(English assignment book review) - THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ~ Rion Reji

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer best known for his detective fiction  featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published  'A Study in Scarlet' , the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr.Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Sherlock Holmes through a series of his investigations with Watson is really engaging. Most of them always start with some form of peculiar  detail and then turns around to change around just from the little details that he observes.  That is the charm of Sherlock Holmes and it keeps us wondering what his next step is and how each case will end.  Its a very enjoyable read.

This is a book with 12 investigations of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  Dr. Watson, his trusted companion, is the narrator of each of these stories.  He documents each one through his eyes and his experience.  When Holmes exits the picture or when certain characters involved in the case leave his field of vision, we jump forward to when he witnesses some more.  This allows us a lot of mystery as we read.  We know that its the most accurate version from Watson's mouth and this is also what pulls us in.  He puts in his initial assessment and then his discussion with Holmes who clarifies his route of action most of the time after the fact.

  The missing parts of where Holmes investigates on his own is where we wonder when he comes back what crazy approach he is going to use next to track down or capture the unknown culprit red handed.  It leaves the readers wondering and often times I found myself trying to figure out what the next move
was or who the next culprit was.  There was maybe 3-4 times that I figured out who was the culprit but I usually would get the twist and details of the actual story wrong.

This is also what makes Sherlock Holmes a very attractive character.  He inspects and sees the little details that we normally would not associate with how he gathers his information.  It takes a lot of general knowledge to be able to pull those links together from the people he observes or the evidence that he finds and inspects.

Overall, I really did find this a very fun novel to read.  I loved the character of Sherlock Holmes and will probably seek out his other novels.  I always like a good mystery and makes me guess throughout reading it.  It allows me to be involved throughout the story and that makes it very recommendable and a great classic to me!