The Man with the Twisted Lip - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Hello Bookworms,

            I’m back with another of the Sherlock Holmes short stories that I am reading through. This time I want to talk about The Man with the Twisted Lip by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Summary

            A young woman is stressed by the disappearance of her husband. Her husband is an upstanding citizen who loves her dearly, but when she sees him yelling from the window of a street where he shouldn’t be and then he doesn’t come home, the young woman fears the worst. To clear the matter up she has contacted Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock knows of a homeless man who can answer a lot of questions. Can Sherlock find this man and make him talk? Is it too late for the woman’s husband?

Review

            Oh my gosh readers! To read this story right behind The Five Orange Pips was just mind blowing! Once again, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing kept my mind engaged and kept me guessing right up to the end! I think that readers will thoroughly enjoy The Man with the Twisted Lip.

              A word of caution to parents who are helping their children through the Sherlock Holmes stories, know that a large portion of The Man with the Twisted Lip takes place in an opium den and there is quite a bit of talk about people using opium including Sherlock Holmes himself. It may not be one that you want to read to the kiddies just yet.

Links to the books I’m Using:

I am currently using two different published collections of Sherlock Holmes stories. Both of these collections can be found on Amazon for under $10 each. I have described and provided links to each below:

Currently I am reading The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes because they are published as they might have been seen the The Strand with Sidney Paget's original illustrations. You can find that here:

Amazon.com Illustrated Collection

To fill in the gaps of stories that the first book left out, I bought The Complete Sherlock Holmes: a lovely two-volume box set that has all of the short stories and all 4 novels, but no illustrations. You can find it here:

Amazon.Com Box Set

 

 Either set would be a wonderful addition to your collection of books and with both being so inexpensive, why not get both? ;)

 

Until Next Time,

            Lizzie <3

The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Hello Bookworms!

            As you know, I have been reading through the original Sherlock Holmes stories, lovingly referred to by Sherlockians as “The Canon”. The story I am going to discuss in this post is The Adventure of The Noble Bachelor.

Summary

            While poor Watson is a bit under the weather, he’s had plenty of time to catch up on the gossip in the local papers. What he did not realize is that his new found information will actually help his dear friend Sherlock Holmes. Lord St. Simon has written to Holmes to request his help in the much publicized matter of his wife’s disappearance. The two had been married for just hours after a happy courtship and engagement when his wife walks outside her father’s house where a breakfast is being held and is never seen again. Can Sherlock find the new Lady St. Simon?

Review

            This was an interesting story. It’s difficult to discuss the details of a short story that I like without giving anything away, but I’m pretty sure (after taking great care and proof reading before posting) that I have managed it so here goes:

            The reason I found this story so interesting was because I thought I knew the answer from the beginning. However, it shortly became clear that I had missed the answer altogether! For me that’s something I love is when the answer to the question is something that I did not consider as being possible in the story and yet the evidence backs up the conclusion completely! I like the creativity!

            Being a person that enjoys studying people’s behavior, ideas, and habits, I loved the section at the end after the solution has been explained. I loved the way that Doyle wrote Sherlock inviting people to dinner at 221b Baker Street and that Sherlock Holmes seemed to like Americans and said as much. It was just an interesting moment to learn a little more about what kind of a person Sherlock Holmes, the great detective, was meant to be in the original stories. I like seeing what kind of a person Sir Arthur Conan Doyle originally wanted Sherlock Holmes to be. Do not misunderstand me, it is fun to see all the variations of Sherlock Holmes and all the variations of character and backstory that have been given to the detective over the years, on the stage and screen, but I like to see what person Sherlock Holmes was originally meant to be. Remember, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the original writer. Doyle created Holmes and had reasons for writing Holmes the way he did. While we may never know what Doyle’s actual thought processes or reasons were, I like the idea of paying the author the respect of getting to know his original character while getting to know the other variations as well (sometimes I find that I even like the original Sherlock Holmes’s personality much better than the variationsJ).

            I have almost completed The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and will soon be moving on to “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” as they have been published in the compilation “The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes”

You can buy a copy here

I realize that this version is missing many of the short stories but I am going to go back and fill in the areas that have been deleted using this book that I recently ordered through Amazon.com shown here:

This book has all 56 Short stories and all 4 novels so I am really excited to get to add it to my collection.

You can buy a copy here

            I think that either book would be a great addition to your personal library. While the first is missing several stories, it does include the illustrations by Sidney Paget and the stories are printed the way you would have seen them in The Strand Magazine. The other has all of the stories and novels but no illustrations. I like both copies and am glad to have both.

 

Until next time!,

                  Lizzie <3

The Five Orange Pips - By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Hello Bookworms!,

            As you know I am reading through the Sherlock Holmes stories. Since my last post, I have read several more stories and I am ready to continue reviewing starting with The Five Orange Pips from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Summary

            Two generations of men in John Openshaw’s family have been killed. Each time, the man of the house has received an envelope with five orange pips in them. Both men have died by “accidents” that they never saw coming Now John Openshaw received an envelope with five orange pips. There is one request the sender has, but John knows it cannot be fulfilled. Can Sherlock Holmes help Mr. Openshaw find a way to stop the murderers before Openshaw’s number is up?

Review

          Okay, I love it when a mystery story is so well written that it keeps me guessing without adding so many twists and turns that it’s too confusing for a trained spy to follow. I got that with The Five Orange Pips. From the first, I had no clue how this was going to be resolved. As the story went on, rather than having more ideas of how this could work out, every time I thought I had a handle on it, something changed and it kept me guessing! The end came as a total shock to me and I loved it because it was out of the ordinary (that is my favorite thing about the Sherlock Holmes stories, they’re so out of the ordinary!)!! I really recommend that you read this one!

 

These are the books I'm Using:

 

Buy a copy Here

 

Buy a Copy Here

 

Until Next Time,

                     Lizzie <3