Posted on September 23, 2008 in Books
I reviewed all four novels and six short story collections as I heard them on unabridged audiobooks narrated by John Telfer. I started the first book in early July and finished mid September; that is a lot if listening. I enjoyed it for the most part. I really think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has an ability to entice. Even though I found myself predicting the results of some of the mysteries, I still liked how he delivered Holmes’s deduction and explanation at the end. I grew to really appreciate the Holmes character as the series went on. Though, I must admit the earlier short story collections are the best.
As for the audiobooks, I was pleased with Tefler’s ability to transition between the characters. I’ve only really listened to a handful of audiobook narrators by this point, and I like the medium immensely. Those that are chosen or choose this line of voice acting really are adept to it. Tefler had a variety of accents and voice tones. Though, his American accent and voice is exactly the same every time which is more amusing than anything.
My favourite novel was The Hound of the Baskervilles. My favourite of the short story collections was probably The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes if only because I started to really like Holmes in this collection. I do think that each of the short story collections has at least one notable or interesting case that emphasises the characters or plots.
The reviews in canon and chronological order. Most of the books are reviewed together with another one.
Posted on September 23, 2008 in Books, Photography
The first three stories of His Last Bow have Conan Doyle’s themes of revenge and vengeance. Other stories include the Case of the Bruce Partington Papers is a complicated, longest of the mysteries with a spy thriller aspect and the Case of the Dying Detective has Holmes acting mad and mean to Watson. This anthology is notable for containing the last chronological story in the Holmes canon. All of the next collection takes place before the events of the last story
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes is the last of the Holmes canon. It has three stories that are not narrated by Watson, one is third person and two stories narrated by Holmes himself. One of which is a mystery he solves during his retirement in Sussex. Another notable incident in this collection is that Watson gets shot. I’m rather indifferent to this collection more than the others. One can tell that after forty years, Conan Doyle was no longer really into writing Holmes stories.