Sherlock Holmes Day

Today is Sherlock Holmes Day .I missed it last year, but I knew I needed to commemorate it this year. I haven't read enough Sherlock Holmes stories, but I enjoy every one I have read, and of course for any crime fiction fan Holmes is an archetypal reference, THE archetypal reference for any investigator in crime fiction, and even beyond the genre. So I have one book of his adventures on my to be read list and once I read it, I will buy more. I also have a reference guide which I might read a bit today. And to accompany this post, I am sharing this image taken from this edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles. So happy birthday Sherlock. You remain to this day the greatest detective of all time.

Sherlock Holmes in London

Today, I am blogging again about this edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first edition I read of the novel and the very first Sherlock Holmes novel I read. As it was aimed at younger readers, it was accompanied by many pictures, really nice ones. We sometimes forget that a substantial amount of time of the plot is spent in London, where Holmes and Watson first see the villain of the story, although only from afar. The antagonist is also disguised under a heavy fake beard, so his identity remains a mystery at this point. It makes for a suspenseful chase in the city, which concludes with the Holmes being bested (by his own admission) by his unknown adversary. This image renders very well the tension and gives to the scene and the setting a neat aura of menace.

Sherlock Holmes on the Moors

 I blogged back in February about the first edition I read of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I took this image from the book. You can see Sherlock Holmes in his iconographic if apocryphal clothes, with a deerstalker hat, but an ordinary coat and not an Inverness cape, for some reason. Still, the hat gives him away immediately. In this image, it makes some sense that he is wearing this, as he is on the Devon's moors. Some illustrators and movies have Holmes dressed like this in the middle London, which is patently absurd. Anyway, I think it would be nice to revisit Devon, but more inland this time. Follow the footsteps of Sherlock Homes, when he investigated an old legend who turned into a murder conspiracy.

Sherlock and Baskerville Hall

During my last time at home, I stumbled upon this book, the first edition I read of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I revisited it a little bit more than a decade ago. It was if I am not mistaken the very first Sherlock Holmes story I ever read, or at least the very first Holmes novel. I might actually have read The Red-Headed League before, I'm not sure. I had of course watched the TV series before. But in many ways, The Hound of the Baskervilles was my first venture into Sherlock Holmes' world and to this day it remains my favourite story. I don't think I will reread it this year, having a lot on my TBR, but it was nice to see the copy I owned when I was a kid.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Tonight's reading suggestion is an oldie but a goodie: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first Sherlock Holmes novel (but not story) I read and a case of first love for me. A crime fiction story that takes the guise for a moment of a supernatural one, based on old British legends of hell hounds. Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate on the death of Charles Baskerville and protect Sir Henry Baskerville, last heir of the family. The former having seemingly been victim of and the latter being seemingly threatened by an old family curse that takes the form of a devilish hound. Most of the story is set in the Devon moorland (read it in Devonshire for extra enjoyment) that could well be haunted, but the resolution is perfectly rational (if a bit far fetched). It's a detection novel, but it has plenty of atmosphere, suspense and characters that are actually pretty developed for the genre.

Rediscovering The Hound of the Baskervilles in Devon

My next holidays, and the first summer holidays I had in years (literally), will be in Devon, which I have never seen yet, but been wanting to see for quite a while. They are not until a little while, but I have already started preparing them. It means, apart from finding accommodations and places to visit (which the Devon has plenty of), finding books to read for the journey and my time there. It was easy for me: I bought The Hound of the Baskervilles in this bookshop. I choose the books I read according to seasons, I also choose them according to some settings. The novel being mainly set in Devon, I thought it was the perfect occasion to rediscover it. I had read the novel decades ago, in French, when I was still a child. It was not my first Sherlock Holmes story, but it was my first Sherlock Holmes novel. And such a great read too.

I am surprised I did not decide to rediscover it earlier. I guess because there are so many books to read, I forget there are so many books to reread. What I loved about it, apart from its atmosphere, was the elements of veiled supernatural, never becoming concrete of course: in the end, the old legend of the demonic hound is rationalized. Evil in old crime fiction, like in new crime fiction, is most definitely human in origins. Then again, the story is inspired about British folklore, the hellhound legends, very potent and evocative in itself. I am sometimes almost disappointed that Arthur Conan Doyle made a Sherlock Holmes adventure of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Keep the supernatural, take away Sherlock Holmes, and it could have made a brilliant horror novel. In a way, I will read it as a transitional novel, getting myself in the mood for horror stories while enjoying a great classic crime novel. In any case, it is a great atmospheric book and I cannot wait to read it where it is set.