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A review by blockonthenewkid
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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
What can I say - I'm a sucker for listening to Stephen Fry, and when I saw Audible would give me 3 whole days of his voice for one credit I didn't even hesitate.
The opening salvo of this collection really encapsulates the why of the enduring nature of Holmes & Watson. Were the collection to stop with The Hound of the Baskervilles, hot on the tales of The Final Problem, then I would have struggled to give this less than 4.5/5 and may even have argued myself up to the full whack. Alas that the collection continued, in the manner that it did.
Some tales in the latter days of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle should be the preserve of the completionist and of the scholar. Listening to the last day or so of Fry's voice, I found my own attention drifting in the manner that Conan Doyle's must have drifted as he regurgitated and repurposed plots and stories from his earlier canon. Were it all downhill I could maybe have attributed it to the decline of a literary great, but the flashes of brilliance and diamonds in the rough peppered throughout served as confirmation that the author hadn't lost the spark, but was merely not bothered with kindling it for each story.
Completion of this collection was only made possible by Stephen Fry's narration, and his anecdotes and observations at the start of each section. Despite this it still took me a good three months and change to make it all the way to the finish line.
The opening salvo of this collection really encapsulates the why of the enduring nature of Holmes & Watson. Were the collection to stop with The Hound of the Baskervilles, hot on the tales of The Final Problem, then I would have struggled to give this less than 4.5/5 and may even have argued myself up to the full whack. Alas that the collection continued, in the manner that it did.
Some tales in the latter days of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle should be the preserve of the completionist and of the scholar. Listening to the last day or so of Fry's voice, I found my own attention drifting in the manner that Conan Doyle's must have drifted as he regurgitated and repurposed plots and stories from his earlier canon. Were it all downhill I could maybe have attributed it to the decline of a literary great, but the flashes of brilliance and diamonds in the rough peppered throughout served as confirmation that the author hadn't lost the spark, but was merely not bothered with kindling it for each story.
Completion of this collection was only made possible by Stephen Fry's narration, and his anecdotes and observations at the start of each section. Despite this it still took me a good three months and change to make it all the way to the finish line.