Reviews with content warning for Racism - El sabueso de los Baskerville

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

El sabueso de los Baskerville by Arthur Conan Doyle

14 reviews

mxmorganic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A bit slow in parts, especially early on. As well, the book is riddled with unchallenged ideas about the merits of colonialism and various racial “facts” - e.g. being able to identify and define various groups of people by the contours of their skulls - that are extraordinarily uncomfortable to read today.

However, the core mystery of the novel is quite compelling, and most of all Arthur Conan Doyle has a way with words that really struck me at multiple points in the text - when finally the eponymous Hound of the Baskervilles rears its head, ACD describes it with some of my favorite language I’ve read this year, and the surrounding chapter too was a tremendous climax to the novel.

Finally, the introduction/afterword to my edition of the novel was a highlight of this printing, leaving me with much-appreciated food for thought as I think back over the novel now. So, with the caveats that it’s not always as thrilling as one might expect, and that it’s very of its time, I do certainly recommend the Hound of the Baskervilles for Doyle’s rich renderings of the English language, if for nothing else.

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drybay's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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the_true_monroe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Thanks to the Audrey app and winning another one of their StoryGraph giveaways, I got to finally read a Sherlock Holmes story! I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would and it was a bit fast when Sherlock explains things but I also listen at 1.5 speed, so I will have to go through the notes from the guide which help a lot. Same guide as The Picture Of Dorian Gray which I would not have fully understood without their guidance.

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isaaah's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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atuin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

It's easy to see why Sherlock Holmes was and is so popular, as his detective work had me hooked through the book. The villain was also a pleasant surprise, as they were very well done in how clever and cruel they were. I will say much of the book has Watson on his own, which I wasn't a big fan of. Maybe if this wasn't my first Sherlock book I would've appreciated the new dynamic, but I loved them bouncing off each other and wanted to see more of that. It would also be irresponsible of me to not point out that, as this book was written in the 1800's, there are a lot of antiquated and racist ideas about skull shapes and the criminal look. Even so, I loved the parts aside from that, and I'm looking forward to more Sherlock.

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sarasreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Almost a 4 star read for me. Casual racism always brings these classics down for me. I read this when I was a teenager but remembered almost nothing, so it was fun to go back to this one. I enjoyed it, even when it was pretty far fetched. Would be a good one to curl up with when it's cold and rainy out.

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