Buckle up and settle in for a long-distance journey back in time by train, four-wheeler, bicycle and dog cart through the streets of 19th century London and beyond.
At nearly 63 hours (72 if you purchase the
Definitive Collection), Stephen Fry's presentation of Arthur Conan Doyle's many
"Sherlock Holmes" stories and books is a delightfully spry, eye-winking love song. Fans of the fictional detective can follow the narrator chronologically from the introductory novel
"A Study in Scarlett," in which we meet the twenty-something detective through his flatmate Dr. Watson, all the way to
"His Last Bow," in which a sixty-ish Holmes reunites with Watson to foil a German spy in advance of World War I.
There are too many stories to try balancing the merits of one against the detriments of another. It is only natural that some are better than others, but it is the breadth of them I find amazing. The mysteries solved cover everything from international intrigue, to simple revenge, to the discovery that, in fact, no actionable crime has been committed. Upon revisiting the stories, I was even surprised how many times Holmes plays fast and loose with the law. As a private detective, he has those privileges of discretion and deception unavailable to his official counterparts at Scotland Yard.
Another surprise is the nuanced intelligence of the world around Sherlock Holmes. Yes, there are many minor characters throughout the collection who bluster incredulity at the detective's methods and results, but there are just as many characters who, while incapable of mimicking his success, readily understand and appreciate his abilities without coming across as brainless or fawning. The criminals don't all fall in heaps and confess at the merest glimmer of his investigative prowess and the great detective is occasionally outsmarted either by a crafty villain, pure chance or his own inclination to overthink a simple problem ("kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear").
Watson, as narrator, is as well-defined a character of 19th century literature as you are likely to discover. His bewilderment at Holmes's deductions are tempered by his oft-stated disapproval of his friend's self-destructiveness, lack of empathy, and irrational contrariness, all of which goes far in making both characters endearingly human. They compare quite favorably to such one-dimensional Agatha Christie heroes as the vainly omniscient Hercule Poirot and his ineffectually blithering sidekick Colonel Hastings.
Interesting, also, is the changing sophistication evident in a series of stories that span thirty-plus years from the dawn of electricity to the age of phonographs and bi-planes. Earlier stories rely heavily on such catch-all frailties of human nature as "brain fever," with brandy serving as the universal resuscitative medical response. Fortunately, such naive devices gradually diminish as the stories progress.
And while Doyle shows himself at many turns to be socially liberal through the tales he tells, the mainstream prejudices and sexism of his times are evidenced in ways that likely raised few eyebrows a century ago, but which now are cringeworthy. Ethnic characters too frequently come across as cliched stereotypes and women, even those who earn the detective's respect, are too often depicted as demure and helpless creatures. This isn't the ideal tome for modern readers incapable of appreciating fiction from another era through the necessary filters.
As for the two editions of Fry's presentation, I prefer the shorter non-definitive addition without the final series of stories known as
"The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes." These later stories, published in the 1920s toward the end of Doyle's life, stray from the successful formulae to a distracting degree and occasionally delve into the fanciful, abandoning the quaint logic-driven narratives of Doyle's earlier career.
All in all, Fry's performance is unerringly perfect and the source material -- in the unbiased opinion of this lifelong fan -- is nearly beyond reproach.
Book Rating: 5 out of 5
Audio Rating: 5 out of 5
