Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – A Study in Scarlet – 1887
I read a Study in Scarlet many years ago. before the time when I became more or less an active literature opponent. Back then, I had some favorites, which still linger in the nostalgia gene. I liked the ingenious murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, and I liked Sherlock Holmes. To the extent that even in my youth, I acquired a complete bibliography of Conan Doyle’s stories about Sherlock Holmes. If my memory doesn’t fail me too much, I would also claim that A Study in Scarlet was the first Sherlock Holmes book I read—and that was before I personally obtained the books! Probably borrowed from the library.
Nine Volumes in total
As I said, I got them all, in nine volumes I believe. It’s not exactly the edition I have used the picture for here though. Doens’t really matter, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover anyway (pun intended). The price was undoubtedly a contributing factor to my seventeen-year-old self prioritizing the purchase of this collection so highly that I actually went ahead and bought it! Let’s say it took me two years to read through all the pages (I wasn’t a diligent or regular reader at the time). Since then, the books have just stood there on the bookshelf or been packed in boxes during moves.
Anyway, I got it into my head that I should read through these books again. Finding out whether I still found it entertaining literature or not. That was my motivation to get around to it. A Study in Scarlet was the first story Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about the famous detective with an incredible mind for details and analysis of facts. It is told in the first person from the perspective of the constant companion, Dr. Watson. I think today that it is quite sloppily written many times, almost a bit childlike in language at times. Of course, I read a translated version so I eonät be too harsh on Conan Doyle. But I surprisingly became interested in reading further. It is easy to read, and it doesn’t take many hours to go through the book either.
The first meeting
It is divided into two parts (or three if you’re in that mood). First, we have Dr. Watson’s notes. The facts of the case and about the first meeting with Holmes, for that matter. Likewise, the introduction of Lestrade and other key figures in the police force. The use of street boys for surveillance comes up, and these are very telling notes that feel very authentic. Perhaps this is because the language is somewhat naive, as I mentioned earlier. This occupies about the first half of the book.
Then follows a story that is naturally related to the first, where readers get the background of the crime. Personally, I find this better written but at the same time more uninteresting than the first part—finally, one returns to describing the presentation of the case via Dr. Watson’s notes.
