When I was about 10 I got a giant book containing all of the Sherlock Holmes tales for Christmas. It’s pretty hefty, with 4 novels and 56 short stories. I made several attempts to and try to read the lot in one go as a teenager, but usually dropped off around the time Conan Doyle killed him off, and then 10 years later brought him back from the dead. I guess I was always disappointed when I remembered that Moriarty, the guy who is supposed to be the ultimate nemesis of Holmes, never directly appears in the books. However, about 4 years ago I gave it another go, only this time I didn’t stop short, and I’ve been slowly working my way through the collection one book at a time…
Recently I came to His Last Bow, which starts of by letting me know that Holmes is still alive and well, although retired and suffering from the occasional bout of rheumatism. What follows is a collection of his adventures mostly taken from the early years with Watson, although the continuity in these books is so strained I haven’t got the slightest clue whether this sentence holds up to any form of scrutiny. If I’m being completely honest, this particular collection of stories aren’t the strongest, although they do have all the hallmarks familiar to the Sherlock Holmes cannon. These are some of my favourite recurring happenings:
1. Watson starts off a short story by alluding to a case involving a European Royal family, a lot of money, and Holmes saving the day, before immediately declaring that it can’t be told in public so we have to settle for something much more mundane.
2. Watson does something really stupid, which puts him in a lot of danger. Suddenly the tramp/street performer/lady across the street jumps forward and saves him, and then turns out to be Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock then admonishes Watson for being an idiot.
3. For some reason, Holmes can’t solve the case without creating an illusion of fallibility to Watson. It then turns out that he’s been in charge of the whole thing all along. This is best exemplified by a story in His Last Bow, in which Holmes pretends to be dying from a tropical disease for 3 days, in order to get Watson to go fetch a doctor who he knows is trying to kill him. Guess what? He’s not dying!
Even though these things happen repeatedly, I love these books. There is a wit about them, and an eye for the bizarre which provide a great hook to the mystery. I think my favourite short story (of all the ones I’ve read) is the league of red headed gentlemen. In it, a guy gets a job to write the dictionary on the basis of his perfectly red hair. After a few months of writing the dictionary, one day he can’t get in to the office. It all turns out to be an excuse to get this guy out of the house every day to help dig a tunnel for a bank robbery. Preposterous, but highly entertaining.
Although the book I just read is called ’His Last Bow’ there is still one more to go before I complete the set. I will read it one day, although I don’t hold much hope the standard will be very high. Still, when I do finish it, then I’ll be able to look back upon the stories with many great memories. A unique mixture of excitement, mystery and comedy keeps Sherlock Holmes very much alive in peoples minds today, as evidenced by all the screen adaptations. Sherlock Holmes also has a guiding catchphrase which I’d like to round this piece out with, for no reason other than my own satisfaction:
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”
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