Esta es la primera novela corta que leo de Sherlock Holmes y la verdad es que no tenía ni idea de con qué me iba encontrar porque la única referencia que tengo de Sherlock Holmes es la serie en la que aparece Benedict Cumberbatch. Además, tenía ciertas reservas porque no soy muy buena con los clásicos y demás.

Sin embargo, a pesar de que esto es un clásico, siento que está escrito de una manera mucho más entendible y amigable con el lector. De hecho, me gustó mucho toda la primera parte de Study in Scarlet, cuando descubren el asesinato, cuando Sherlock hace sus deducciones y conoce a Watson. Todas estas cosas me parecieron súper interesantes. De hecho, a pesar de que Sherlock puede parecer un personaje muy prepotente y muy alejado de los humanos mundanos y normales, a mí me cayó súper bien.

Por otra parte creo que Watson es increíble. Me encanta cómo se sorprende ante todo lo que hace Sherlock. Y es que, a pesar de que Sherlock es un tipo raro, crea como una muy, muy buena amistad con él.

Lo que me aburrió muchísimo fue la segunda parte de esta novela corta, que es cuando nos devolvemos como al Viejo Oeste, o yo qué sé, y seguimos a unos tipos que están haciendo como un asentamiento. Y sí, eventualmente nos damos cuenta de que todo este contexto del pasado, a pesar de lo largo, tiene que ver con el crimen que se cometió. Pero la verdad es que esa segunda parte de la novela se me hizo insufrible y solo pude volver a conectarme con la historia cuando volvieron al presente y Watson siguió narrando todo lo que sucedió.

3.85

En esta brillante y corta historia, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle nos introduce al descarado y sumamente analítico detective Sherlock Holmes y a su inseparable acompañante, el doctor militar John Watson
—como dato, esto representa una de las más grandes presentaciones en el mundo literario y cinematográfico—. Doyle nos otorga un caso realmente misterioso, que conforme avanza la secuencia de los sucesos el lector espera ir resolviendo junto al gran detective. Se nos otorgan pistas y revelaciones pero no hay más que un hombre que podrá resolverlo todo.

La novela está dividida en dos partes, por lo que entendemos desde un comienzo que habrá una reinterpretación o al menos un giro que resultará crucial en el desarrollo de la historia. Muchos se quejan de lo anterior, pero a mi parecer no fue realmente malo, aunque uno esperaría que fuera el mismísimo Sherlock quien devanase todo el asunto. De cualquier forma, una vez que se progresa en la lectura se entiende todo y ambas piezas encajan de manera perfecta.

La obra funge una función crítica en un principio al sistema judicial de la época y después al fundamentalismo mormón, lo cual, me haría pensar que el autor pretendía presentarnos una opinión teo/eclesiofóbica o exponernos una problemática real de un aborrecible sistema que cree tener el poder sobre los demás.

Y como punto extra a discutir debo argumentar que contrario a lo que esperaba, este libro carece por completo de pretensiones y exalta en su narrativa la influencia del grandísimo Edgar Allan Poe. Y eso, no puede ser nada más que bueno.

"Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo.
Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplar in arca."

¿Lo recomiendo?

9.1/10

Only few people in this world, must have not heard the name Sherlock Holmes, and for a good reason.

"A study in scarlet" is a great detective mystery and a perfect introduction to one of the most iconic fictional characters.
The book begins with Dr. Watson who is the narrator ( for the biggest part ) introducing himself and give us a background of his story ( where he was and what was his job ). It is very clever of Doyle to start like that. When upon their first meeting, Sherlock states to Watson things about him, that would be seem impossible for a stranger to know, you understand that this is not an ordinary guy.
I also must say, that Watson is a very likeable character and through his eyes Sherlock shines even more.
I know that a lot of people didn't like the second part , but i must say that i found the story in it very interesting. I mean Doyle is just too good of a writer. It's not only what you say, is how you say it.

„Етюд в червено“ поставя началото на легендарните криминални разследвания на Шерлок Холмс. Д-р Джон Уотсън се е завърнал в Лондон от войната в Афганистан и се запознава с гениалния детектив, като стават съквартиранти на Бейкър стрийт 221 Б. Първата част на романа описва сложното разследване на загадъчно убийство, с което Холмс и Уотсън са се захванали, а пък във втората действието се пренася в миналото в САЩ и представя жестоки убийства, свързани с мормонската секта. Впоследствие интересните и напрегнати сюжетни линии се преплитат.





„Беше мъгливо, облачно утро. Кафеникава пелена, сякаш отражение на калните улици, забулваше покривите на къщите. Спътникът ми беше в чудесно настроение, бъбре��е за цигулките, правени в Кремона, и за разликата между „Страдивариус“ и „Амати“. На мене обаче не ми се говореше, защото духът ми се чувстваше угнетен от мрачното време и скръбната задача, с която се бяхме нагърбили.
— Струва ми се, че не отделяте дължимото внимание на предстоящия случай — казах накрая аз, прекъсвайки музикалния трактат на Холмс.
— Още нямам изходни данни — отвърна той. — Основна грешка е, когато човек теоретизира, преди да е запознат с всички доказателства. Така повлиява на преценките си.“


„Всичко това ви изглежда странно, защото още в началото на издирването не сте успели да схванете важността на единствената истинска следа, с която сте разполагали. Аз имах щастието да се заловя с това и всичко, случило се по-късно, дойде да потвърди първото ми предположение и всъщност се оказа негово логично следствие. Затова онези неща, които ви озадачаваха и правеха случая да ви изглежда още по-заплетен, за мен внасяха яснота и потвърждаваха моите заключения. Често се прави грешката всичко неизвестно да се приема като загадка. Така най-обикновеното престъпление изглежда и най-загадъчно, защото не предлага нови или особени страни, които да помогнат на дедукцията. Безкрайно по-трудно би било да се разкрие убийството, ако намереха тялото на жертвата захвърлено на пътя, без която и да е от тези очевидни и сензационни добавки, правещи го забележително. Странните подробности съвсем не усложняват случая — те въздействат точно в обратен смисъл.“

This is an underwhelming debut for one of literature’s most famous characters.

Doyle’s Sherlock is in the nascent stage here and isn’t the fully fleshed out character, readers came to know. The steady and reliable narrator, Dr. John Watson gets introduced to Holmes in Watson’s attempts to find a roommate.

“Can two odd Victorian Era men share a flat without driving each other crazy?”



Sure, why not.

Watson takes measure of Holmes:



Although the illustration below belies it, the producers of the TV show pretty much took the first time Holmes and Watson encounter a dead body and lovingly re-produced it almost to the letter.



I think what most readers get put off by is the huge “evil” Morman digression that pops up around midway in this novella. It’s a jarring, uncomfortable fit. It gives credence to belief that Doyle’s Holmes should be read as short stories and not as longer narratives. For a little over a hundred pages, this took a lot longer to plow through than I would have initially thought
.
Recommended for those who have an interest in knowing where the legend began and for Sherlock completists.

This was a buddy read with a bunch of non-crunchy folks who like to read whilst pants free.

★★★☆☆½

n  “There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.”n

Here we have the first ever Sherlock Holmes mystery originally published in the magazine, Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887. Read as part of a buddy reads twofer since apparently much of our group, including myself, is OCD and can’t simply skip ahead to book two. Although none of the four novels¹ are connected it’s still nice to see how it all began for one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time.

Dr. Watson is the narrator for this story, as well as all of the numerous Sherlock Holmes tales that followed. Watson has returned to London, after a brief, injury plagued, campaign in the Afghan war. He’s looking to save some money on rent, and is introduced, through a mutual acquaintance, to Holmes who just happens to be in search of a roommate. Sherlock runs through a brief list of potentially annoying habits which include smoking, occasional chemical experiments, violin playing, depression mixed with long bouts of silence. Watson admits to keeping a bull pup (which mysteriously never appears again), avoiding rows because his nerves are frayed from the war, keeping odd hours, and being extremely lazy. Both agree they can live with the other’s proclivities, and sign the lease on a two bedroom suite.

There’s some time wasted where Watson tries to figure out Holmes vocation. It’s sort of comical that he’s afraid to just come right out and ask for fear of upsetting him. He even compiles a list of Holmes strengths and weakness in an attempt to puzzle it out. Which leads to an astonishing discovery: on certain topics, Holmes ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. For example, it was suggested he didn’t even know that the Earth traveled around the Sun. Holmes tells Watson that he believes a man’s mind is like an empty attic; the more you stock in it the more useful bits get crowded out. Therefore it’s important to only keep the most important items cataloged.

Holmes was also a bit of a dick, and got a kick out of watching Scotland Yard’s finest chase false leads. He’d hold back pertinent information and watch as others struggle to solve the mystery. He also was sensitive to flattery and enjoyed hearing of his profound genius, and amazing powers of deduction. He cleverly employed a group of filthy street kids, whom he dubbed, “The Baker Street Irregulars” to help with certain aspects of the investigation. They could go into places and hear things no officials ever could.

The mystery itself was well thought out, and enjoyable enough. The main problem I had was that the perpetrator is caught within the first half of novel, and then nearly the entire final half of the book switches into a flashback which details the history and motivations of the killer and his victims.

I didn’t have much of a problem with Doyle going after the Mormons; it is a fictional story after all. And most religions have had their fair share of fanatics and ugly histories they’d like to forget about or cover up. Where I think Doyle crossed the line was in adding the leader of the church to conspiracy. That was uncalled for, and done in poor taste, in my opinion. That being said, that part of the story was slightly scary, and intense, and the suspense was nicely ratcheted up towards the end. The problem with the whole thing was that the two parts are so dissimilar from one another they felt like two entirely separate stories, and didn’t really mesh well together.

The combination of British mystery with Western frontier story was an odd choice although I did enjoy both sections. The first half of the book, especially the initial meeting and budding friendship was probably my favorite part. I felt like much of part two was unnecessary, and all the explanation at the end of the story really drags out. Overall though, another fun story and very non-crunchy™.

¹There are actually 56 short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, but only the 4 full length novels.

Bring on vengeance and the Mormons!
“There is no satisfaction in vengeance unless the offender has time to realize who it is that strikes him, and why retribution has come upon him.”

Really liked it: what a drama, including a kind of Russian roulette and a whole vengeance plan involving Mormons!

The plot thickens quite often in this novella, with a double murder and all.
Also it is nice to see how Watson met Sherlock.

To be fair, I found the atmosphere in The Hound of the Baskervilles a bit better worked out.

Overall, another 3.5 stars for Arthur Conan Doyle, not in a small part due to the quotes from Sherlock, that really flesh him out as a sarcastical but genius main character:

“I’m not sure about whether I shall go. I am the most incurably lazy devil that ever stood in shoe leather”

“It’s quite exciting,” said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn.

“What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence,” returned my companion, bitterly. “The question is, what can you make people believe that you have done.”

"He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge."

What can I say about Sherlock Holmes that hasn't already been said? He knows things he shouldn't know, things that a person can't possibly know. Yet, he knows. He's got a 10th degree black belt in mental Jujitsu.

I'm seriously impressed at how well Doyle's writing holds up, and I think remains fully accessible and enjoyable to modern readers. I'm also surprised by how brilliantly he structured the story. The second part starts as a wholly different story, a Western style tale of pioneers in Utah several decades earlier with no apparent connection to Holmes or his case. Only after this story line is fleshed out, establishing a motive for brutal vengeance, does it tie back to the first part.

I’ve read a few of the Sherlock Holmes stories at some point in my life; but not this one, the first. The revelation for me was the middle part of the book, an extended backstory of the future murderer and his future victims. I wondered at first what the section was doing there and then if I might find it boring, but it ended up being quite gripping.

This is where it all started - the brilliance of Arthur Conan Doyle and the wonderful creation that is Sherlock Holmes along with Dr Watson and cast of supporting characters are all here and in fantastic form.

Whilst less well known than other Holmes novel (i.e. 'Hound of the Baskervilles') I do think that 'A Study in Scarlett' is one of the strongest, is not the strongest in the series.

It is difficult to think of many literary characters who have had anything like the huge impact that Sherlock Holmes has had - not just in literary terms, but culturally as well. The legend that is Sherlock Holmes goes way beyond the world of the written word - and for good reason too; as a character, Holmes is a wonderfully original, eccentric, sociopathic, misanthropic, fascinating, astonishingly brilliant and almost unparalleled creation. The wonderful character that is Sherlock Holmes - both hero and anti-hero, coupled with the conversely grounded Dr Watson and the fascinating stories / cases / mysteries that Conan Doyle weaves for the reader compound to produce the excellent Sherlock Holmes novels - of which 'A Study in Scarlett' is definitely one of the best.

It is also difficult to think of any literary characters other than Sherlock Holmes, who have created such an aura of mystery surrounding them, a mythology, an industry almost - very much blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction - creating (in some quarters) a belief that Holmes was indeed a real person, who lived at 221b Baker Street, London - it's there, you can visit 'the home of Sherlock Holmes' - thus adding to and fueling the whole mythology.

Whilst not for everyone - these are brilliant and fascinating stories, lots of fun and come highly recommended.

'The game is afoot'

(Originally Shakespeare - appropriated unforgettably by Arthur Conan Doyle for Sherlock Holmes).

n  n    “It's quite exciting," said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn.n  n

And so it is.

Arthur Conan Doyle first earned his recognition as an author with the launch of A Study in Scarlet, where he presented the readers with the most loved fictitious detective, Sherlock Holmes, and equally beloved Dr. Watson, his companion and chronicler. Today, both Arthur Conan Doyle and his magnificent creation - Sherlock Holmes - have become universal names among the populous around the world.

In A Study in Scarlet, the first introductions are made of both characters. We learn a good deal about their backgrounds and character. The mystery was intriguing and well written. The story was done in two parts: the first part was dedicated to the mystery surrounding the crime while the second part describes the background that led to the commission of the crime. I didn’t quite like this two-part structure. I wished that they intermingled as one whole because while I enjoyed the mystery part, the history behind it bored me. The whole of the second part felt sluggish. Allowances must be made since this is the first of the series, which later produced delightful stories.