Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Spoilers for A Study in Scarlet go here.

The Study in Scarlet, published in 1887, marked the first appearance of both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. This short volume, narrated by Watson, recalls his first meeting with the master detective and their first case together. It uses a lot of tropes familiar to readers of mystery/crime fiction and establishes Holmes' style of deduction.

This will be a reread for me. I look forward to seeing everyone's thoughts on the book.

I'll be especially interested to see what people think of the American flashback.

Angie wrote: "...I'll be especially interested to see what people think of the American flashback."

I won't get too spoilery since most folks are still reading, but I did find the flashback sequence jarring. One minute we're in England, the next we're in America with a completely different set of characters.

I liked how this book sets up the initial series with Watson and Holmes meeting, but didn't think A Study in Scarlet was appealing as much as some of the other reads (such as The Hound of the Baskervilles and some of the other stories). Holmes does not seem as effective in his methods and comes across as pompous and irritating.

As far as the flashback, I felt like RJ and was taken back a little but I didn't mind the technique of the backstory at all (in fact I thought it was quite clever), but I found some of the characterization in the second half a bit off putting (the Mormons as vengeful pursuers?) and thought the motives were sort of odd.

Franky wrote: "...(the Mormons as vengeful pursuers?)..."

Apparently Doyle later regretted using the Mormons as bad guys after he met a couple of them (perhaps when they knocked on his door in the middle of dinner).

I also prefer the later Holmes novels, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear.

I recall disliking the Utah section the last time I read it. Actually, put me off reading it again.

I'm a big Holmes fan and I've already read all the books many years ago, so I was 'just' going to read the Moonstone ( first read). But I've had a rethink because I'm finding Moonstone difficult to get into, and also realised I hadn't rated A Study in Scarlet on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ so I've re read now.
Although I have no problem with 'flashbacks' I do agree with those who have said the Utah section doesn't feel like it 'fits'. It's not Holmes and Conan Doyle does write differently (in my opinion ) when he's writing his 'adventure' stories. But I do like them - I think The Lost World is one of my favourite books.
But I do feel Holmes is better in his very short stories ( in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes etc) than in the longer books - the exception being The Hound of the Baskervilles which is probably his finest hour!
RJ : I remember The Valley of Fear being my least favourite of them all, and also quite similar to the Utah section here, but it's a long time since I read it, I will have to re read that too!
I have watched and enjoyed the recent 'reboot' of Sherlock but had not read any of the stories since. It was interesting to note which parts of this story made their way into 'The study in pink' which was the first installment of that series. I particularly enjoyed (view spoiler)[the use of the word "Rache" and whether it was the word for revenge or part of a girls name (hide spoiler)].
If this is your first Holmes and you are a bit underwhelmed, I suggest either trying The Hound or one of the short story collections.

Carolyn wrote: "I'm a big Holmes fan and I've already read all the books many years ago, so I was 'just' going to read the Moonstone ( first read). But I've had a rethink because I'm finding Moonstone difficult to..."

I really liked the stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and even thought his adventure stories were good too.

Here, in A Study in Scarlet, I just felt like Doyle was trying to find his footing with Holmes as a character and working through the narrative or story line. I'd be interested in reading The Valley of Fear as I have not read it yet, but if it is anything like this one, then I probably won't care for it. I have yet to watch any of the Sherlock series, but I think I've put it off because of ultimately the fear of being vastly disappointed....I didn't particularly care for the Downey films either.

Carolyn wrote: "RJ : I remember The Valley of Fear being my least favourite of them all, and also quite similar to the Utah section here, but it's a long time since I read it, I will have to re read that too! ..."

I thought the plot was laid out much like Study in Scarlet but Doyle was a more skillful writer by the time he wrote Valley of Fear and I think he pulled it off more smoothly.

By the way, for anyone who got a kick out of this story and also likes the works of H.P. Lovecraft, you may want to check out the short story A Study in Emerald by the inimitable and irrepressible Neil Gaiman. It can be found online for free at the author's website (link below) or you can get it in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street.

link to story:

It should be noted that this story can be read by anyone but might be most fully enjoyed by someone who has read the Holmes canon and is aware of his greatest adversary, and also aware of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.

RJ wrote: "I won't get too spoilery since most folks are still reading, but I did find the flashback sequence jarring. One minute we're in England, the next we're in America with a completely different set of characters. ."

That's how I felt. Tonally, it was so different from the rest of the book that I got kind of angry at it when I first read it. I've read that Victorian England was fascinated with Mormons, so the segment probably would have been quite sensational at the time.

As an introduction to the character, I think this little book works pretty well, but like many of you, I prefer later works. The Hound of the Baskervilles is my favorite.

RJ wrote: "By the way, for anyone who got a kick out of this story and also likes the works of H.P. Lovecraft, you may want to check out the short story A Study in Emerald by the ..."

I read that last year, and really enjoyed it. It's very short and I think it would be interesting to read it immediately after Scarlet

I love Sherlock Holmes, but Scarlet is my least favorite of the stories. I really enjoy the part in London, and the meeting of Holmes and Watson is epic, but that jump to the American West shocks me right out of the story every time. It is such a harsh transition that the first time I read it as a kid, I actually took the book back to the school library and signed out another copy because I thought that part of another book had mistakenly been bound into the middle of the one I was reading. I have reread the book several times over the years, and it is always an almighty struggle to get through the American sequence. In the last couple of rereads, I have just skipped that segment altogether and that let me enjoy the story.

RJ wrote: "By the way, for anyone who got a kick out of this story and also likes the works of H.P. Lovecraft, you may want to check out the short story A Study in Emerald by the ..."

Thanks for posting this link-- it's a fun little read, and I love the spin on the royal family.

RJ wrote: "By the way, for anyone who got a kick out of this story and also likes the works of H.P. Lovecraft, you may want to check out the short story A Study in Emerald by the ..."

Interesting. Thanks for posting RJ.

You're welcome! And I hope that short story is enjoyed. Gaiman also wrote another story that folks might enjoy but I hate to say too much about it: The Case of Death and Honey

You can read it in Gaiman's collection Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances or I found it online here:

Suki wrote: "I love Sherlock Holmes, but Scarlet is my least favorite of the stories. I really enjoy the part in London, and the meeting of Holmes and Watson is epic, but that jump to the American West shocks m..."
I think it's important to remember this was the first story and Doyle was still getting 'acquainted' with Sherlock. The fact Holmes isn't the fully developed character people know from later books and film may influence some first readers.

I've read A study in scarlet several times before, and always found the flashback jarring. This time, maybe because I was expecting it, I didn't mind at all and I enjoyed the whole novel much more than I expected. Like most above, I do enjoy the short stories more.

Suki wrote: "I love Sherlock Holmes, but Scarlet is my least favorite of the stories. I really enjoy the part in London, and the meeting of Holmes and Watson is epic, but that jump to the American West shocks m..."

LOL, I love your story about taking it back to the library! It is definitely a departure from the story that we were immersed in.

A good read. I like the introduction to Holmes and Watson, and learning Watson's backstory. The story shift was abrupt, and I was put off at first, but then the story drew me in, and I really felt for those characters. Definitely unusual, but I did enjoy it.

This was my first time reading Scarlet and I enjoyed it, but I'm also in the group of people who found the switch from England to the US jarring. I read it on my Kindle and actually thought I accidentally jumped ahead. It really doesn't flow well. But overall, I liked it. I've watched more Sherlock than I've read so I'm hoping to read more.