I started with The Hound of the Baskervilles and loved it! Now I’m going back to the beginning and just read Study in Scarlet. So I’d agree to start with the third novel. It’s so good!
Haha! Yes Sherlock is a Ravenclaw and Watson would be a Gryffindor! I don't remember I mentioned this in a previous video of yours but my absolute favourite thing in Sherlock Holmes is the first few pages of A Study in Scarlet where Watson tries to size up Holmes and figure him out, taking notes about what Sherlock is good at. It always makes me feel so great ...especially when you know the friendship that develops after. But that said, I first read The Hound of the Baskerville so that was my introduction to Sherlock.
I love that bit - "knowledge of philosophy: nil" and so on :D And the bit where he tried to figure out what exactly Holmes's job is. Really great, shame about the second half of the book. Though I have warmed to that on rereads, but on the first read it's just a bit weird and jarring.
The second part of A study in scarlet is my favorite! At first I was so confused I thought it was a different story.. I didn't know anything about the story or about mormon history so when I realized how it was link to the case I was so amazed. I think it is brilliant it you go into it not knowing any spoiler😁
I first read the Adventure of the dancing men when I was 10 years old. And I've been hooked ever since. Sir Henry Baskerville was not an American. Holmes considered himself a consulting detective. I would recommend: The annotated Sherlock Holmes by William Baring-Gould is probably the best for aspiring Sherlockians.
Been through all of Holmes 3 times. Every few years I reread the whole canon. On a personal level , I loved hearing you speak :). Keep up the good work.
I agree that it isn’t so much the plots that makes the stories great. It’s the characters. Above all, Holmes himself, who is genuinely one of the greatest literary characters of all time - up there with Hamlet and Falstaff and Miss Havisham and Lizzie Bennet.
It’s funny, I’ve only read A Study in Scarlet but have seen every adaptation and read several series that feature Sherlock in some capacity or other so I feel I know the stories. I know it’s not the same as reading them though so thank you for this mini guide Claudia!
You're welcome! Hope you enjoy whichever Sherlock story you come across next :) The originals are interesting because you see which aspects adaptations tend to emphasize and which they ignore. For example, in adaptations Sherlock Holmes is often quite rude, whereas in the books he's a lot more polite, well, most of the time.
I almost started with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes myself, but I don't know, I just feel a need to read everything in order all the time, so I started with A Study in Scarlet. I enjoyed it, but definitely agree with you that the split narrative was weird and slowed everything down quite a bit. I really should continue on so I can get to The Hound of the Baskervilles before the end of the year (probably a pipe dream at this point, but we'll see). Oh man, I didn't think about my video possibly containing spoilers, I guess I'll go add that in the description! Thank you for the shoutout, though :)
Excellent introduction to Sherlock! I read them all when young, my mom thought they were good children's reading. Opium was a confusing concept, then. When I reread I going to make a determined effort to read them in the order written, but now you've made me want to listen to the Stephen Fry versions ... good video!
Haha, trying to understand hallucinogenics as a child must have been weird! Bu actually I do think they're fun stories for children, at least I know I would have loved them :D If you want to have a taste of the Fry narration, Audible lets you listen to a five-minute sample on their website too.
Good thing I found your video, I have the B&N Leather Bound Classic edition of the Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection.. Over 1100 pages containing the 4 novels and 56 short stories coming in the mail later today
I really enjoyed this, Claudia. I saw it in my sub box and I've been saving it up! It's interesting how you prefer the short stories, and wouldn't recommend the first novel as a starting place. It's so long since I read the stories and novels, you've inspired me to go away and rediscover them.
As far as the novel second-half back stories go, I really enjoy the valley of fear. Gripping and terrifying with an immense pay-off, it's a nice counterpoint to the Holmes narrative. I don't remember the racist content in sing of four, I'll have to have a re-read sometime!
Hi Claudia. I wonder, have you read The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer? Published in 1974 as a 'lost manuscript' of the 'late' Dr. John Watson, it tells of Holmes' collaboration with Sigmund Freud in discovering a great conspiracy. It is one of my favorite books. Every few years I re-read my very old mass market edition, and I am never disappointed. When it was published it was on the best sellers list for many months. A film was also made, but it diverges from the book in many places and despite an all-star cast is only so-so. I think you would enjoy the book. Meyer captures Doyle's writing style quite well and the story he tells is marvelous.
Sherlock homes is amazing character. I love that story so much. I cannot read original English books because im not that much good in english but i read sherlock homes books translate to my mothertounge. I bought all books that tranlate. When I read it my mind flying to England and living there like dream. How to buy sherlock orginal books ??
Very interesting video! Ir's been a while since I read any of the Holmes stories, but I first did so about fifty years ago, when I purchased an omnibus volume containing all the stories, and worked my way through it slowly. As for "A Study in Scarlet," I had a little trouble at first in understanding the reason for the second part, and found it a little hard to take when it was later explained to be a "back story" explaining the crime of the first part. My impression has always been that Doyle had already written the Utah story beforehand but hadn't done anything with it publication-wise; and when he later created the Holmes story, having the Mormon tale ready to hand, he decided to graft it on to the main narrative, supposedly as a justification for the crime. If such was the case, he did a rather clumsy job of it, failing to indicate till the end that it was in any way connected with the first part. What do you think? Anyway, the stories are all enjoyable, each of them in its own way, and you have made a thoughtful recommendation for those making their first acquaintance with Holmes.
Thank you for this great video! I've always wondered how to start with Sherlock Holmes. I've seen so many huge volumes and never know if it's novels, stories or both. Are you aware of any books that just contain his novels and one that just contains his short stories? Thank you, again. Really enjoyed this!
Thank you! I'm not really familiar with different editions of the books - mine just have the novels all separately and the short story collections in bundles of two per book. I believe you can also get some of the books for free as an ebook because the older ones should be copyright-free. Agree that a huge volume of all the stories is not exactly reader-friendly. I picked one of those up a while ago and then just gave it away again.
Aha, a lady with eyes and a sense of Sherlock Holmes. Well, I subscribed to your channel and going to check this out. I greatly like Mr Rathbone But very much just like the modern movie by Downey whatever i the name is.
A month ago I started reading the books from a Study in Scarlet on after watching the great show Sherlock BBC. I really love reading the books. Meanwhile I improve my english skills ;) (I'm from Germany)
"Basically, Holmes is a Ravenclaw, Watson a Gryffindor"
Totally Agree!!
I started with The Hound of the Baskervilles and loved it! Now I’m going back to the beginning and just read Study in Scarlet. So I’d agree to start with the third novel. It’s so good!
My absolute favourite!
Haha! Yes Sherlock is a Ravenclaw and Watson would be a Gryffindor! I don't remember I mentioned this in a previous video of yours but my absolute favourite thing in Sherlock Holmes is the first few pages of A Study in Scarlet where Watson tries to size up Holmes and figure him out, taking notes about what Sherlock is good at. It always makes me feel so great ...especially when you know the friendship that develops after. But that said, I first read The Hound of the Baskerville so that was my introduction to Sherlock.
I love that bit - "knowledge of philosophy: nil" and so on :D And the bit where he tried to figure out what exactly Holmes's job is. Really great, shame about the second half of the book. Though I have warmed to that on rereads, but on the first read it's just a bit weird and jarring.
The second part of A study in scarlet is my favorite! At first I was so confused I thought it was a different story.. I didn't know anything about the story or about mormon history so when I realized how it was link to the case I was so amazed. I think it is brilliant it you go into it not knowing any spoiler😁
This was exactly the sort of guide I was hoping to find before I commence reading the canon. Thank you, so well explained.
I first read the Adventure of the dancing men when I was 10 years old. And I've been hooked ever since. Sir Henry Baskerville was not an American. Holmes considered himself a consulting detective. I would recommend: The annotated Sherlock Holmes by William Baring-Gould is probably the best for aspiring Sherlockians.
Been through all of Holmes 3 times. Every few years I reread the whole canon. On a personal level , I loved hearing you speak :). Keep up the good work.
I agree that it isn’t so much the plots that makes the stories great. It’s the characters. Above all, Holmes himself, who is genuinely one of the greatest literary characters of all time - up there with Hamlet and Falstaff and Miss Havisham and Lizzie Bennet.
Very Helpful overview. Also like Norwood Builder short story. Very clever deduction and interesting plot.
I totally agree with everything you say and recommend here. I much prefer the short stories too.
They are really fun!
It’s funny, I’ve only read A Study in Scarlet but have seen every adaptation and read several series that feature Sherlock in some capacity or other so I feel I know the stories. I know it’s not the same as reading them though so thank you for this mini guide Claudia!
You're welcome! Hope you enjoy whichever Sherlock story you come across next :) The originals are interesting because you see which aspects adaptations tend to emphasize and which they ignore. For example, in adaptations Sherlock Holmes is often quite rude, whereas in the books he's a lot more polite, well, most of the time.
I almost started with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes myself, but I don't know, I just feel a need to read everything in order all the time, so I started with A Study in Scarlet. I enjoyed it, but definitely agree with you that the split narrative was weird and slowed everything down quite a bit. I really should continue on so I can get to The Hound of the Baskervilles before the end of the year (probably a pipe dream at this point, but we'll see). Oh man, I didn't think about my video possibly containing spoilers, I guess I'll go add that in the description! Thank you for the shoutout, though :)
Oooh yes you should read The Hound of the Baskervilles! Skip The Sign of Four if necessary, it's barely worth reading tbh :P
I've already read Sign of Four, haha :)
That's a shame :P
Excellent introduction to Sherlock! I read them all when young, my mom thought they were good children's reading. Opium was a confusing concept, then. When I reread I going to make a determined effort to read them in the order written, but now you've made me want to listen to the Stephen Fry versions ... good video!
Haha, trying to understand hallucinogenics as a child must have been weird! Bu actually I do think they're fun stories for children, at least I know I would have loved them :D If you want to have a taste of the Fry narration, Audible lets you listen to a five-minute sample on their website too.
I liked the Harry Potter reference 🤣🤣
Yeah !😆
"For a great mind, nothing is little" - Sherlock Holmes
Good thing I found your video, I have the B&N Leather Bound Classic edition of the Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection.. Over 1100 pages containing the 4 novels and 56 short stories coming in the mail later today
I really enjoyed this, Claudia. I saw it in my sub box and I've been saving it up! It's interesting how you prefer the short stories, and wouldn't recommend the first novel as a starting place. It's so long since I read the stories and novels, you've inspired me to go away and rediscover them.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy rediscovering them. I loved rereading all of them over the course of this year.
As far as the novel second-half back stories go, I really enjoy the valley of fear. Gripping and terrifying with an immense pay-off, it's a nice counterpoint to the Holmes narrative.
I don't remember the racist content in sing of four, I'll have to have a re-read sometime!
can you suggest me the order to read the books!?
Hi Claudia. I wonder, have you read The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer? Published in 1974 as a 'lost manuscript' of the 'late' Dr. John Watson, it tells of Holmes' collaboration with Sigmund Freud in discovering a great conspiracy. It is one of my favorite books. Every few years I re-read my very old mass market edition, and I am never disappointed. When it was published it was on the best sellers list for many months. A film was also made, but it diverges from the book in many places and despite an all-star cast is only so-so. I think you would enjoy the book. Meyer captures Doyle's writing style quite well and the story he tells is marvelous.
No I have not read or even heard of that! Sounds super interesting though, so I've put it on my to-read list. Thank you for the recommendation!
Love all your videos! You r so eloquent! I ve read a study in scarlet and really enjoyed it. Gonna read baskville soon!
Sherlock homes is amazing character. I love that story so much. I cannot read original English books because im not that much good in english but i read sherlock homes books translate to my mothertounge. I bought all books that tranlate. When I read it my mind flying to England and living there like dream. How to buy sherlock orginal books ??
I would suggest you buy a complete collection book instead individually because it’s cheaper that way and takes up less space.
@@nomyum7042 True..thanks for advise bro. Hope I can find out unabridged book that include complete the stories..
Thank you this video was really helpful!
Today i will begin with the Boscombe Valley Mystery
Very interesting video! Ir's been a while since I read any of the Holmes stories, but I first did so about fifty years ago, when I purchased an omnibus volume containing all the stories, and worked my way through it slowly. As for "A Study in Scarlet," I had a little trouble at first in understanding the reason for the second part, and found it a little hard to take when it was later explained to be a "back story" explaining the crime of the first part. My impression has always been that Doyle had already written the Utah story beforehand but hadn't done anything with it publication-wise; and when he later created the Holmes story, having the Mormon tale ready to hand, he decided to graft it on to the main narrative, supposedly as a justification for the crime. If such was the case, he did a rather clumsy job of it, failing to indicate till the end that it was in any way connected with the first part. What do you think? Anyway, the stories are all enjoyable, each of them in its own way, and you have made a thoughtful recommendation for those making their first acquaintance with Holmes.
That's entirely plausible, no other backstory is as drawn out as the one in A Study in Scarlet.
Iam from India i want to learn english with this book
Is this book help to me
Can you please tell me
Iam a beginner
Oh! I didn't think I was going to make it through the 2nd half of Scarlet. OOF. :)
Thank you for this great video! I've always wondered how to start with Sherlock Holmes. I've seen so many huge volumes and never know if it's novels, stories or both. Are you aware of any books that just contain his novels and one that just contains his short stories? Thank you, again. Really enjoyed this!
Thank you! I'm not really familiar with different editions of the books - mine just have the novels all separately and the short story collections in bundles of two per book. I believe you can also get some of the books for free as an ebook because the older ones should be copyright-free. Agree that a huge volume of all the stories is not exactly reader-friendly. I picked one of those up a while ago and then just gave it away again.
got annoyed and bought the entire collection lmao
How many Sherlock books are there?
Can you provide books for students must read during his school time?
Fascinating stories by Sherlock Holmes ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Would you recommend Benedict Cumberbatch's Audiobook over Stephen Fry? I find him a great narrator/reader..
I've not heard his narration, but either way I'd suggest you listen to the samples of both narrators and then go with whichever you like more. Enjoy!
Aha, a lady with eyes
and a sense of Sherlock Holmes. Well, I subscribed to your channel and going to check this out. I greatly like Mr Rathbone But very much just like the modern movie by Downey whatever i the name is.
Why didn’t you talk about Sherlock Holmes versus Dracula
I love book
My life first Reding English book
"Holmes is an incredibly talented detective" Proof?
Definitely The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as a first read. The Hound of the Baskerville is great too!
A month ago I started reading the books from a Study in Scarlet on after watching the great show Sherlock BBC. I really love reading the books. Meanwhile I improve my english skills ;) (I'm from Germany)
Super, bleib dran! (I'm also from Germany)
study in pink
thankyou honey
You have gifted eyes.
I love we've got to the point of seeing if Watson and Sherlock are gay men and dating.
Spoiler
We were not looking for spoilers ! Disliked