUN: 1. it reads like a pre-existent gothic spookfest into which Holmes was plugged. 2. It was Arthur Conan Doyle begrudgingly bringing his consulting detective creation back from the dead in a way. You see, ACD had... hold on, I already wrote this out elsewhere...
"The time between when Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill off his Holmes creation in FINA and then finally succumbing to popular pressure and bringing the consulting detective back to life in EMPT. (That's kind of how it went, w/ The Hound of the Baskervilles thrown in there, outside of the timeline.) ... He even tried his 1891-1894 Great Hiatus from Sherlockian tales in an effort to separate from his most iconic character; alas to no avail." Me, Martial Arts in Sherlock Holmes Canon & Premium Tobacco Pairings Vol. 1 Baritsu. Back to here, enjoy the hell outta HOUN but take it almost as separate from canon although it is canon. It's simply not a fantastic representation of what's to come.
::: WHERE I WOULD START :::
I feel like I could-should have just begun and ended here but really and truly--any of these and other points are serviceable springboards into where it's always 1895. I'd recommend starting with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, cover-to-cover, thru all 12 adventures. I understand that A Scandal in Bohemia is a tricky cherry-taking but only because it shows much of what Holmes is about--even though many wrongly believe he was bested within its confines. That and so much is made of Irene Adler, who appears only that once in all canon. Here's some more of me quoting myself...
"& perhaps this is what A Scandal in Bohemia is about. Bringing back Doc. Plus, a neat look into the mind of Holmes, and more so his moral/ethical compass. The grey area where he allows his grey matter both its due and do. So, this one isn't about Holmes being bested by the woman, as he was not. He has, again, a happy client and no criminal has retained nor gained their freedom. Plus, nothing took him unawares. Later in the canon, Holmes reminisces about being bested only four times, thrice by men and once by a woman.
"Not the woman as we have been told he refers to her as. Also, we hear of this in The Five Orange Pips, which chronologically occurs a year prior to SCAN. Furthermore, that's hardly the mention you'd expect from a fellow who could have earned a chunk of a kingdom and settled instead on a cabinet photo of his true and perhaps favorite unofficial client. He keeps the picture (a replacement for his original goal) as a reminder. I'd say as a reminder to choose clients well." - Me, On "A Scandal in Bohemia" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
In closing, both finally and thankfully, it's all bullshit and that you should just get in there anywhere. I am nothing if not a man of my word.
*I refer here to the canonical writings of ACD, not The House of Silk (2011) by Anthony Horowitz which is akin to the Schrodinger's Cat of this conversation; seeing as it was a new novel authorized by the Conan Doyle Estate.
@KaplowitzMedia
Twitter | Instagram
::: very :::