Search Results for: Sherlock Holmes

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Peter O’Toole as Holmes

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As famous a (costumed) character as Sherlock Holmes is, it is no surprise that he has lent himself to animation. Of course, you’ve seen images of Daffy Duck, Snoopy and Mickey Mouse, among many others, imitating Holmes: usually with an oversized magnifying glass. Actual Holmes characters can be found in such animated efforts as Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (Watson is a robot) and Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes. Of course, Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective features Basil…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: What Story Should You Read First?

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Recently a post in a Holmes Facebook group caught my eye. A woman was a fan of one of the current TV shows (I don’t recall if it was Elementary or BBC’s Sherlock), but she loved it and wanted to read the stories. She wondered where to start. First, I think it’s a bit interesting that there are Holmes fans that have never read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. They only know the detective through television shows set in the…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Terry Pratchett’s ‘City Watch’

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As readers of this column are certainly aware, I’m quite the fan of detective and private eye novels. Beyond just the guy that the whole thing is named after. As I mentioned in last week’s post on Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel, I’ve made several posts about the genre. Related yet distinct is the police procedural (though some stories, like the aforementioned Caves, fit in both genres). As you can guess from the name, these focus on police officers, rather…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Asimov’s The Caves of Steel

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In 1953, Isaac Asimov combined the science fiction and mystery genres with a three-part serial. In The Caves of Steel, Asimov painted a bleak future for humanity that served as more than just the background of a murder investigation. Earth became overpopulated and civilization had to adapt to the massive resource needs. Cities became densely populated collectives. Efficiency drove everything. Section units (one, two and three room apartments) rather than houses. Group eating areas, rather than individual kitchens. Common shower and bath…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: REH Goes Hard Boiled

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You know how people say “No offense intended,” and then offend like it’s an Olympic sport? I’m a major Robert E. Howard fan. In fact, I think his writing in the Conan stories is the best you’ll find in the entire genre. However, he was not much of a hardboiled writer. The pulpster did (half-heartedly) give it a try, with nine completed Steve Harrison stories, as well as one unfinished tale and a synopsis. In February of 1934, Strange Detective…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Post Index #2

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Back on September 29th of last year, I created a linked index of all The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes posts up to that date, plus a few extras that I’d written here at Black Gate. Well, since this column debuted on March 10, 2014 (yep, a year ago tomorrow!), I figured I’d create an index of all the posts written since that first index. As the past year has shown, I’m not just about Holmes. I’ve looked at other mystery topics, including…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: The Lords of Dus

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The eighties was full of epic fantasy series’ by the likes of David Eddings, Raymond Feist, Stephen R. Donaldson, Terry Brooks and Katherine Kurtz, to name a few. While many remain giants in the history of the genre, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote a largely forgotten series: The Lords of Dus. Watt-Evans has written quite a bit of fantasy, science fiction and horror and is probably best known for his Ethshar series. Ethshar was created as a role-playing game world and he…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: New Holmes Story Found! Well….

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Last week, the Sherlockian world was abuzz with news that a new Holmes story had been discovered: One that was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself back in 1903. A few basics: On March 5, 1927, “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place” appeared in Liberty Magazine. There would be no more Holmes tales from Doyle’s pen. Thus, the official Sherlockian Canon came to a close at 60: 56 short stories and 4 novels (novellas, really). Doyle had previously written…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of George Edalji

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In the Old Testament, Nehemiah is the cupbearer to the king of Persia. His people, the Israelites, had been conquered by the Babylonians and sent into captivity years before. Groups of exiles had been allowed to return to Jerusalem, but the walls, which signified security and nation in those days, hadn’t been rebuilt. When Nehemiah learned of the plight of his brethren, he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. Such was the depth of his feeling for them. In December of…

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: The Best I’ve Ever Read…

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See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. And so begins the best piece of writing I’ve come across. In the seventies…

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