1 post tagged “arthur conan doyle”

At the end of May I read two interesting books at the same time:
It was incredibly fascinating to read two different takes on Sherlock Holmes simultaneously: Vintage Holmes,

The Hound of the Baskervilles, via audio in the car and the latest in the Holmes/Russel Series The Language of Bees. I had never read Sir Arthur Conan Doyles original creation of Holmes, and I did enjoy it greatly.  I did find, however, that I couldn't stand his opions that the lower classes lacked inteligence, and the way in which he related to women.  What is so fascinating is that I felt incredibly familiar with Holmes, from the King novels, and felt that they, in every way jived with Conan Doyle's original detective, except his misogyny.  This, of course, makes Kings version of Sherlock vastly superior...IMHO!
Both stories were very interesting.  Conan-Doyle spun a tale that made the detective delve into spiritual superstitions in order to rid a family of a curse.  Without wanting to spoil the plot let me just say that Scooby Doo learned a lot from Conan-Doyle :) 
King's tale was more interesting.  Her books focus both on Sherlock and his young wife, the superb Mary Russell. The two of them are embarking on the search for Holmes's son's wife and daughter.  This book is one of the best I've read in this series (of which I own most all) and I loved, again, the relationship between the two of them.  I highly recommend this series.  A faithful recreation of Holmes in all his splendor (without the misogyny) and Mary who is the only woman who is intelligent enough to match wits with him.  It was lovely to read them at the same time, comparing and contrasting and delighting in the stories.  I also think that Sherlock and Mycroft would be two great Dog names.   Might have to remember that.