The Complete Sherlock Holmes

Rating:
Summary: There will never be a better detective
Review: Sherlock Holmes. To be fair, he does not need a review. We all know what he does and how he does it. We all know The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. Watson, Mrs Hudson, Professor Moriarty and 221b Baker Street.

Arthur Conan Doyle has laid down a being so perfect at his craft that no-one can ever better it. Many will moan at the unrealistic side of Holmes' cases or the fantastically ridiculous nature of many of the crimes, but that does not take away from the genius of Holmes. It is like saying that James Bond is not the best spy. Of course he is, the scrapes he finds himself in do not detract from his achievements.

Why are the stories so good? It is down to the facts that you know exactly what Holmes has heard and you know that he has the answer, but you also know that you will never be exactly right in your deductions. You may have an idea as to the guilty, but you cannot say hand on heart that you are right and why you are right. If you do not believe me, read a couple of the short ones.

This complete collection of the Holmes stories brings together the longer stories and the full length novel that is "Hound of the Baskervilles" with the numerous number of shorter stories that are completed in about 30 minutes. They provide an excellent curio to read before sleep and a serious challenge if you attempt to dissect the evidence and beat Holmes at his own game. I always like to chance my arm as to the villain, but, apart from a few good efforts, I tend to be way off. The enjoyment then comes from having Holmes explain it to you. A simple formula, really, but one which Conan Doyle uses often and refreshingly well.

The beauty is that you know what you are getting with Holmes and the final solution to each problem seldom disappoints. The stories also provide an insight to the times; Holmes' use of cocaine, the acceptable opinions of the day and the people of London in Queen Victoria's time.

This book is simply unbeatable.

Rating:
Summary: A classic!
Review: I give it a 4 star only because there is an occasional clunker story in here. Overall most of the stories are 5 stars if taken individually. ACD, along with a few other contemporaries, influenced an entire genre of authors.

The plots are ingenious. The early-middle period is the best plotted/written of the series. The Adventures... are perfect in nearly every way. Nothing can reproduce the excitement of waiting for "The Speckled Band" in the night with Holmes and Watson, of wondering what it means that the dog did not bark in the nighttime, and trying to decode the dancing men. I was first introduced to Holmes and Watson via the Hound when I was in 4th grade, and have never looked back. It literally opened up a new world to me.

In addition to the wonderful plots, the relationship between Holmes and Watson makes interesting reading. Beneath the gruff exterior, Holmes has much affection and even admiration for Watson. May we all have a relationship as close and endearing in our lifetimes.

The game is afoot!

Rating:
Summary: Truly one of the greatest literary works of all time
Review: I have never been a fan of mysteries... actually, save Sherlock Holmes, I never read them. Once I stumbled upon Sherlock and Watson in my grade ten English class, I knew that I was hooked for life. Very little of my passion for Conan Doyle is based on his ability to write a spine-tingling or comical or dramatic mystery ( although he does all with such remarkable precision and depth that I deem him no less than that of a genius ) I am basically drawn to Sherlock Holmes as a character. I think he possesses a certain allure.... he contains an almost ethereal and metaphysical presence at times and his powers of deduction are indeed out of this world. However he is extremely flawed, reminding us that even the best most intelligent beings on the earth have moments of misgiving. Sherlock Holmes is a cocaine- addict. He is rude, narcassistic, and incredibly sarcastic. Save himself, and his best friend Watson, he cares not about anyone in the world. He revolves around his world, and cases, not the people behind them, stimulate him. However there are remarkable stories where a bit of a heart shines through and proves him not a total automaton. Watson also casts an hypnotic power on the reader. He is not only a fine narrator ( Doyle's exceptional writing capablility shining through him ) yet, he is also a wonderful, loyal, witty friend and companion to Sherlock. Not at all the unintelligent foil many adaptations make the mistake of intending him to be. He is also flawed, a womanizer and a gambler, and someone who cannot understand his friend. It is Watson that holds us in the stories... we look to him for direction... As a classical literature nut, I strongly feel that everyone should be initiated to the canon. You cannot just read one or two stories.. you must read them all. You will find them so enthralling you may read them all in the span of two weeks ( as I did ) and return many times after to indulge yet again in the Victorian gas-lit era of 19th Century London.

Rating:
Summary: A great read and a great price
Review: This is the best of the best when it comes to Sherlock Holmes. I am a long time fan Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; in fact he got me hooked on reading. I've now read Sherlock Holmes along with David Lehman's reissue of "The Perfect Murder: A Study in Detection" and found the two books perfect companions for anyone who loves understading the classic WHODUNIT.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate omnibus edition
Review: Every Holmes fan has more than one version of the Canon, and this should be among the collection as your standard 'reading copy.' Until I discovered this edition, my favorite reading version was the 1970s Ballantine editions (with great introductions ranging from Joe Gores to Ellery Queen to P.G. Wodehouse)--but sadly, that edition is out of print, and never contained the final two Conan Doyle books anyway. This oversized paperback aptly fills the modern role of a definitive edition.

As for the stories themselves, you simply can't go wrong in rediscovering or reading Holmes for the first time. Sure, Conan Doyle's stories sometimes lacked an internal logic (my favorite tale, 'The Adventure of the Red-Headed League," is riddled with plot holes). But there's a reason these have remained as classics that have never gone out of popular fashion, over a hundred years since publication: they're entertaining, cleverly written, wonderfully detailed, and often edge-of-your-seat thrilling. Included are all 57 short stories (ideal for a quite hour in your armchair, or for a commute during which you can escape to Victorian London) and the four longer novels (the most popular of which is "The Hound of the Baskervilles," but don't pass up the sublime and underrated "The Valley of Fear"). This is the ideal book for a long vacation (especially to London!), and, if I were stranded on a desert island, this is the book I'd want most with me (well, after that 'How to Build an Island-Escaping Raft from Coconuts' book).

If you haven't discovered Sherlock Holmes, this is the edition of his adventures to buy. If you read Conan Doyle long ago but haven't picked him up since, this is the edition to buy. If you've got several other Sherlock Holmes books on your shelf but want a single-volume complete edition, this is the edition to buy. As it's been said, 'There's no police like Holmes.'

Rating:
Summary: What else needs to be said?
Review: This is the best way I can summarize the book: Without question the best detective fiction ever written. Period. Doyle's Holmes & Watson is one of the greatest creations in literature. The logical and deductive analysis is profound, as well as the characters & stories themselves. Holmes, while on the surface possesses extremely rare qualities which almost any person in the world would want to have, also houses many imperfections, making him all the more believable. There is Watson, his trusted chronicler and close friend by his side, there to give humor and even more realism to it all, and to provide a balance to Holmes. Among the best reads you'll find are "The Hound of the Baskervilles", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," "The Final Problem," & "The Red-Headed League". Set in Victorian England during the late 1800's and early 1900's, I think the London environment provides that much more to the characters and original storylines. It's one of the cornerstones of the Holmes mystique, I think. Unforgettable characters such as Mr. Stapleton, Charles Augustus Milverton, Inspector Lestrade, and of course the greatest villain of all-time (just edging out Keyser Soze), Professor James Moriarty. The stories are unbelievable, and how Doyle managed to write them while in a physician's office I'm not sure. Every story I read I tried to figure out the ending as best I could, and of the 60 written I managed once or twice. If you haven't read Holmes' adventures before, or have but are not in possession of all of them, get this book asap.

Rating:
Summary: wassup holmes!
Review: There is no reason not to purchase the complete Sherlock Holmes collection. Not only is this great recreational reading, but it is very educational as well. Holmes is, in my opinion, the most fully developed person in all of fiction. After reading all the stories and novels thrice as I have, you come to understand what it takes to develop a character so real that many will attest that he actually existed. The stories are also great for the mind, as the reader continually tries to match wits with Holmes in each mystery. This collection contains both short reading (stories which can be read in 45 minutes) and involved novels. When buying this book, I suggest that you not have anything important to do for a few months, as it is impossible to put the book down. I am not a heavy reader, and being a college student, I almost detest reading altogether, yet the works of Arthur Conan Doyle have always kept me glued to each page. If you don't like Sherlock Holmes, you are probably retarded.

Rating:
Summary: "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."
Review: In Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created one of the world's best known and (arguably) most fully realized literary characters. Since Doyle's death, there have been plenty of people writing knockoffs of his stories. But with rare exceptions (Nicholas Meyer comes to mind), most have not lived up to the high standards Doyle set in at least the best of his Holmes tales.

This volume includes the complete canon of Doyle's original stories -- four novels and fifty-six short stories, from "A Study in Scarlet" to "His Last Bow." While there are a handful of cases that bore significantly on international affairs (e.g. "The Bruce-Partington Plans"), most of them are of interest simply because of that touch of the _outre_ that Holmes loved so much and that provided such stimulating material to the ideal reasoner.

There are some clunkers in the canon, of course, but the vast majority of these stories -- especially the earliest ones -- are just brilliant. If you are reading them for the first time, I envy you; the sturdy Dr. John Watson is about to introduce you to a new world, a world of Victorian gaslight and Stradivarius violins, of hansom cabs and cries of "The game's afoot!"

For in reading this volume you will find such classic tales as "The Red-Headed League" and "The Man With The Twisted Lip"; you will encounter the famous dog that did nothing in the night-time ("Silver Blaze") and several versions of Holmes's favorite maxim ("When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"); and you will meet one of the most fascinating and memorable characters ever to spring from the printed page: Holmes himself.

Perhaps most importantly, you will catch a glimpse of the world as an ideal reasoner might see it -- not as a grab-bag of random atomic facts in which our own role is negligible, but as a vast interconnected whole in which each part bears some necessary relation to the rest, and in which the reasoned pursuit of justice in all matters great and small is the business of each and every one of us.

Incidentally, the twentieth-century philosopher who presented that vision most consistently and cogently is, to my own mind, Brand Blanshard, and any Holmes readers who are interested in philosophy may enjoy investigating Blanshard's works as well.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Super Sleuth Collection
Review: Doyle wrote several novel-length books, but is particularly famous for his 56 short stories, starring Sherlock Holmes.

This collection contains all of Doyle's works, but is especially worth purchasing because it contains the complete collection of the adventures of the world's most famous super sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.

Although written in the early 20th century, Holmes' incredible deductions and brilliant detective work is timeless, and will continue to amaze and entertain readers well into the 21st century.

One of my favorites! A worthy addition to any personal library!

Rating:
Summary: I really liked it
Review: I have read and re-read many of the stories in the book. After a while, I'd forget what happened with the stories so it is always very fun to read them again. It is easy to read and suspenseful. I especially liked the long stories in there. They had some quite twisty and unexpected characters and endings. I'd recommend this to anyone that enjoys detective type of stories.