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4.0 out of 5 stars
A study of timetables, Jun 10 2004
These are some of my favorite stories in the Canon! Silver Blaze includes the memorable line about "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" ("The dog did nothing in the night-time. That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes)". The Gloria Scott may be the start of Holmes career as consulting detective, and in these Memoirs we also have the introduction of brother Mycroft. The annotation by Leslie Klinger on this edition is superb, with diversions into the constant problem of train timetables (Did Watson purposely obscure these facts?). I was interested in her annotation of the difference between American and English editions (for example in "Yellow face" the longer time that Grant Munro was silent in the American Edition was "presumably because inter-racial marriage was unacceptable in America in the 1890's"). The footnotes always help to place the stories in context (for example what is "brain-fever" suffered in 7 of the Holmes stories?) and also detect inconsistencies in Watson's telling. Perhaps my favorite footnote is in "The Yellow Face" stating that actor William Gillette may have been to the Holmes household and met the page "Billy" (Who was played by Charlie Chaplin in 1903!). The few appendices deal; with "Sherlock Holmes the Horseplayer", "The post-graduate years", or "Theories of Mycroft Holmes". The Sidney Paget drawings are always welcome!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Grab These While You Are Still Able, Nov 3 2002
What can we say about the literary icon Sherlock Holmes that hasnt already been? Very little, so we therefore redirect our evaluations towards the unending line of dramatizations that even today are still being released. In my humble opinion, these are the best efforts, certainly in pure audio format, of these immortal tales ever to be produced. Merrison may at first bug you as he did me. We are used to a more booming authoritative Holmes. Merrison has a decidedly very small and nasally timbre to his voice. But his incredible acting abilities will quickly win you over. His absolute command of the situations and his sadly all too sparsely employed dry humor; make him as formidable a Holmes as any who have attempted the role. Contrast to Jeremy Brett's somewhat effeminate and decidely dark interpretation of the great detective, Merrison offers a much more genial and personable version, yet one that is no less impressionable than any of his predecessors. But it's the late Michael Williams to me, however, who finally after 100 years of fruitless attempts by actors, displays a true understanding of the character of the narrator, John Watson, and in doing so, makes these productions such a resounding triumph. Watson is all too often seen as a boob, ala Nigel Bruce. Or when not, he is played as dry humorless tagalong. These stories, through Williams's depictions, offer us at last an interesting and complex Watson. As Doyle no doubt intended him to be. Clearly no match for his constant companion intellectually, but as the absolute invaluable assistant to Holmes. Gone are such ponderings as "Why would a genius keep company with such a fool?" Or "Why would such an interesting multi faceted eccentric, befriend a lifeless, vapid man of medicine?" As in all BBC productions, the supporting casts and sound effects, provide true listening enjoyment in the spirit of the golden age of radio.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Jun 11 2001
"Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" was the fourth Holmes book and the second collection of short stories. Originally published in the Strand Magazine as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," it took the name "Memoirs" when published in book form, because the first collection had pre-empted the title "Adventures.""Memoirs" consists of eleven short stories, none of which are as good as the stories in the first collection. In fact, several stories appear to be reworkings of stories from the original "Adventures." "The Stockbroker's Clerk" is a rehash of the plot of "The Red Headed League." "The Gloria Scott" seems to borrow heavily from "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." "The Greek Interpreter" replays "The Engineer's Thumb." "The Yellow Face" harks back to "A Scandal in Bohemia." In "Bohemia," Holmes was stymied, and in "Yellow Face" he again goes badly astray. Obviously Doyle was growing weary of Holmes. So weary, in fact, that he killed Holmes off in "The Final Problem." Holmes fans everywhere would rejoice when Doyle resurrected their hero in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and Holmes went on to further, and better adventures. Mediocre Holmes is still far better than most detective fiction. Holmes fans everywhere should also rejoice at the BDD publication of the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Merrison and Williams make the best Holmes-Watson team since the Rathbone-Bruce collaboration. The production values for the BBC plays are excellent, far better than the production values of the 30's and 40's, when Rathbone and Bruce portrayed the crimefighting duo. The BDD publication consists of three volumes, each volume containing two cassettes, and each cassette containing two plays. The eleven short stories of "Memoirs" does not quite fill the twelve play capacity of the cassettes. BDD solves the problem by borrowing "The Second Stain" from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."
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