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Summary
Summary
Best known as the creator of the consulting detective par excellence Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a man of wide-ranging interests and talents, and his literary output went far beyond his Holmes and Watson stories. The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Reader collects works from all the genres in which he wrote, including mysteries, historical adventure tales, science fiction stories, ghost stories, plays, memoirs, essays on spiritualism (in which he was a dedicated believer) and reports on the Boer War and World War I. This collection features the account of Watson's first meeting with Holmes from A Study in Scarlet, an account of the dinosaurs inhabiting The Lost World, tales of Doyle's Napoleonic hero Brigadier Gerard, a condemnation of Belgium's exploitation of the Congo, and the complete text of his apocalyptic book The Poison Belt, in addition to several other stories and excerpts.
Author Notes
The most famous fictional detective in the world is Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. However, Doyle was, at best, ambivalent about his immensely successful literary creation and, at worst, resentful that his more "serious" fiction was relatively ignored. Born in Edinburgh, Doyle studied medicine from 1876 to 1881 and received his M.D. in 1885. He worked as a military physician in South Africa during the Boer War and was knighted in 1902 for his exceptional service. Doyle was drawn to writing at an early age. Although he attempted to enter private practice in Southsea, Portsmouth, in 1882, he soon turned to writing in his spare time; it eventually became his profession. As a Liberal Unionist, Doyle ran, unsuccessfully, for Parliament in 1903. During his later years, Doyle became an avowed spiritualist.
Doyle sold his first story, "The Mystery of the Sasassa Valley," to Chambers' Journal in 1879. When Doyle published the novel, A Study in Scarlet in 1887, Sherlock Holmes was introduced to an avid public. Doyle is reputed to have used one of his medical professors, Dr. Joseph Bell, as a model for Holmes's character. Eventually, Doyle wrote three additional Holmes novels and five collections of Holmes short stories. A brilliant, though somewhat eccentric, detective, Holmes employs scientific methods of observation and deduction to solve the mysteries that he investigates. Although an "amateur" private detective, he is frequently called upon by Scotland Yard for assistance. Holmes's assistant, the faithful Dr. Watson, provides a striking contrast to Holmes's brilliant intellect and, in Doyle's day at least, serves as a character with whom the reader can readily identify. Having tired of Holmes's popularity, Doyle even tried to kill the great detective in "The Final Problem" but was forced by an outraged public to resurrect him in 1903. Although Holmes remained Doyle's most popular literary creation, Doyle wrote prolifically in other genres, including historical adventure, science fiction, and supernatural fiction. Despite Doyle's sometimes careless writing, he was a superb storyteller. His great skill as a popular author lay in his technique of involving readers in his highly entertaining adventures.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sherlock Holmes buffs curious about the writings of Dr. Watson's "literary agent" could do worse than to start with The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Reader: From Sherlock Holmes to Spiritualism, edited by biographer Jeffrey Meyers (Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation, etc.) and Valerie Meyers. One may question the need to reprint major Holmes material (part one of A Study of Scarlet, "The Adventure of the Empty House," etc.), though in context with lesser known work (excerpts from The Stark Munro Letters, The Crime of the Congo and The Wanderings of a Spiritualist; "The Brown Hand," "Danger!" and other stories), they help illuminate the full range of a prolific author whose nondetective output has been largely forgotten. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Collections that seek to represent the full array of an author's oeuvre delight by allowing access to little-known works yet frustrate by excluding many full-text selections. The Meyerses, who between them have written many books and articles on a wide variety of literary figures, have created a nice mix here. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for his Sherlock Holmes novels and for The Lost World. More obscure are his historical novels on the Middle Ages and the 17th and 18th centuries, his Napoleonic Wars adventures, his works of horror and science fiction, and his plays. Also overshadowed by Holmes are Doyle's many nonfiction works among the highlights of this volume which range from articles on the Boer War and World War I to political statements on the Congo and writings on spiritualism. Also worthy of note are the Brigadier tienne Gerard stories; an epistolary novel, The Stark Munro Letters, which is highly autobiographical; and the full text of the sequel to The Lost World, titled The Poison Belt. While this is predominantly a grouping and reprinting of Doyle's work, the Meyers's introduction is detailed, informative, and enjoyable. This reader will be well received by Doyle's fans and perhaps even earn him some new fans who never knew that he created worlds outside of Holmes. Recommended for all libraries. Neal Wyatt, Chesterfield P.L., VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
