This collection was unfortunately inferior to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The first stories were so badly written and boring. However it got better and his last short stories were some of the best.

The Best:
* The Final Problem ★★★★★★
* The Musgrave Ritual ★★★★☆
* The Crooked Man ★★★★☆
* The Resident Patient ★★★★☆

The Good:
* The “Gloria Scott” ★★★☆☆
* The Naval Treaty ★★★☆☆

The Meh:
* Silver Blaze ★★☆☆☆
* The Reigate Squire ★★☆☆☆
* The Cardboard Box ★★☆☆☆
* The Yellow Face ★☆☆☆☆
* The Stockbrocker‘s Clerk ★☆☆☆☆

Oh, Holmes. I know you can be a miserable bastard but I love you so. Even though the actual crimes and solutions are not overly interesting, your nonchalant badassness and cutting wit when solving crimes keeps me coming back. Also, you're best in short stories. Novels allow Doyle too much time to write long, boring descriptions. I love you the most when you're short and snappy. And you're so much better than all the derivative brilliant but flawed (and often misanthropic) investigators on TV nowadays.

Also, you are played by Hugh Laurie in my head, as is only right.

Great book, this is a perfect book by you need one time of relaxing

There was never a greater detective than Sherlock Holmes, and never a better mystery than the ones solved by him, no matter how big or small.
A few of my favourite stories in the book were “A Scandal In Bohemia”, “The Yellow Face”, “The Speckled Band”, “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” and “The Beryl Coronet”. The first two stories were examples where Sherlock Holmes could not entirely succeed, making him seem more human and showing readers that not all mysteries or crimes can be solved, even by the best mind in London. The third and fourth stories mentioned were both mysteries where the answer was an unpredictable one, each unique in how the crime was committed, if there was one at all. The last two mysteries are examples of where Sherlock Holmes saves innocent people being suspected. Where others overlooked clues which showed the suspect was innocent and only focused on the ones proving him guilty, Sherlock Holmes investigated thoroughly. This demonstrates how not all things are as obvious as they seem to be, so I should first investigate to know about the matter before judging it. By reading these mysteries, I learnt a lot of important things.
Each of the mysteries were written as short stories, making it easy to read since they were concise, but still had suspense and were very thrilling, keeping me interested the whole time I was reading. There was rich vocabulary, especially in descriptions of people and places as can be seen every time Holmes deduces things about his clients from their clothes or from their belongings. For example, he deduces by just looking at the pipe left by a client that he was strong, left handed and even more. This, I think, is amazing but once explained, I realize that it was actually pure logic.
I was very impressed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s imagination and dedication to writing all of these different stories. He was compelled to come up with different stories, each time with a different solution that was reasonable yet simple to understand. That, I believe, must be very challenging and require talent. I also think that writing from Dr.Watson’s point of view is very appealing, as it is the point of view of an ordinary person, making us relate to him and feeling closer to the characters. When I was clueless on how Holmes knew the suspect, I realized Watson was as puzzled as I was.
Overall, “The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” is an intriguing and absorbing book which gave an insight on what kind of problems were common in the past, where things were much simpler. I must wonder how the author would have written these stories had he been living in the modern world. I believe that it would have been much more difficult than in the past, due to all the possibilities of crime using technology. This is why I find that the Sherlock Holmes series are one of the best mysteries that have ever been written.

Having already read Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," and enjoyed it, I was not overly dismayed at the fact that in order to read the next set of Sherlock Holmes tales, I would have to (at my own insistence) read the "Adventures of..." stories again. Yet knowing the outcome of each case gave me a different perspective than I had anticipated. And when I finally finished up the collection called "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes," I would argue that my reappraisal of the former collection might have affected my mixed view of the later compendium of tales.

Of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" short stories, my favorites would include "The Red-Headed League," where Holmes and his ever-faithful friend Dr. Watson uncover the strange scheme which deceived a ginger-haired pawnbroker into having him leave his place of work in order to perform mundane tasks at a vacant office, while dangerous criminals orchestrated a bank robbery from underground. I also like "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," which involved a wrongly accused son of a murdered father, with the killer revealed to be the least likely candidate.

"The Five Orange Pips" tale still confounds me, as I do not understand who the killers were, why they chose their methods and targets, and what was their goal? I don't know. "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" had its moments, though not a favorite. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is well-written, though I found "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" to be unsatisfying in its conclusion. "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" is a good one, though I felt mixed about "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" this time around.

From the "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" collection, my favorite would have to be "The Adventure of Silver Blaze," where Conan Doyle brilliant sets up a murder mystery where it is revealed that the murder victim was the villain, and the murderer was a horse! Fantastic. "The Adventure of the Yellow Face" was also good, featuring a most curious mystery involving the goings-on of a beloved wife, culminating in a surprisingly dear reveal and heartwarming finale. Though I can't say I loved the ending, "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk" was another good one, and features an intriguing setup.

"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" was okay, did not love it, and its tale did not stay with me. Though I did not care too much for the ending, "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" offered up some good things for sure. I did like, however, "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire," as it presented strong antagonists going up against Holmes and Watson, and even placed Sherlock Holmes in imminent peril. Didn't much care for "The Adventure of the Crooked Man," especially because the tales's chief antagonists bows out early from a case of "apoplexy."

"The Adventure of the Resident Patient" was an intriguing one, with some clever twists and turns, though I found "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" too vague and unsatisfying to be appreciated...but, I did appreciate the appearance of Holmes brother, Mycroft. "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" certainly kept me guessing, however the story did not fully payoff. "The Final Problem" I did not care for at all. Not only does it kill off Sherlock Holmes off-page (meaning his fall is only deduced by Watson), yet it has the man on the run throughout Europe, and does not take advantage of the story's all-too-brief face-to-face meeting between Holmes and Professor Moriarty, the "Napoleon of Crime." One would think Conan Doyle would take advantage of the summit between the two brilliant minds, and exploit it to the fullest. Instead, Holmes and Moriarty meet very briefly, until Holmes quickly dismisses him.

Though I was not always a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, and choice of endings, I did, however, usually enjoy the author's writing style, as well as the brilliant knowledge, wherewithal and keen observant qualities that Conan Doyle gifted to his Sherlock Holmes character. Holmes is a great study, for he exudes class, sophistication, wisdom, bravado and a touch of humility as well. Though human in behavior, Sherlock Holmes carries a superhuman knack for reading, people, places and things. Perhaps it is his educated and innate knowledge of humans and human nature that results in Holmes' reluctance to participate in romance, relationships and society in general. What makes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" such a worthwhile read no matter how good or bad each story may be, is the presentation and behavior and the incredible mind of Holmes himself.

With Holmes' short stories one has to pace oneself. They can quite easily get repetitive. The stories are to be read at a pace which allows them to be savoured.

Después de leer dos novelas sobre el detective y de leer las aventuras y las memorias creo que me gustan mucho más sus historias en el formato de relato corto.

Creo que es de las pocas veces en un thriller/novela detectivesca en la que soy capaz no solo de deducir quién es el culpable, sino también sus motivos. Las historias que más me han gustado, además, han sido aquellas en las que lo que había detrás no era un simple crimen, algo que pudiera ser castigado por la ley.

Eso sí, se nota que las últimas historias son algo más apresuradas, sobre todo la última, y no es de extrañar si conoces las razones del autor

Unfortunately, it was a real struggle to read this book.
The author tried to portray Sherlock Holmes as the smartest man alive with a series of very specific habits, but..he TRIED...and failed in my opinion.
Maybe this book can be enjoyed more if you read it at a certain age, with mostly zero background in mistery books or detective novels. I, for one, am sorry to say that "The adventures of Sherlock Holmes" was a slow read with no real surprise. I could guest the criminal and the motif for 90% of the book; I found the exposition of the clients to be waaaaay to detail for someone who is most of the time described as "in distress" or recovering from a mental breakdown...i mean...not a single soul on this earth will tell you the brand of a carpet and how the flowers outside a window impend the lighting of the room or something as a little something that they happened to notice when they were following a sound or a thief,etc. At the most, this things will be asked by the police or a detective. I know the author needed a way to convey clues to Sherlock to solve the case, and it's definitely better than just omitting this from Watson's point of view( and the reader's by default) as he did in the beginning of this adventures and claim that your character is soo smart, but still...
Another sad thing is the absence of character development. I started this book with no information on Sherlock or Watson, and I finished it, gaining less than 10%. For such a famous character, I was expecting so much more. Moriarty was introduced in the LAST STORY...and that ending...I'm disappointed. :(
I don't know if I will read all the Sherlock stories outside of this volume,or any other book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so I can't say that I like or dislike Sherlock Holmes. I simply don't have enough information..just that he has a brother witch is waaaay smarter..>..>
I have "The lost world" on my shelves, so, in respect to the numerous adaptations, I may try that one in the far future...very far future...to see if this author is just not for me.
Until then, sadly Sherlock Holmes receives 2 stars. :(

Nice.

1/2

n  Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.n

I've never been a true fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle prose. I've read it rather as an obligation of a diligent reader. Then again, I rarely read crime stories in general, because I can't predict the outcome, which makes me feel like a half-wit (who I probably am, but who'd like to be reminded of such a thing?). Nevertheless, there's something neat and methodical about A.C.Doyle's writing that - in my opinion - makes Sherlock Holmes stories an essential read for whomever wish to write themselves. What amazes me most, it's the attention for details; everything has a date which perfectly imitates reality. When it comes to this reality factor, I also find of the utmost importance this trick of mentioning from time to time other cases which are not treated in this particular collection, but has happened.

As for cases presented, I'll never crack the art of deduction of Sherlock Holmes. I gave it up some time ago, and after prolonged reading experience with the Sherlock universe, it frustrates me only a little now. All in all, I'll always consider the solutions of Sherlock in termes of fantasy more than pure logic and observation. As they're always unpredictable and the action is dampened by the fact it's presented by a story-telling type narration, I'll never fully enjoy them, I suppose. On the other hand, I observed that the more adventures I read, the more dragged into the narration I fell ; result being finishing the book after midnight on Monday, with the heavy heart as I got to "The Final Problem.

Last but not least, I've forged an opinion that John Watson is an archetype for all the sidekicks, and as far as my reading experience is concerned, no one has created better one. He's a narrator of all stories, even if it's sometimes "second plan" narration as it was in "The Musgrave Ritual". Also, Watson always has time to join Sherlock Holmes on the case, and neither his practice nor wife suffers from it. It could be annoying if it hadn't been logically explained : Mary is away visiting some family or herself encourage Watson to assist his friend (which, by the way, makes her a saint because let's face it - who'd like to marry a grown man who jumps at every occasion of being in danger, wherever his old roommate asks him to?). Moreover, those explanations appear in perfect timing, the second you get to get suspicious of Watson being an actual person.

Finally, all these are short stories. There's just one plot ; closed composition. The murder or at least a mystery have to be solved and the explanation provided in less than forty pages. You can't leave loose ends. You can't give too much or too little background to the characters. A.C.Doyle worked it out ; on the level of the technique I find it amazing. Specially in times of literature where the breakfast description takes a half of a page one the ten-paged chapter. Don't get me wrong, I really like breakfasts (and any other meal, come to that). But I'd like to read about things having the importance to the plot, and the French toasts are rarely that, I daresay. So, at this point: Arthur Conan Doyle 1 - 0 XXI century.

As always Conan Doyle remains next to authors like Christie as must read crime authors. This collection is a bunch of 20-30 page short stories of Holmes, perfect for a quick bedtime read. The only catch is that as the stories are conclusive it does not entice you to read more than one at a time but, that gives you longer to appreciate the method of Sherlock’s madness.