Rating: Summary: The hound of the Baskervilles Review: This is a book of stupefying and mind-blowing set of events, in which the incredible Sherlock Holmes is called forth to solve the mystery of the hound that has haunted the baskeville family for generations. Death and puzzlement will arise as Holmes investagates the mysterious death of sir Henry's father. and stumbles across the most mysterious case yet. I rate this book a five because of the way they keep you thinking and guessing. I recomend this book not only for the mystery lovers, but to the people who like to think and guess. Three reasons you should read this book is: 1. it is safistacated reading, and it is a well known fact that readin expands your vocabulary, 2. It makes you think which will help you in some point of your life, and 3. It is full of every catagory in reading: romance, excitement, comedy, etc. And as I've always said books are little worlds of knowlodge. If we use them right we could all become more Sophisticated and mature.
Rating: Summary: Classic book, can't beat the price! Review: [This is a review of the Dover thrift Edition of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'] Dover Thrift Editions have done a lot to get me to read great literature: classic lit at an *incredibly* affordable price (at the time I'm writing this review the book retails for a *buck fifty*...even if it goes up, that's still one of the best book values you'll ever find!). Dover's no-frills approach (generic jackets, inexpensive paper) belies the classic range of their thrift editions, and this is one of my favorites: Conan Doyle's best-known Sherlock Holmes adventure, genuinely chilling and moody. If you haven't read it in a long while, you might have forgotten how well-drawn and detailed this is. Conan Doyle's characters, dialogue, cliffhangers (Chapter Two's end is, in my opinion, one of English lit's best example of suspenseful cliffhangers that will have you flipping the page), setting and the suspenseful climax have made this a mystery classic for over a hundred years. If you're familiar only with Nigel Bruce's humorous but bumbling portrayal of Doctor Watson, you'll enjoy the *true* Watson of the novel...intelligent man of action, trusted by Holmes to investigate the scene ahead of him. The price makes this an excellent gift (aw, at this price, go ahead and pick them up a few more Dover Thrift editions, including 'Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories') or a great book to take on a trip (at this price, you can afford to give it away to a fellow traveler when you've finished).
Rating: Summary: A must for any Holmes fan... Review: This is a great mystery novel - probably Sherlock Holmes' best - and a good thriller in its own right. Arthur Conan Doyle creates a genuinely creepy atmosphere by his setting on the English moors and the legend of the demonic hound. Of course, being a Holmes story, most things end up with a rational explanation, but there is good, honest, Victorian terror along the way. Reading it, I was struck by how much it must have influenced the movie, An American Werewolf in London. Conan Doyle has a wonderful, economic prose style and his Holmes stories always move at a quick pace. The only maddening thing is how much time Sherlock himself spends off-stage. I guess Conan Doyle treats the character the way most authors treat villains - only allowing the reader glimpses of him. I guess that is because Sherlock's mind is so atypical, he is ultimately unknowable to us. In this story, Holmes has to stay behind in London for a while, so he sends the very competent Dr. Watson to Baskerville hall to investigate the strange goings-on.
Rating: Summary: Excellent characters, engrossing mystery. Review: Familiar with his stories for years, I finally decided to buckle down and read one of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes, and "The Hound of the Baskervilles," the most famous of the novels, was the one I decided to pick up. To my surprise, I tore through it. It was a simple read, yet a complicated and satisfying mystery. As with all the Holmes stories, his assistant Dr. Watson is charged with telling the tale of the bloody Baskerville curse. Sir Charles Baskerville, who was the charge of the family estate, has recently been gored to death by some sort of animal, and Sir Henry, the new heir to the household and the family fortune, fears that the mythic curse of a hellhound stalking the family grounds is true. A strange twist occurs in this investigation, though, for it's not Holmes who goes to investigate the house. It's Watson, who studies the suspicious neighbors and staff, keeps close watch over Sir Henry and begins to notice that some very odd things are lurking about the moor. Is the curse behind this killing, or is it a villain of flesh and blood? The lead characters are defined well, and, though this is my first Holmes story, I understood the basics and the rhythm almost immediately. The narrative structure that Doyle is famous for is, as expected, charming, and the characters are well-defined. The mystery is properly twisted, and I didn't really guess the middle or the ending. The best twist, to me, wasn't the reveal of any villain or method. It was the twist involving the shadowy figure on the moor. I didn't see it coming at all, and, when I read it, I realized that this old novel still had the narrative tools to surprise me. It's a classic for a reason.
Rating: Summary: Men of science investigate the supernatural Review: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is among the most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories overall, and certainly the most famous of the four Holmes novels. Perhaps this is because of its ingenious plot premise. In this story, the famous deductive detective and his friend Dr. Watson are called upon to investigate at Baskerville Hall, a remote country mansion where the new heir to the property fears for his life. Apparently an old family legend has come true, and a horrible hound who haunts the moors is thought responsible for the deaths of the previous landowners. I know of no more chillingly atmospheric and mysterious setups for a mystery than this one. Unfortunately, large portions of the book feature yawning gaps in which Holmes himself does not appear, and we are forced to subsist on less interesting characters. Still, it *is* a Holmes story (fans of Holmes were delighted when this novel first appeared, since it was the first new Holmes story in some years, the author having previously killed off his famous hero in "The Final Problem") and the mystery is a good one, featuring red herrings, suspicious goings-on, and clever sleuthing by the great detective. The climax of the tale, when it finally comes, is as exciting as any Conan Doyle ever wrote. A must for mystery fans.
Rating: Summary: The Hound of the Baskervilles Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles is about one of the adventures of the famous Sherlock Holmes. He's done some excellent sleuthing and interviewing in this 256 page mystery. You might be a little uninterested at the start because it begins a little slow and the language is a little out of date, but if you stick with it for a few pages you'll see how intriguing the mystery is. The tension raises and raises until you find out if the case is of the supernatural or just criminal. Sir Charles Baskerville has just died and the very wealthy Baskerville estate in England is now in the hands of young Sir Henry Baskerville. Sir Charles seems to die of the cursed family hound that Hugo Baskerville brought upon the family 300 years ago. Sir Henry is now in terrible fear of the moor which is always the place that this hound of doom strikes. Right from when Charles arrives in London strange things start happening. He also gets an interesting and mysterious warning. This book is truly great because sometimes you may think you know the culprit but it turns out that you're wrong. The person you think is the culprit is just doing something entirely un-expected and it adds more mysteries to the crime. Sherlock Holmes has to risk it all and lie even to his best friend and assistant, the narrator, Watson. The setting of the moor is the perfect place for the legend to exist because of all the ancient structures and the Grimpen Mire. You'll have to read the book to understand what I mean. The book is an excellent adventure for all ages and isn't too long of a read.
Rating: Summary: The Hound of the Baskervilles Review: I really enjoyed reading The Hound of the Baskervilles. I thought it was very exciting and suspensful. Conan Doyle uses a very elevated vocabulary which may not be appropriate for young people. Also Conan Doyle does a great job of illustrating to us what Baskerville Hall might look like and what the moor may seem like at midnight on a cloudy evening. He also depicts the characters very well and he did a great job with the death scenes. I was a little dissappointed that the book was not more scarey. It was not the best I have ever read but The Hound of the Baskervilles was certainly a great book.
Rating: Summary: An intriguing and suspenseful detective story. Review: First I must make a note of the fact that this is the first and only Sherlock Holmes story I've read thus far. Therefore I cannot offer any kind of comparison between "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and Doyle's other works. I will simply give you my thoughts about it as a story in and of itself. The book is simply written and easy to understand, but the plot remains engaging throughout. It is not overly complicated, but neither is it too simplistic or predictable. The Baskerville family has passed down the legend of a giant black hound that plagues the residents of Baskerville Hall, bringing a swift end to any that dare venture alone onto the nearby moor at night. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead upon the moor with the pawprints of a large dog in the earth nearby, the case is presented to Sherlock Holmes in hopes of unraveling the mystery and ensuring the safety of Sir Charles's nephew and Baskerville Hall's new occupant, Sir Henry Baskerville. Too busy to investigate the matter himself, Holmes sends his friend and assistant, Dr. Watson, out to Baskerville Hall in his stead. Watson is the narrator of the story, and we see threads of the mystery slowly unravel as he makes his reports back to Holmes. Other reviewers have complained about the fact that Holmes is not the central figure in this particular novel, but I actually liked the way the story was done. And as we find out toward the end of the book, Holmes actually plays a larger part than he initially appears to. I must admit, though, that it was a bit depressing to see Watson toil away at investigating and drawing conclusions only to have Holmes repeatedly inform him that his conclusions are wrong. Watson does most of the drudge-work but gets very little in return. The style of the writing was very appealing to me. The story has a very dark, gothic feel, and is full of suspense. Doyle's descriptions make the eerie moor feel very real. For a book written a century ago, it is still very reader-friendly. The only part where I thought the book dropped off a little was in the last few chapters. For all the build-up and suspense, the climax of the story is much too short and quickly resolved, leaving a feeling of unreality. Also, Doyle concludes by having Holmes simply recite to Watson all the details of his sleuthing that were left out of the action of the book. I think the rule "Show, don't tell," is a good one when it comes to literature, and I would rather have actually seen Holmes come to his conclusions as the story progressed. Overall, though, I did enjoy the book, and look forward to reading more of Doyle's work. My one last word of advice regards this particular edition of the book (the 1993 Signet Classics printing with Afterword by Frederick Busch). There are numerous typos that really should have been caught and corrected before publishing (most, curiously, are instances where the letter "t" is inexplicably replaced with the letter "b"). I would recommend looking for a different version that is more competently edited.
Rating: Summary: The Hound of the Baskervilles Review: _The Hound of the Baskervilles,_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a classic Sherlock Holmes mystery that will keep the reader guessing from cover to cover. Set in Nineteenth Century England, the tale of murder and a family curse will hold the reader's attention until the end. When Sir Charles Baskerville mysteriously dies and the heir to his estate is threatened, the real mystery begins. Doyle's masterful writing style is easy to follow and flows so well the book will be over before the reader realizes it. I enjoyed this Sherlock Holmes mystery because it is easy to read and it flows well. For me, a person that does not usually like classics- or mysteries for that matter, I really enjoyed this book. The story kept my interest and it kept me guessing throughout the entire book. This story is not a thriller, but it is still a good mystery. For someone who prefers John Grisham suspense or a CSI type story line, this book is probably not for them. However, for someone who enjoys simple mysteries and likes to play the role of detective as they read, I would recommend this book.
Rating: Summary: The best Mystery Ever Review: This is hands down one of the best mysteries ever written by Doyle. While Amazon categorizes it as a book for 9-12 year olds, I believe it may be too difficult for the low end of this age range. Either way, adults and young adults alike who enjoy mysteries, or just a suspenseful story written by a master of the craft, should read this book. (...), I know how difficult it is to put together a moving story that can hold a reader's interest. "hound" is a large book that even non-readers will quickly become absorbed in. I highly recommend it.
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