Several years ago, my wife and I purchased a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories as a Christmas present for our niece and I mentioned that I had never read any Sherlock Holmes save an abbreviated version of Hound of the Baskervilles I encountered in fifth grade. I believe my wife was appalled at this dearth in literary knowledge and as a remedy I soon received a nice version of the Sherlockian canon. I like to consume literature in bulk–there was no intimidation at 2000-3000 pages, but rather a comfort of knowing there were many hours of reading material immediately available to me. And so I began.
I really enjoy reading about the various adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but initially I was surprised at how well I could predict the outcome. Not only did I out pace Watson, but sometimes even the great sleuth himself. Initially I assumed I was just incredibly clever, but soon reality set in there was the realization that, though the details were different, the “twist” was something previously encountered. I had read various mysteries including a binge with Agatha Christie while in college. Before that I had ready Hardy Boys novels (also in mass quantities) and watched episodes of Scooby-Doo. Sherlock Holmes was quite original when it was written, but it has since become the foundation upon which most modern Western mystery is built.
I think I enjoy the short stories more than the novels; that’s odd considering my general preference towards quantity. The short stories come across as more tightly written and more focused on the mystery rather than a lot of back story. Also, since I usually had a good idea where the story was headed, I think I missed out on a certain measure of suspense.
Even though most modern readers won’t be thoroughly astounded by the genius of Sherlock Holmes because of the predictability, it’s not due to lack of originally for it is the original. Reading the text is a fun journey to the early days of the mystery genre. If you haven’t yet experienced the world of Holmes and Watson, enjoy the originality and don’t fret the predictability.
