The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes 150th Anniversary: The Short Stories

Rating:
Summary: Almost too detailed
Review:

Conan Doyle's fifty-six short stories are presented here by a master "Sherlockian". This means that the annotations assume that Sherlock Holmes really existed. This really gets on the nose at times, and I must say I was expecting something far more scholarly (i.e. Sherlock Holmes never existed, people!!)

That aside, the edition is a magnificent one if you can overlook the geeky aspect of it. The quality of the production is fantastic, with very good paper (cream coloured) and two-colour printing which is used to excellent effect. The photos and illustrations include (as far as I can tell), every single one of the Strand Magazine illustrations by Mr Paget, reproduced in stunning detail - I can make out details I never saw in any previous edition!

The stories are copiously annotated. Sometmes this is fantastically useful in setting the scene in a way that modern audiences might not be able to do. A good example is "The Noble Bachelor", which has annotations explaining that the Apache attack mentioned in the text was actually a real attack in New Mexico in 1881.

Alas, sometimes the annotations got a little too precious and "cute" for this particular reader. An example is Silver Blaze, which has an entire article speculating on whether Sherlock Holmes placed a bet on Silver Blaze's race (groan), while leaving out what I was looking forward to - an explanation of why and in what manner the racing detail in the story is "faulty" as Conan Doyle famously admitted. I suppose that would require too much "reality" for the Sherlockian conceit to bear...

Anyone wanting a much more scholarly approach to an annotated Sherlock Holmes would do well to look at the Oxford edition, which is considered definitive by Conan scholars (Although even here the annotators sometimes seem to cross the thin line into pure nerdy fantasy!) However, that edition has no illustrations at all, and is an exceedingly uninspiring and rather drab presentation.

(By the way - Whatever happened to the Holmesians?? Have their American cousins the Sherlockians completely taken over the field, with their boundless energy and seemingly limitless excess of time on their hands???)

Rating:
Summary: Could have more scholarly bent, but still quite fine...
Review:
The book(set) is quite entertaining, and very beautiful. While the illustrations of Paget are never as clear as one would like, this book does the job better than any other has. There are also many illustrations by lesser-known artists.

For the Sherlock addict, the book isn't as indepth as one would have hoped. However, in regards to aestitic quality, there's not a Sherlock Holmes book that can compare. It's a true work of art.

For the person who reads Sherlock just for the sake of entertainment, the book may seem overloaded with detail. However, it's quite easy to skip over that and go straight to the stories. That may whet your appetite for more.

For the (American) Sherlockians, the book will be perfect. It provides them with 2000 pages of minutia over which they will write 5,231,765 articles over the course of the next 38 years, without resolving a single issue. A great deal for the price, no?

To be honest, the (UK) Holmesians use Klinger's Annotated Sherlock as decoration for the library. With Holmes and Watson in our neighborhood, we have no need to study and speculate. We simply pay a call at 221B Baker Street, and ask the great detective for whatever information we need.

So, dear Sherlockians, we know the answers to all of your questions. Simply ask any one of us. :)

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the wait!
Review: Among my most-treasured books is a copy of Baring-Gould's _The Annotated Sherlock Holmes_, bought for $10 (!) a decade ago at Costco. His extensive annotations and commentary gave new depth to my readings of the Canon.

I am glad to say that Klinger's _New Annotated Sherlock Holmes_ is a more than worthy heir to Baring-Gould's pioneering effort. As others have noted, the production values are indeed superb; the complete collection of the Paget drawings (themselves worthy of the purchase) have never looked better. The price is a bargain for 1,900 pages and two volumes of high-quality printing. If you have any interest at all in the greatest detective of all time, this is a must-buy.

Rating:
Summary: A weighty read
Review: For those of us used to the major Holmes novellas like `The Hound of the Baskervilles', it's easy to neglect the real treasure trove of Holmes mysteries made up of the fifty-six short stories published in the Strand Magazine. Leslie Klinger reproduces them here, faithfully printed in facsimile form, complete with the original illustrations ... and much, much more.

Klinger includes a host of annotations - articles and enigmatic theories contributed by Holmes' scholars over the last century in which they attempt to explain what the great detective was really doing. Holmes has a dedicated band of followers who believe him real, believe him still alive, believe he was actually a woman. There are probably fans who think he is an alien.

I can, of course, reveal the obvious - although in all the film versions Holmes and Watson speak with impeccable English accents, it has to be recognised that they were both, in fact, Scotsmen. The assumption of Englishness is merely a finely wrought symphony in irony, courtesy of the author ... a Scotsman, of course!

Conan Doyle was an artist, a man who helped shape the short story and the cliff-hanger into an art form. He combined a genius for narrative story-telling with the ability to weave characters, characters so convincing they have become real and the subject of speculation in a way few other fictional creatures ever have.

If the stories weren't fascinating enough in their own right, Klinger's exploration of the world of Holmes makes entertaining reading ... and provides further ironic commentary on the human condition and the preparedness of people to live life through their heroes ... even fictional heroes.

A startling publication - the two volumes run to nearly 2000 pages and come in at slightly below bantamweight. Heavy reading, but a delight all the same.

Rating:
Summary: Recounting the Steps to Baker Street, but why?
Review: I am surprised at all the praise being heaped on the book; it has done nothing but gilded the lily, when the original Annotated Sherlock Holmes by William S. Baring-Gould, still is fresh and fragrant.
Mr. Leslie Klinger, 'one of the foremost Holmes authorities in the world' has added precious little to the original. Even he must acknowledge a debt to Mr. Baring Gould, which he does after a fashion, in the preface to the work, justifying his own work for 'including reference to hundreds of works published subsequently.' Any of those throw any new light on a detective that saw light of day in print in 1887? None. Mr. Baring-Gould's book was an innovation, much before the 'annotated' books became a fashion and sold a few copies. The search for references, the time spent in research showed a sense of scholarship that was stupendous.
More or newer does not always add to the enjoyment: for example,
annotations for A Scandal In Bohemia, re: the late Irene Adler,
Mr.Baring Gould's tongue in cheek solution-'King of Bohemia murdered the woman' and Mr. Klinger's use of the same information and just adding 'a natural death cannot be ruled out' does not enhance the topic. (Both versions have much more information on this, Mr. Baring Gould's the pithier)and just to show how imitation can flatter, this reference to late Irene Adler is number 4 in both the books!
Nitpicking? Perhaps. This is just a fan crying out at the waste and repetition. So we know Sherlock Holmes sells! Give us something new. We don't mind forking out $75 (or less if bought on Amazon.com) but give us something original.
Even the Norton production is so much inferior to the Clarkson Potter publication of '67? (Has it been that many years!) Years that gave pleasure to hundreds of thousand of fans.
The illustrated boards of the original showing London of Sherlock Holmes and the stark recycled paper of the new one just show how the book designer quickly gave up, for economical reasons or lack of inspiration? And the shining golden title has given way to a prosaic black of the present volume, telling us the perhaps, that the publishers, quite unconsciously have, given it the second rate treatment.
I wonder if the critics who praise this volume have just seen and failed to observe the obvious differences between the two sets of books.
The third volume is due! I, for one, is not losing any sleep in anticipation; I am looking forward more to the Half Blood Prince.




Rating:
Summary: Missing the most important stories.
Review: I can't agree with the reviewers who praise this new set. It includes all the short stories, but leaves out ALL FOUR of the "novellas," that is "A study in scarlet," "The sign of the four," "The hound of the Baskervilles" and "The valley of fear." By virtue of their length these are the richest of the Holmes stories and would be the most interesting to have annotations of. But more important, the first two were the first published of the Holmes stories and gave Doyle the success needed to continue. Their position in the development of Holmes's and Watson's relationship is crucial; their description of the two men's histories is essential; and their role in the phenomenon that is Holmes's part in our culture is basic. To leave them out (with the promise that a third volume, in 2005, will finally complete the series) is, I think, to serve purchasers of the first two volumes very badly.

Rating:
Summary: THE Sherlockian "must-have" of this generation
Review: There's no question that William S. Baring-Gould's "Annotated Sherlock Holmes," now 37 years old, has long been the definitive guide to the Great Detective. I still recommend it to baby Sherlcokians. Now, however, Leslie Klinger has produced a NEW Annotated for THIS generation, and it's really quite wonderful. These are the first two volumes (the complete Doyle short stories) of what will be a three-volume masterwork (the third volume will hold the four novels). They come beautifully slipcased. The reproductions of the old illustrations are crisper and sharper than I've ever seen them. The terrific annotations to all 56 stories are not only very well done but are presented in color, making reading very easy. This set belongs on the shelf of every serious Sherlockian.

Rating:
Summary: A holiday gift to savor
Review: This collection makes quite a holiday stocking stuffer (need an extra large sock) for the mystery aficionado as the two volumes focus on and provides the fifty-six short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The tales are well known and require no accolades as to how good they are especially to fans of the great detective. Though this reviewer read most if not all as a teen, re-reading them was a delight that was done in one-two tales a night over the last month. Of interest is all the additions including annotations, commentary and essays on side subjects raised in the tale such as the Boer War. The biographies of Holmes and Watson are an added treat. Finally there are fascinating thesis and hypothesis provided on interpretation, alternate views, disagreements, and inconsistencies within the shorts, which this reviewer still is reading.

A positive leap forward from the previous all encompassing work (see William S. Baring-Gould's ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES). This is a tremendous anthology not just for the stories that are excellent, but because of the side notes and anecdotal commentary that show an incredible amount of research, insight and the 700 plus illustrations that enhance this incredible tome. THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES is a fantastic introduction to the world's finest detective so complete that fans will believe that this Sherlock Holmes compilation proves the sleuth lived. Note that the four novels will follow in their own volume.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Edition of Sherlock Holmes
Review: This two volume box edition would be a wonderful gift for the reader who loves the stories of Sherlock Holmes. There are many solid collections of these 56 tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, but if the reader is looking for explanations of the background and history of the Victorian age in which the stories are set, this is the edition for you.

This large oversize set is similiar in size to last year's "Far Side" collection of all of Gary Larsen's drawings. With nearly 1,900 pages, the annotations are placed alongside the text for quick reference along with some of the original illustations which accompanied those stories. And frankly, the Amazon price is a steal for an edition of this quality (think of the Library of America publications).

The reader should be aware that the four Sherlock Holmes novels (like "The Hound of the Basketvilles", "A Study In Scarlet", et al) are NOT in this edition --they will be published in a third volume next year. This new edition is more comprehensive than the two volume set of William Baring-Gould (1968) and far less bulky than the nine volume edition from Oxford University Press. The writing is clear and concise by the editor (Leslie Klinger) who has performed considerable research on the world of Sherlock Holmes. This is an edition that the reader will return to again and again on a cold winter's night.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic!
Review: Wonderful book filled with all the short stories and lots of fabulous illustrations (personally, I've always preferred the Paget ones). Footnotes are well-researched and often entertaining: in one story, Klinger comments on Watson's method of resuscitating a person but points out that although there were various methods of resuscitation used by the Victorians, none of them involved throwing water over the patient! Good summaries of the frequently bizarre theories which Sherlockian scholars (some with rather too much time on their hands) have come up with over the years regarding Holmes's death, Watson's war wound etc. etc. Klinger never takes himself or the characters too seriously and the result is a fascinating read (and of course, a desire to read all the stories yet again!).