Ask Jot

Chosen Answer by Scribepalladin

"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? " --Sherlock Holmes, from The Sign of the Four "Come Watson, the game is afoot." --Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of Abbey Grange

Chosen Answer by ncaachamp

22 B Baker St. is one of the most highly sought, non-existant tourist attractions. You can join an international group of Doyle enthusiasts called The Baker Street Irregulars. Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes because he wanted to write other things besides detective stories. The public was so upset that Doyle published several more Holmes stories after devising a way to bring the slueth back from the dead. The character of Sherlock Holmes is still a contemporary entertainmant character. He and Prof. Moriarti even had roles to play on an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation The inspiration for Holmes key powers of observation came from one of Doyle's teachers in medical school. Dr. Joseph Bell was astoundingly adept at diagnosing how patients were injured or had become ill.

Chosen Answer by ♥★pinky★♥

The Canon of Sherlock Holmes consists of the fifty-six short stories and four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this context, the term "canon" is an attempt to distinguish between Doyle's original works and subsequent works by other authors using the same characters. Novels A Study in Scarlet (serialised 1887) The Sign of the Four (published 1890) The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialised 1901–1902 in The Strand) The Valley of Fear (serialised 1914–1915) Short stories The short stories were originally published in periodicals; they were later gathered into five anthologies: 1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1891–1892 in The Strand) 2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1892–1893 in The Strand as further episodes of the Adventures) 3. The Return of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1903–1904 in The Strand) 4. His Last Bow (contains stories published 1908–1913 and 1917) 5. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1921–1927) Lists of favourite stories There are two famous lists of favourite stories: that of Conan Doyle himself, in The Strand in 1927, and that of the Baker Street Journal in 1959. Conan Doyle's list: 1. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" 2."The Red-Headed League" 3."The Adventure of the Dancing Men" 4. "The Adventure of the Final Problem" 5 "A Scandal in Bohemia" 6."The Adventure of the Empty House" 7."The Five Orange Pips" 8. "The Adventure of the Second Stain" 9. "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" 10."The Adventure of the Priory School" 11. "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" 12. "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire" The Baker Street Journal's list: 1."The Adventure of the Speckled Band" 2."The Red-Headed League" 3."The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" 4."The Adventure of Silver Blaze" 5."A Scandal in Bohemia" 6."The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" 7."The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" 8."The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" 9."The Adventure of the Dancing Men" 10."The Adventure of the Empty House"

Chosen Answer by ck1

No, Eich, I can't give you even one reason why -you- should enjoy books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle just because they were precious to your father. Even in a family, each person has his or her own tastes, whether it be concerning books, music, movies, TV, sports, food or just about anything else you could name. If you are referring to the Sherlock Holmes stories, I can tell you -I- enjoy them because they seem to me to be clever and well written mysteries (they appeal to my tastes). I happen to love a good mystery story. (The Hound of the Baskervilles is my favorite of them, though A Scandal in Bohemia is up there - especially since it includes the one woman who ever bested the rather misogynist Holmes.) I can understand why it bothers you. I think I'd feel the same way, since it would feel (emotionally) that there is a rejection or disrespect of something which meant a great deal to a loved one. It's not, but the emotions don't pay a great deal of attention to logic. If you keep the books and take care of them, it is truly to honor your father and, thus, there is no rejection or disrespect. Perhaps you could put them aside for now and try again sometime down the road? As to if I've felt this way, the answer is yes. There are books which have seemed like torture for me to read. Worse is when I have the feeling that I am dissing a loved one by being unable to appreciate a book they value. Forgiving myself for having different tastes (I realize there is nothing, truly, to forgive), and keeping in mind that this has never affected my love and esteem for that other person, has helped. Sorry for rambling, but you are not alone. Our emotions can batter us even when our logic tells us there is no basis for condemnation or feelings of guilt. Maybe you should ask yourself: if your father were there, would he have any feeling of betrayal or be upset? (I doubt he'd feel let down.) In fact, the honor comes in treasuring books you don't like, just because they meant something to your father. Keeping books you don't like, just because of whose they were, expresses your love for your father more truly than if you kept them because you enjoy them. You aren't letting him down. By the way, though the stories are sometimes changed, you might appreciate the old Hollywood Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone (though Doctor Watson is completely different). BBC also made a very good series of Sherlock Holmes stories starring Jeremy Brett. One or the other may help you to appreciate the stories enough to try to read one of them again at some point. Just a thought... ***Okay. At least there is one title you enjoyed. :) Then maybe every once in a while you could pick out one of the shortest of his stories and read it, to see if you like it. (Maybe you could do what cole suggested and read along with an audio edition.)

Chosen Answer by im back

probably deliberate - many people have a "favourite" word that they overuse - and this is probably what Sir Arthur was alluding to