Public reader discussion about The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in the WeRead Catalog by Arthur Conan Doyle.
By atombeacon789
Yesterday I finally picked up The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes—it says it has 37 short stories plus one novel. Do I need to read the stories in order, or can I jump into whichever one sounds good?
By CopperSpoon39
Lately I realized I was just messing around on my iPad at night without really getting anything out of it, so I grabbed a Kobo eReader and thought I’d actually read novels instead. I’m not really a big reader, but I’ve done a little fiction before. I started with Shogun, then finished All The Light You Cannot See last night—really liked both of them. For my third pick I went with A Study In Scarlet, which is kind of a weird choice for me since I haven’t really connected with the whole on-screen version I’ve seen in the past. I was also worried I’d struggle with writing from 136 years ago, but I’m only about a fifth of the way in and I’m honestly hooked. It feels different from the other two, in a good way. I’m pretty sure I found something I actually enjoy. Overall I’m really glad I decided to read more, and the Kobo makes it so much easier to actually stick with it and enjoy it.
By hardcover_wren33
First time posting here. I usually do some kind of small “challenge” for myself with reading, and this year I’m sticking to book series. So far I’ve worked through Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter stuff (really liked it) and I also read through all the Oz books that L. Frank Baum wrote. Next up I’m planning to tackle the Sherlock Holmes series, but I wanted to see what people think who’ve read the whole Canon. I just finished A Study in Scarlet today and I honestly thought it was great. Now I’m just curious where Holmes and Watson are going to take things—I’m excited, but I figured I’d check with more experienced readers first for any thoughts or advice.
By Bottle66
A lot of people talk up the writing and the suspense in the original stories, but honestly I find them pretty dull. They seem to go on forever, and I just don’t really care much about what’s happening. I keep wondering if they get praised so much just because they’re classics, or if people really enjoy them for the actual story. I’m not trying to be rude or anything, I’m just honestly curious what everyone else thinks about them.
By library_looks53
Hey detectives! This is the third thread for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Here’s a fast rundown of the cases: • The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - A super valuable blue gem gets stolen from the Countess’ room, then turns up inside a Christmas goose. Holmes and Watson follow the trail from a battered hat to the goose seller and then to James Ryder. Ryder, who works as the hotel head attendant, took the gem and hid it by feeding it to his sister’s goose (she’s the dealer). When he went back for it, he grabbed the wrong goose by mistake. Holmes lets Ryder go so he can leave England, since he thinks he’s too scared to do another crime. Ryder had also blamed a repairman for it, so now that guy should be cleared. • The Adventure of the Speckled Band - Helen Stoner comes to Watson and Holmes and says she thinks her sister was murdered two years ago after getting engaged. Her sister heard weird noises at night and then died suddenly. Now Helen is engaged too, and she’s hearing the same strange noises while sleeping in her sister’s old room. Holmes thinks the stepfather, Roylott, is behind it because he’d lose money if the sisters married. He and Watson wait in Helen’s room that night and end up finding a venomous snake with a speckled band crawling down a fake bell rope. Holmes drives it back into Roylott’s room, where it bites and kills him instead. Holmes doesn’t tell the police everything so Helen won’t be upset. • The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb - Victor Hatherley, a hydraulic engineer, shows up to Watson with part of his thumb missing and a pretty insane story. He was hired to look at a hydraulic press that was supposedly used to squeeze fuller’s earth into bricks. Once he starts wondering what the machine is really for, Colonel Lysander Stark locks him in and tries to crush him with it. Victor tries to get out a window, Stark chops at his hand, and he loses his thumb. The place ends up catching fire while Victor escapes, and the criminals get away. Turns out the machine was being used to make fake money. The schedule’s here if you’re trying to keep the timeline straight. You may also need the marginalia to get your theories and hot takes in, fellow sleuths.
By lunar-zenith87
Just grabbed it—thanks a lot!
By marginCedar3
There are tons of movies, dramas, and sitcoms from growing up that are still worth watching again, or just talking about. This is the spot to share them, recommend them, and maybe figure out where to watch them now. Let’s get into it!
By apron-turtle
I’m usually not big on short stories, but lately I’ve been worn out on longer novels and I’ve been digging Joyce’s Dubliners. I haven’t read all of it yet, but the ones I’ve tried so far have been really good. I keep getting stuck on the fact that it was written by someone in his early 20s. It feels like the stories hit a bunch of different stuff about Irish everyday life, and politics (nationalism) and religion show up a lot too, like they probably did back then. What I like most is how real it all feels. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to manufacture a perfect, neat ending that just wraps everything up for you. More like he’s trying to get at some kind of truth and then leaves you to sit with it and figure out what it means. I also like that it kind of trusts you to think, not just to be entertained. Anyway, I’m curious—what other short story collections have you all read that you actually enjoyed? Are they more creative or funny or sharp, or just super observant and different in a way that sticks with you?
By cafefinds
I’ve been meaning to get into the Sherlock Holmes books for years, and now I want to start with the best audiobooks. I just don’t know which ones are considered the “go-to” first, and I’m not sure what narrator/cast is the best to look for. If anyone has good recommendations, I’d really appreciate it.
By BrownSilver
Well, one of them’s got Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott…… Kidding aside, I don’t even know the other one, so I guess I can only go with Sherlock.
By VelvetBookworm
I only really listen for like 30 minutes a day, so I guess my “progress” is just slow. So far I’ve gotten through *A Study in Scarlet*, *The Sign of Four*, and *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes*. That last one is a bunch of short stories (around 10–12), and they’re pretty well written. I can’t say enough about Stephen Fry’s narration. He usually has his own little intro at the start of each book where he mentions his experience with the Sherlock world and also gives some context for why things are phrased a certain way, which helps a lot. I don’t have the time to do a full review, but I did enjoy the first one a lot. Part of it is just meeting everyone, but I also liked that some of the backstory is set in the late 1800s American West. The way Conan Doyle wrote about Utah back then felt really nice to me. I didn’t love the second book as much, though. The third one more than made up for it for me—the adventures feel more varied overall, and *The Speckled Band* honestly goes full horror mode. Also, if you have an Audible subscription, the collection is free.
By Red_Field
I don’t really know—“good” feels pretty subjective. Does this one actually build suspense, or are the plot twists really there like some of the newer Sherlock Holmes stuff? Or am I just looking at a famous classic that might be kind of just… average? And yeah, I think I’m okay since it’s about the books, but if I messed up the rules, sorry.
By rainyPorch
Back for round two on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This week we’ve got three stories going on, and I’m kind of torn on how I feel about them. In “Boscombe Valley,” James McCarthy gets blamed for killing his dad, but Holmes ends up finding out it was actually Aussie John Turner. And Turner only gets spared because he’s got a terminal illness, so James can still end up marrying Alice Turner. “Five Orange Pips” is darker, and I’m not sure I even like how it wraps up. John Openshaw gets a creepy threatening letter tied to the KKK with orange pips like his dad and granddad got. Holmes tracks it to a ship heading for Georgia, but the whole thing ends with the ship sinking in a storm—so basically everyone on board dies, including whoever did it. Then “Twisted Lip” is the one with Neville St. Clair—except he’s not dead. Holmes finds out he’s been living in London as a beggar, using the name Hugh Boone because it pays better than his journalist work. Anyway, if you’re trying to line up the timeline, good luck. And if you’ve got theories, ideas, or takes, now’s probably the time to bring them up.
By brisk-paper2
Brett gave a really balanced character, kind of balancing genius, insanity, and addiction all at once.
By String26
I was chatting with someone the other day about crime fiction, and it made me think about how I’ve been into mystery stuff forever. Like, since I was a kid I was always reading—Hardy Boys, Nate the Great, Encyclopedia Brown, all that. I even kept borrowing this old hardcover Sherlock Holmes from the library so many times that my mom finally just bought it for me. And honestly, it kind of pushed me to try writing my own mysteries when I was a young teen. So I’m wondering—did you grow up into mysteries too, and what were your go-to favorites?
By Ink_Tide
When I ordered this online, I thought it was going to focus on one case that Holmes and Watson were working through. But it’s really more like a bunch of short stories with Holmes and Watson dealing with whatever crimes or mysteries come up. This is the first classic I’ve read in this kind of setup, and I think I’ll need a few more stories before I really get used to it.
By chillyhawk2001
I’ve read the canon and I’ve watched the big Holmes adaptations (Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Downey Jr., Cumberbatch) and I really do love them, no question. But when I line them up against a detective like Hercule Poirot, his stories just grab me more. The characters are just as lovable, and honestly sometimes more so. And I swear the original Holmes stories, at least what I remember, had characters that felt pretty flat, like they were mostly there to move the plot along. Poirot also has some wild or kinda disappointing cases, but even his worst ones are usually more interesting than some Holmes stories. And yeah, add in David Suchet’s version and to me it’s basically the clear winner between the two.
By gathersStory
It feels really close to the original stuff, like the most faithful take I’ve come across, but it still finds a way to make Holmes work in a modern setting and keep things entertaining. What’s the best book-to-movie or book-to-show adaptation you’ve seen? Also… that cliffhanger is brutal. I’m not doing great because of it and I really need the next season ASAP.
By silver_market
Honestly, a lot of what Holmes says feels like his whole “how to think” thing. Like, instead of just making stuff up or guessing, he tries to knock out what can’t be true, even if the answer left over feels kinda crazy. And he’s big on not forming theories until you actually have the facts, because jumping ahead messes everything up. Also, I get the point about “seeing” vs actually noticing things—like, most people miss obvious stuff right in front of them. It’s weird but kind of true that the “obvious” answer can be the most misleading one. And he’s not even pretending he’s done learning—education never stops, I guess. The way he talks about mediocrity vs real talent is also a little harsh but I know what he means. Crime is everywhere, but being able to think through it logically isn’t. And the biggest thing for me is how he treats tiny details like they matter, because apparently nothing is really “small” if you’re paying attention.
By Lake_Frog
I thought I’d already shared these, but I guess I didn’t. A while back I took that “collection” cover and made it match each of the books in the set—different color versions for each one, and I added the title too—so it’d be quicker for me to jump to the story I wanted. If anyone wants the 9-book individualized collection (each cover at 3460x2460), it’s HERE. It includes: 1 - A Study In Scarlet 2 - The Sign of Four 3 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 4 - The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes 5 - The Hound of the Baskervilles 6 - The Return of Sherlock Holmes 7 - The Valley of Fear 8 - His Last Bow 9 - The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes