125 years ago today (22/11/1887) a truly magnificent literary creation was borne onto an unsuspecting world. 'A study in Scarlet' was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual. One can only envy those readers the thrill of the discovery of the new. The originality of the story, the brilliant characterisation of the Platonic loving relationship between Holmes and Watson - all of that was still to come.
Even now those first encountering these same characters are often magnetically attracted to them. So what is the secret of Conan Doyle's success here? Is it that the characters are trapped in the amber of the Victorian epoch and that we like to bathe ourselves in the watery tides of such history? Surely only partially at least or recent updates such as the wonderful BBC TV series 'Sherlock' would not have been so well received. Is it that the stories are somehow fantastical and take us beyond the realms of the every day? Again, not really - there's no Hogwarts Express to transport us away here! Could it be then that the writing is of such a staggeringly high standard that we are all muted in the presence of its' spectacular brilliance. Well, again - no. Even the most ardent Sherlockian would find it difficult to argue that point.
Might I humbly suggest that one thing above all brings us back to these stories again and again? The brilliant characterisation of the central figures and their fraternal bond. We enjoy the rapport of the good human Dr and his seemingly unapproachable 'calculating machine' of a friend. A friendship which ever endures and which is the heart of all these wonderfully evocative stories.
If you have never read them before (what HAVE you been doing with your time if not?) then I for one would heartily recommend them and there is no better place to start than with The Study' itself!
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/244/244-h/244-h.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment