A Study in Scarlet

Hey blogosphere! So I am back to blogging because I finished my homework and I have some time to kill before my brother's basketball game...GO GRIZZLIES WOOT WOOT! But anyways I decided to review one of my favorite books of all time, A Study in Scarlet, by my favorite author of all time, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A Study in Scarlet is the first Sherlock Holmes novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it is one of my favorites! As a side note, if you like Sherlock Holmes check out the BBC show titled "Holmes" which is a modern take on the Sherlock Holmes stories. Brilliant, clever, and witty, "Holmes" is the epitome of good television. The only bummer is that the producers only make three episodes at a time so I have to wait until next year for the new set of episodes! Also the movie Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. is a good one to watch but with one glaring defect. Holmes has a love interest in this movie but Holmes (in the real writings) doesn't have love interests seeing as he is "married to his work".

Characters: Sherlock Holmes: brilliant detective/ is in need of a roommate/ is a master at the science of deduction
John Watson: an ex-military doctor/ comes back to London after the end of his service during the war/ decides to be a roommate with Sherlock Holmes
Detective Inspector Lestrade: grudgingly asks for Holmes help/ tends to have Holmes meddle in his cases/ works actively with Holmes and Watson on this particular case

The Plot: John Watson is finally back in London. After several years serving as a military doctor, Watson has returned to his home in the hopes of opening his own practice. However, his attempts to do so are put on hold when he discovers that his new roommate, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, is a "consulting detective". Mr. Holmes soon informs Watson that as the "only one" (consulting detective) in the world that he is often asked by the police for his assistance on cases where the police are incompetent (which in his esteemed opinion is always). Watson doesn't expect to see Holmes in action very soon but when a mysterious man ends up dead in an abandoned house with the word "Rache" written next to his body, Watson decides to come along. As his awe of Holmes grows, Watson begins to discover more about the man who would become a literary legend.

What I liked: I have officially decided that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is my favorite author of all time. He created the most brilliant, witty, and darkly humorous character of any genre or generation in Sherlock Holmes. While as a reader you are in awe of Holmes, what you should really be in awe of is Sir Conan Doyle. He created this maze of circumstances that leave you with no idea what will come next. He can weave a story that is so thick with intrigue and mystery that you are, like Watson, completely in the dark as to the final solution of this great puzzle but are enjoying the ride so much you couldn't care less. Sherlock Holmes is an icon in the mystery world. His character represents the brilliance that we long to see in ourselves. In my forensics class when we learn about the "power of observation", all I can think about is Sherlock Holmes. I also love Watson as a character. I like that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn't make Watson afraid of Holmes or threatened by him. Instead of being a character that conflicts with Holmes, which Watson does sometimes don't get me wrong, he is more of a foil to Holmes. They are perfect together. It's like peanut butter and jelly. Each one by itself is great but together they are unstoppable. I had always wanted to read Sherlock Holmes but I had no idea that I would love these stories as much as I did. I am absolutely sure that I will never read a mystery story that captures the mind like the Sherlock Holmes stories do. A Study in Scarlet is the perfect opening to any serious reading of Sherlock Holmes. It gives you a taste of Holmes's brilliance and Sir Doyle's writing style. This book has one of my favorite passages of any book. Holmes is explaining to Watson why he (Holmes) doesn't know "pointless facts" such as why the Earth revolves around the sun. Holmes compares the mind to a vast library and that he has specific books he needs to get to in order to do his job and any useless information will simply prevent him from getting there. This really resonated with me mostly because I think it is so true. For school especially I jam my mind with useless facts in order to do well on tests. I want to be a curator of a museum when I grow up. In order to do that job effectively, do I really have to know how to find the inverse of a function? Of course not. It's this simple, yet brilliant logic that resonates with the readers of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes's deductions that he makes based off people at first seem implausible. The reader wonders if Holmes is making it up. But then Sir Conan Doyle shows us the "path to enlightenment" if you will: he shows us the simple solution that so escaped our previous attentions. One side note, I love that Holmes is an imperfect character. If you have read any of my blog reviews so far, I love multi-dimensional characters. I think this is because we as humans are not perfect so why should the characters in stories be? The greatest heroes of the ancient legends all had an Achilles Heel or some sort of flaw that makes them imperfect and relatable. Holmes's is that he has a drug problem. He says it is because when he is bored he has to find something to do. While I don't condone drug use at all, I like that Holmes is imperfect. It annoys me when modern day Holmes adaptations release a Sherlock Holmes story where he is some fuddy-duddy character that doesn't have Holmes's darkness. By doing so, you remove a part of the Holmes persona that is essential for the true Holmes experience. That is an experience you don't want to miss.

What I didn't like: That it wasn't longer. I could read Sherlock Holmes for hours.

Overall: 10 out of 10. The only group of books that I love as much as this is the Harry Potter series.