"-Dragul meu,mi-a spus Sherlock Holmes in timp ce stateam asezati in fata focului,in locuinta lui de pe strada Backer,viata este infinit mai ciudata decat orice ar putea inventa mintea omeneasca.N-am indrazni sa cream niste lucruri care sunt,in fapt,simple locuri comune in existenta reala.Daca am putea zbura afara pe acea fereastra mana in mana si plana desaupra acestui mare oras,iar apoi ridica usor acoperisurile,uitandu-ne la lucrurile bizare care au loc acolo-coincidentele ciudate,planurile,confuziile,minunatele inlantuiri de evenimente,generandu-se unul pe celalalt si conducand la cele mai stranii rezulatate-,toate fictiunile pline de conventionalism si concluzii dinainte stiute ar deveni ceva rasuflat si inutil."

The book is a collection of eleven stories of the most famous detective to ever walk the streets of London. Included are: The Red-headed League, The Five Orange Pips, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Noble Bachelor, and my all-time favorite, The Speckled Band. Holmes himself thought it was his best. It was first published in 1892 in the Strand Magazine. Holmes and Watson rise up early and go visit Helen Stoner. She tells them she fears for her life from her stepfather, Dr. Roylott, the last survivor of a once wealthy family. He had served a prison sentence for flying into a rage and killing his Indian butler. Helen's sister had died earlier. Helen hears Helen's last words: "The Speckled Band." Holmes takes the case and he and Watson spend the night in the house. They hear a metallic noise and see a dim light shine through on a bell cord that has a venomous snake. The stepfather had placed milk on the cord and the snake had crawled down on the cord and bitten and killed Helen's sister. This story sends shivers down my back. There is remarkable reading in this volume of Sherlock stories.

So, it is complete, finished the works of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Here we see the full versatility of a Criminal Writer, looking into new and innovative ways, not just with crimes, but also how to solve them.

We see a relationship of Holmes and Watson grow from a first meeting into a close bond. Where Agatha Christie fails with Poirot, Doyle succeeds with Sherlock Holmes. By this, it is to the aid of the writer that he keeps both characters together. On the downside, there are times you could easily think or believe you are reading an Agatha Christie Poirot Novel as some of the stories are so similar.

Throughout Conan Doyle’s works he brings in many different storylines, some of my favourite were revolving the Government/ Prime Minister/ Home Secretary. It was also great to see the growth of other characters such as Inspector Lastrade and the recurrence of Holmes’ brother, Mycroft. I was shocked that only one whole story was attributed to Moriarty. He was alluded to in other works, but, only given one story. Seemingly, for a ‘master criminal’ this could have taken up more of Holmes’ time than it did. Something that the numerous television programmes on these books suggest more to.

Similarly, the famous line “ when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains however improbable must be the truth”, I seem to recall was only quoted once, in one book.

Above all, many great stories here, but ultimately, they ended up in a very quiet English manner with the last few stories. They didn’t end with a BANG, or WOW FACTOR, but in a very nice sedate manner. Not an overwhelming end to reading the amount of stories contained here.

For anyone who thinks classics are as boring as… a long famous book with lots of big words (!) these adventures are a must read. The ever-loyal Dr Watson follows the adventures of the hyper-deductive detective Sherlock Holmes in a companionship that defined Victorian popular literature. Originally published as individual short stories in a newspaper called ‘The Strand’ they were so popular that when author Arthur Conan Doyle tried to kill off his popular cerebral hero (by having him plunge off a giant Swiss waterfall in the clutches of his nemesis Professor Moriarty) he was forced by weight of popular demand to miraculously resurrect him. Nothing could sate the public’s appetite for Holmes' mental gymnastics and acrobatic leaps of conclusion and so he has lived on in the public imagination ever since. Dearstalker hats and pipes may not be as fashionable as once they were but they are near-universal symbols for mystery and ferocious intelligence. Start reading soon! The case is once again afoot!! SIMON

Fun, but can get kind of repetitve after a while. I read one story per day, usually before going to bed. An excellent way to close off the day.

Apart from a few classic tales, most adventures in this collection a rather dull and predictable. What was interesting though is to see how the modern BBC tv adaptation very cleverly referenced to the original stories.

My first encounter with this amazing character was when i was in 3rd std
The hound of Baskerville was the second book that i boorrowed from library.
Holmes is one of my favourite characters from literature.

I added music to me Kindle. Beethoven and Sherlock Holmes are perfectly complementary: )

"It was a confession," I ejaculated.

I'm only 67 pages in and this is the second time Watson has "ejaculated" some statement. Yours.

Okay, read the Adventures and will read the Memoirs another time. So totally satisfying. A bunch more uses of "ejaculated."

"My dear fellow, life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent."

-p47, Sherlock to Watson (The Adventure of a Case of Identity)

I finally got round to reading this collection! Some of the adventures I’d read before at high school, but not since then (so we’re talking around 10 years ago) and it was fun to whizz through both the Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

Cuando terminé de ver la serie de Sherlock BBC con Benedict Cumberbatch, tuve una época de obsesión masiva para con el querido detective, en la que me vi las pelis de Robert Downey Jr y me compré varias obras de Sir Arthur, entre ellas El Valle del Miedo, Los Sabuesos de Baskerville y esta colección de Aventuras y Memorias. Claro, a la Xime del pasado no le importaba que en realidad no le gustaba leer cuentos o antologías, ella solo quería ser fangirl. Así que unos seis años después agarré esta colección y dije: mah, sí, vamos a leer.

Y empecé muy contenta porque cada cuento era como un pequeño episodio divertido. Me gustaba intentar adelantarme al final y descubrir no al culpable, sino la manera en que lo hizo. Mi problema, sin embargo, llegó muy rápido: en la parte de Aventuras, los cuentos siguen una fórmula muy bien marcada, que tras cuatro o cinco relatos medio que ya te cansa. A pesar de ello, son muy disfrutables si se leen con el debido espacio de tiempo de por medio así una no se abruma.

Pero cuando pasé a las Memorias noté una diferencia. Sherlock deja de ser quien resuelve las cosas y pasa a simplemente contar "cosas que pasaron", como una serie de eventos. Más de un cuento no tiene misterio, no hay crimen. Más de un cuento no es Watson quien narra, sino que Sherlock mismo, gracias a la herramienta de historia marco/enmarcada. Algún que otro episodio es más memorable que otro porque recuerda a Aventuras y tiene un crimen a resolver, pero el resto deja bastante que desear si uno va buscando cuentos de misterio. El problema es ese: que la parte de Memorias no son misterios, son las memorias de Sherlock. Como un diario si se quiere.

Nada me preparó, de todas formas, para la decepción que sería El Problema Final. Moriarty siempre me generó una especie de fascinación, mucho más después de su performance en la serie de BBC; siempre mostrado como el némesis de Sherlock, la única persona que podía equipararlo en razonamiento y lógica. Una le tiene respeto a semejante personaje. Pero a poco de leer el último cuento me di cuenta de que es más lo que se ha formado alrededor de Moriarty, toda esa mitología fantástica que lo rodea, que el personaje escrito en sí. Moriarty no deslumbra. Es todo contar y nada de mostrar. El último cuento no tiene misterio para nada: es solo Sherlock contándole a Watson que estuvo meses tratando de encerrar a Moriarty y luego... viajan... a montañas... por razones... Y luego ocurre lo que sabemos: Sherlock muere tras dejarle una muy conmovedora carta a Watson. And that's that.

Sin duda para cuando Sir Arthur tacleó las memorias se notaba que ya no tenía ganas de escribir más. Sherlock está fuera de personaje, tiene momentos que no se condicen con lo que sabíamos de él y la falta de preparación y dedicación para los misterios es palmaria a leguas de distancia. El Problema Final es un parche que tendría que haber puesto fin a su personaje mucho antes, pero la eutanasia llegó medio tarde y en un desaprovechado intento por darle un cierre a tan icónica figura.

Lamentablemente sabemos que este cierre fue temporal; no sé cuáles son los motivos que llevaron a Sir Arthur a revivir a Sherlock más adelante, pero si sigue esta temática, no es algo que yo tenga ganas de explorar.

A pesar de ello, la pluma del autor es fantástica, llevadera y precisa: no ahonda en pomposidades, como una esperaría de obras de este talante, ni tampoco pierde la gracilidad y la elegancia. Lo único que me genera algo de, eh, escozor sería, es la obsesión que tenía este hombre con la palabra ejaculate. Yo sé que los británicos tienen sus mañas pero por favor, Sir Arthur, usá otra acotación para tus personajes. Todo el cuerpo anglosajón te lo va a agradecer.

Las cuatro estrellas son porque me devolvió el gusto por algo que tenía olvidado: este personaje. Me lo leí muy rápido y para mí fue todo un logro porque hacía más de un año que no lograba leer nada que tuviera más de 300 páginas. Le debo a Sherlock el devolverme la pasión por la lectura. Eso sí: necesito un recreo del detective. Por un largo rato.

this penguin classic clothbound edition is gorgeous.