Rating: 
Summary: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Review: "Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" was the fourth Holmes book and the second collection of short stories. Originally published in the Strand Magazine as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," it took the name "Memoirs" when published in book form, because the first collection had pre-empted the title "Adventures.""Memoirs" consists of eleven short stories, none of which are as good as the stories in the first collection. In fact, several stories appear to be reworkings of stories from the original "Adventures." "The Stockbroker's Clerk" is a rehash of the plot of "The Red Headed League." "The Gloria Scott" seems to borrow heavily from "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." "The Greek Interpreter" replays "The Engineer's Thumb." "The Yellow Face" harks back to "A Scandal in Bohemia." In "Bohemia," Holmes was stymied, and in "Yellow Face" he again goes badly astray. Obviously Doyle was growing weary of Holmes. So weary, in fact, that he killed Holmes off in "The Final Problem." Holmes fans everywhere would rejoice when Doyle resurrected their hero in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and Holmes went on to further, and better adventures. Mediocre Holmes is still far better than most detective fiction. Holmes fans everywhere should also rejoice at the BDD publication of the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Merrison and Williams make the best Holmes-Watson team since the Rathbone-Bruce collaboration. The production values for the BBC plays are excellent, far better than the production values of the 30's and 40's, when Rathbone and Bruce portrayed the crimefighting duo. The BDD publication consists of three volumes, each volume containing two cassettes, and each cassette containing two plays. The eleven short stories of "Memoirs" does not quite fill the twelve play capacity of the cassettes. BDD solves the problem by borrowing "The Second Stain" from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."
Rating:
Summary: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Review: "Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" was the fourth Holmes book and the second collection of short stories. Originally published in the Strand Magazine as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," it took the name "Memoirs" when published in book form, because the first collection had pre-empted the title "Adventures." "Memoirs" consists of eleven short stories, none of which are as good as the stories in the first collection. In fact, several stories appear to be reworkings of stories from the original "Adventures." "The Stockbroker's Clerk" is a rehash of the plot of "The Red Headed League." "The Gloria Scott" seems to borrow heavily from "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." "The Greek Interpreter" replays "The Engineer's Thumb." "The Yellow Face" harks back to "A Scandal in Bohemia." In "Bohemia," Holmes was stymied, and in "Yellow Face" he again goes badly astray. Obviously Doyle was growing weary of Holmes. So weary, in fact, that he killed Holmes off in "The Final Problem." Holmes fans everywhere would rejoice when Doyle resurrected their hero in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and Holmes went on to further, and better adventures. Mediocre Holmes is still far better than most detective fiction. Holmes fans everywhere should also rejoice at the BDD publication of the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Merrison and Williams make the best Holmes-Watson team since the Rathbone-Bruce collaboration. The production values for the BBC plays are excellent, far better than the production values of the 30's and 40's, when Rathbone and Bruce portrayed the crimefighting duo. The BDD publication consists of three volumes, each volume containing two cassettes, and each cassette containing two plays. The eleven short stories of "Memoirs" does not quite fill the twelve play capacity of the cassettes. BDD solves the problem by borrowing "The Second Stain" from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."
Rating:
Summary: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Review: "Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" was the fourth Holmes book and the second collection of short stories. Originally published in the Strand Magazine as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," it took the name "Memoirs" when published in book form, because the first collection had pre-empted the title "Adventures." "Memoirs" consists of eleven short stories, none of which are as good as the stories in the first collection. In fact, several stories appear to be reworkings of stories from the original "Adventures." "The Stockbroker's Clerk" is a rehash of the plot of "The Red Headed League." "The Gloria Scott" seems to borrow heavily from "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." "The Greek Interpreter" replays "The Engineer's Thumb." "The Yellow Face" harks back to "A Scandal in Bohemia." In "Bohemia," Holmes was stymied, and in "Yellow Face" he again goes badly astray. Obviously Doyle was growing weary of Holmes. So weary, in fact, that he killed Holmes off in "The Final Problem." Holmes fans everywhere would rejoice when Doyle resurrected their hero in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and Holmes went on to further, and better adventures. Mediocre Holmes is still far better than most detective fiction. Holmes fans everywhere should also rejoice at the BDD publication of the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Merrison and Williams make the best Holmes-Watson team since the Rathbone-Bruce collaboration. The production values for the BBC plays are excellent, far better than the production values of the 30's and 40's, when Rathbone and Bruce portrayed the crimefighting duo. The BDD publication consists of three volumes, each volume containing two cassettes, and each cassette containing two plays. The eleven short stories of "Memoirs" does not quite fill the twelve play capacity of the cassettes. BDD solves the problem by borrowing "The Second Stain" from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."
Rating:
Summary: Third-best of the Sherlock Holmes short story collections!
Review: Although he also wrote several novels featuring the world's greatest fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it was especially in his short stories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle perfected the Holmes formula. "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (published in 1893) is the second of the five collections of Holmes short stories. Along with the third collection ("The Return of Sherlock Holmes"), "Memoirs" is generally regarded as inferior to the superlative first collection ("The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), but easily better than the last two in the series ("His Last Bow" and "The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes"). This collection includes Silver Blaze (usually regarded as one of the five all-time most popular stories in the Holmes canon), but also contains other excellent stories like The Stock-broker's Clerk, and The Musgrave Ritual, and favorites like The Reigate Puzzle, The Greek Interpreter, and The Final Problem. Those who have already enjoyed "Adventures" will certainly not want to miss "Memoirs".
Here's a list of the stories in this collection (with the better stories marked with stars):
**Silver Blaze, 1892 - Often regarded as one of the five all-time top 5 Holmes stories ever, this tale has Sherlock Holmes unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of the prized race-horse Silver Blaze (favorite for the upcoming Wessex Plate), and the brutal murder of her trainer John Straker.
The Yellow Face, 1893 - Sherlock gets it wrong as he surmises that the strange behaviour of Grant Munro's American wife Effie is because her former husband is not dead.
**The Stock-broker's Clerk, 1893 - Just when he's about to start a new job at Mawson's, Hall Pycroft is offered another job copying out parts of a telephone directory for a ridiculously high salary, which turns out to be part of a scheme reminiscent of the favorite "The Red-headed League".
The 'Gloria Scott', 1893 - In a story with overtones of the premise behind "The Sign of Four", the arrival of an old sailor brings Mr. Trevor terror and death, as he is forced to face his past involvement as part of mutiny on the ship "Gloria Scott" while journeying to Australia as a convict.
**The Musgrave Ritual, 1893 - In another top ten favorite, Holmes unravels the strange "Musgrave Ritual" to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of a butler and a maid, and the discovery of bag with rusted metal and pieces of glass in a nearby lake at the home of Reginald Musgrave.
*The Reigate Puzzle , 1893 - While staying with Watson's friend Colonel Hayter near Reigate, Holmes gets to the bottom of the mysterious burglaries at the nearby Acton estate and the Cunningham estate, as well as the murder of the Cunningham's coachman William.
The Crooked Man, 1893 - Colonel Barclay is apparently murdered by his devoted wife Nancy, but Holmes uncovers the involvement of another party who is intimately involved in both of their pasts.
The Resident Patient, 1893 -Dr. Percy Trevelyan is paid to practice medicine in the house a gentleman called Blessington, and when Blessington is apparently commits suicide, it takes Holmes to explain the connection of these events with a gang of five bank robbers.
*The Greek Interpreter, 1893 - Sherlock pairs up with his brother Mycroft Holmes, whose neighbour Melas is taken to a secret location to act as a Greek interpreter in a very suspicious affair involving a woman and man from Greece.
The Naval Treaty, 1893 - Holmes helps Percy Phelps, a former class-mate of Watson, recover an important naval treaty document that was stolen.
*The Final Problem, 1893 - Often regarded as being in the top ten of the canon, here Holmes apparently meets his end in a duel at the hands of Professor Moriarty, "the Napoleon of crime", after Holmes has had his gang arrested and unmasked him as the organizer and mastermind behind criminal activity in London.
- GODLY GADFLY
Rating:
Summary: Memoirs - Four More Classics
Review: I was pleased with the presentation and quality of the dramatization. The BBC series is sure better that just having someone read the book on a tape! The BBC series seems to be the best in conveying the sense of mystery in each of Conan Doyle's works. I find each of the actors make truly fine presentations which are easy to follow and track closely to the printed text. When one listens closely, each set of words tie in to the ultimate conclusion. And after hearing each presentation a few more times, you pick up on the nuances that lead you to the correct conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Memoirs - Four More Classics
Review: I was pleased with the presentation and quality of the dramatization. The BBC series is sure better that just having someone read the book on a tape! The BBC series seems to be the best in conveying the sense of mystery in each of Conan Doyle's works. I find each of the actors make truly fine presentations which are easy to follow and track closely to the printed text. When one listens closely, each set of words tie in to the ultimate conclusion. And after hearing each presentation a few more times, you pick up on the nuances that lead you to the correct conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Sherlock fans - this is a MUST HAVE
Review: In spite of the fact that I have all the stories, this book made me want to reread them all again. It is a hoot. You'll discover fascinating facts that will make the stories brand new and interesting all over again. This is a MUST HAVE for Holmes fans.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Edition
Review: It is hard to write about classics . They are also hard to choose, specially because since most of them are in public domain, several publishing companies publish them.In the case of Sherlock Holmes adventures,this is also true. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is the collection of stories which its author intended to be the last, where the great detective plunges to apparent death with his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. Roughly ten years later the sleuth was resurrected. The first time I purchased a Sherlock Holmes collection it was the Wordsworth edition. Very amusing, since they are the facsimile of the original Strand Magazine editions. On the other hand, the print is terribly small and difficult to read. I was preparing my thesis when I found this edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was edited by Christopher Roden,a specialist in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It has a very comprehensive introduction and liner notes which make the book very understandable, specially if you are not British.This edition is a very helpful one not only for the student, but also to the reader who is not familiar with Victorian times. Bottom line: If you are a serious reader of Sherlock Holmes, this book should be part of your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: A study of timetables
Review: These are some of my favorite stories in the Canon! Silver Blaze includes the memorable line about "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" ("The dog did nothing in the night-time. That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes)". The Gloria Scott may be the start of Holmes career as consulting detective, and in these Memoirs we also have the introduction of brother Mycroft. The annotation by Leslie Klinger on this edition is superb, with diversions into the constant problem of train timetables (Did Watson purposely obscure these facts?). I was interested in her annotation of the difference between American and English editions (for example in "Yellow face" the longer time that Grant Munro was silent in the American Edition was "presumably because inter-racial marriage was unacceptable in America in the 1890's"). The footnotes always help to place the stories in context (for example what is "brain-fever" suffered in 7 of the Holmes stories?) and also detect inconsistencies in Watson's telling. Perhaps my favorite footnote is in "The Yellow Face" stating that actor William Gillette may have been to the Holmes household and met the page "Billy" (Who was played by Charlie Chaplin in 1903!). The few appendices deal; with "Sherlock Holmes the Horseplayer", "The post-graduate years", or "Theories of Mycroft Holmes". The Sidney Paget drawings are always welcome!
Rating:
Summary: A study of timetables
Review: These are some of my favorite stories in the Canon! Silver Blaze includes the memorable line about "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" ("The dog did nothing in the night-time. That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes)". The Gloria Scott may be the start of Holmes career as consulting detective, and in these Memoirs we also have the introduction of brother Mycroft. The annotation by Leslie Klinger on this edition is superb, with diversions into the constant problem of train timetables (Did Watson purposely obscure these facts?). I was interested in her annotation of the difference between American and English editions (for example in "Yellow face" the longer time that Grant Munro was silent in the American Edition was "presumably because inter-racial marriage was unacceptable in America in the 1890's"). The footnotes always help to place the stories in context (for example what is "brain-fever" suffered in 7 of the Holmes stories?) and also detect inconsistencies in Watson's telling. Perhaps my favorite footnote is in "The Yellow Face" stating that actor William Gillette may have been to the Holmes household and met the page "Billy" (Who was played by Charlie Chaplin in 1903!). The few appendices deal; with "Sherlock Holmes the Horseplayer", "The post-graduate years", or "Theories of Mycroft Holmes". The Sidney Paget drawings are always welcome!
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