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Our favorite sleuth is back! How will he fare in this set of tales? :)

(I went ahead and opened the thread, as I believe it's supposed to have started already. I'm excited to continue on his adventures!)

Hahaha! Earlier today I was just saying I hoped this thread would be started soon :)

I have started reading this - read the first 4 stories so far. Funny thing is that I have recently started watching repeats of the Jeremy Brett dramatizations on my local PBS channel and all of the episodes of the last few weeks have been from this collection.

Leslie wrote: "Hahaha! Earlier today I was just saying I hoped this thread would be started soon :)

I have started reading this - read the first 4 stories so far. Funny thing is that I have recently started wa..."

I know, you reminded me it was time, so I went ahead and started it. I should be able to start it later today. :)

The Empty House

This just seemed like the other bookend to the Moriarty story from "Adventures." It's merely a way to introduce Holmes back into the world. Ok, there was a murder on the side, but that didn't really grab my attention a whole lot and I didn't really follow how it related to everything else. It was still more enjoyable than "The Final Problem" though, as the interaction between Watson and Holmes was just more jovial in general.

The Norwood Builder

Here is a fun, Holmes-esque locked room mystery. It was a fairly cheery story to read, even though slightly predictable. I think the thing I found most chilling was when the old man kept saying it was "just a joke," and I wanted to strangle him myself. How vile!

I am in agreement with Alana that "The Empty House" was the bookend story to "The Final Problem". I found it a rather dull story.

"The Norwood Builder" - I enjoyed seeing Holmes when he was almost despondent believing that he could not find facts to support his instincts about the case. Of course in the end the criminal overplayed his hand and Holmes solved the criminal investigation.

"The Dancing Men" - Interesting that Holmes dropped the ball and arrived too late. We are so used to him being there just in time so that no crime occurs(if he gets the case ahead of time). Of course he still solves the mystery.

I think it's interesting how often Conan Doyle resorts to the old colonies - especially the USA - to plant the seeds of the crime. It's almost as if the States provides some kind of parallel universe; characters have the life we know about in the UK and a second, hidden life across the pond.

That or he just didn't like Americans :)

Alana wrote: "That or he just didn't like Americans :)"

Oh, no I don't think you can say that!!! Some of his best characters have come from The USA! Including Irene Adler - I know she's a villain, but a beautiful, talented and brilliant one and the only woman ever to gain Holmes' respect. Plus characters like Sir Henry Baskerville - very likeable, very brave and very generous.

I know there was controversy about his depiction of the Mormons but I don't think that was anti-Americanism per se.

Lol, I wasn't saying he did, I was just teasing. You're right, some of his more interesting characters come out of the States.

I've been doing all of these on audio and it's been interesting hearing different narrators do the voices when they're changing between and English and American accent. Some I hardly notice but there were a couple narrators that were rather jarring. Which was the story that had an actual cowboy? The accent for him really threw me...

I know what you mean Alana, LOL! The American voices always sound odd after so long listening to the British accent of the main body of characters. We must be listening to the same version from Audible. Is yours the complete collection in three volumes narrated by Charlton Griffin?

It's not just that, it's when the American accent is done by someone British and it just sounds a little off.

I've been listening to various versions from the library on Overdrive and OneClick, depending on which one is available, so it's been different narrators.

Yes, that is what I meant as well. I guess I didn't explain it well. :-)

Well, here's something interesting: both copies of this one that I have from the library (one, a complete works, the other an annotated collection of some of the later works) have the same stories and in the same order. The audio version I have, however, says it is unabridged, yet did the first two stories, then jumps to "The Six Napoleons." So I don't know if they are just out of order or if some of them have been skipped in this "unabridged" version? I'll just have to check them off as I listen and go back and read anything I missed.

The Six Napoleons

I thought this one was rather fun. It's like a treasure hunt working backwards to a murder. I followed Holmes' train of thought as far as that the man was looking for something, but of course there were no clues given as to WHAT he was looking for, so there was no way for the reader to solve that particular aspect of the mystery. It was a rather fun little obstacle course of a mystery.

I loved how Lestrade kept asking questions about how Holmes would go about finding out the truth just like a child would ask for confirmation that he was doing a project correctly. He just sounded like a little boy seeking approval, then taking credit for it when Holmes gently steered him in the right direction. It's adorable, but only because we can tell that Holmes is not in the least bothered by this and does not feel slighted.

Is it just me, or does this particular collection seem to have more character development than earlier ones? Watson shares some of his observations as to the humanity of Holmes, what it is that moves and touches him about life. I don't recall any of that kind of observation before, just lots of "Holmes worship" because of his genius.

Sigh, GR is being weird and italicizing everything again. :(

Here's another question: I have noticed through all of the audio version (and I think all of the print, but I haven't really paid attention) that all measurements have been American ones (inches, miles, etc). Is this how the stories were written, or have they been "Americanized?" Does the British version have centimeters?

"The Solitary Cyclist" - This set of Holmes mysteries is interesting because Holmes seems to make some blunders. He does not solve this case until after serious consequences have happened and he even admits to an error at the end of the story.

"The Priory School" - A really enjoyable read. I would love to see those horseshoes.

"Black Peter" - A good story but I missed seeing much of Holmes deductive processes. It was mostly Hopkins work although of course Holmes was right in the end.

"Charles Augustus Milverton" - A most enjoyable little tale. Watson and Holmes turn to a life of crime.

Alana wrote: "Here's another question: I have noticed through all of the audio version (and I think all of the print, but I haven't really paid attention) that all measurements have been American ones (inches, m..."

From what I have been able to find out, the US and the UK were the last countries to adopt metrication. Wikipedia has a good article on metrication in the UK. I think that probably the measurements are written the same in British and American versions.

I learn something new every day! Thanks Janet :)

The Three Students

Well this was a different type of case. Solving a case of good old fashioned cheating! It was cute. :)

Alana wrote: "Here's another question: I have noticed through all of the audio version (and I think all of the print, but I haven't really paid attention) that all measurements have been American ones (inches, m..."

Certainly at the time these were written, England was using inches, miles, even furlongs!

And Alana - your problem with italics is most likely caused by not having the "/i" inside the <> after the story title. Sorry if this is unclear but check the "(some html is ok)" link on the top right of the comment box for a better example.

Alana, I'd say that only the youngest generation still in the UK would use metric measurements. I'm in my forties and we were probably the first generation to be taught metric measurements alongside imperial ones, and the only metric measure I use without mentally converting is centigrade. Although a few measures are different (eg I think the number of fluid ounces in a pint), the only major difference is that in weights we use stones as 14lbs, so we'd say 10 stone rather than 140lbs.

Phil wrote: "Alana, I'd say that only the youngest generation still in the UK would use metric measurements. I'm in my forties and we were probably the first generation to be taught metric measurements alongsid..."

Phil's comment rings true in the book. In "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter" the description of Mr. Overton is of "an enormous young man, sixteen stone of solid bone and muscle".

no I do the brackets the right way, it just always does that to me with italics, nOthing else. if I underline, it's fine. weird.

I didn't know that about the measurements, I guess I thought that makes and such were a fairly new invention and that metric was the more common way of dOing it (and it certainly makes more sense! )

"Six Napoleons" - A good yarn. I figured it out(except what the actual treasure was) early in the story. I did think it interesting that Doyle used the name Hudson (one of the statue purveyors) yet again. As I noted in another thread, he has used this name several times for characters and streets. Morrison was another name used for more than one character.

"Three Students" - I liked the story but perhaps someone can tell me why Watson said details identifying the college would be injudicious to use. In the next paragraph he said Soames was tutor at the College of St. Luke's. This seems like an identifier to me.

Finished reading the book tonight.

"The Golden Pince-Nez" - Not my favorite story. Seemed a bit far-fetched. However, if anyone had it figured out before the end I applaud them.

"The Missing Three-Quarter" - Holmes certainly misjudged the man he considered his adversary in this story.

Alana noted his character development in this series of stories, his humanity. I noticed some mention of his fallibility in some of these stories. Also, in the last two stories - "Abbey Grange" and "The Second Stain" Holmes has shown compassion to the perpetrators of the "crimes". Possibly this is more character development. He has realized that the guilty parties did the wrong things for the right reasons and that they would be unlikely to reoffend.

I've been so busy I haven't been able to get back to this one! For some overdue reviews:

The Dancing Men

I found this one rather obvious, though I enjoyed seeing Holmes figure out the code. Nothing too shocking in the story, though.

The Solitary Cyclist

I found this rather bizarre. It seemed so old-fashioned, even for a time of horse and buggy. He was going to force her to marry him? It sounds so... I don't know, Olyve Oyl and what's his name from Popeye, or something. Just kind of cartoonish, somehow.

The Priory School

I found this to be one of the better ones, too be honest. I couldn't quite follow how he came up with his ideas, but his working it out along the bicycle trail was fascinating.

Charles Augustus Milverton

Well, we rarely see Holmes so emotionally galled by someone. I liked seeing them turn into the culprits for a change. What an exciting chase scene!

In this collection (and Valley of Fear too), Conan Doyle has developed an annoying "style" of writing out one side of a dialogue only. Now, his ear for dialogue was always pretty poor, but when you get answers to unwritten comments it's even more irritating.

As we work through these, I'm finding that the novels are much more enjoyable and the short stories - because they ask follow essentially the same formula - have now all blurred into one in my memory.

However, I thought the dismissal of the Moriarty tale was done too quickly, as was the removal of Watson's wife.

And what's with sending Holmes off into retirement (again) farming bees?

The Golden Pince-Nez

An...interesting tale. I too, found it rather far-fetched, though at least a little different. I did like the way he managed to make her create her own footprints, but noticing that there were books in front of all the bookshelves but one? O, and they happen to be from Russia? Just weird.

The Missing Three-Quarter

I actually liked this one. It was a mystery, I suppose, but certainly not of the usual kind. I really felt for the poor man in the end. What a sad tale.

The Abbey Grange

Again, we see Holmes' humanity, though I'm not sure I liked how he went about the ending. But, in that day, what WAS the solution to a sticky situation like that? There weren't places for battered women to go and that man would have ruled her with an iron fist all of his days. I don't think there's an easy answer to that one.