Review
First published in 1887 - and yet Sherlock Holmes mania still lives. A Study in Scarlet is the first short novel that features legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his partner in crime-solving, Dr Watson.
To begin with, this novel’s writing is lyrical, and despite being written over a hundred years ago, it is easy to follow. There is a perfect balance of expository and dialogue and in this novel; you don’t see unnecessary paragraphs and descriptions.
We’re pretty sure everyone can think of that one book in which the author basically rants about some beautiful scenery and one scene just goes on forever and ever. In those books, it’s like the author treats words like they’re embellishments or even decorations, rather than crafts to work with. With Doyle, his writing reflects the character of Sherlock Holme. Sherlock Holmes - when solving the crime - dismisses the immaterial evidence and focuses solely on the relevant materials. Likewise, Doyle’s writing cuts out any unnecessary descriptions and dialogue to present to the reader a masterpiece. If anyone is looking for a good short read, then we definitely recommend Sherlock Holmes.
Favourite Quote
Because this is my (Saturn’s) first Sherlock Holmes book, I was quite surprised at this legendary character. I expected him to be some calculating, serious and sombre man. Instead, he is eccentric, and one of his quirks is he is “as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty”. He can play the violin, and has profound knowledge in chemistry and crime, yet very little knowledge in literature, philosophy and doesn’t realise the earth revolves around the sun!
However, a downfall in this novel is that there is a very, very lengthy flashback that explains the motive behind the crime. We felt this could have been a bit shorter, and not so abruptly placed into the book, because it was very disorientating at first - we didn’t even know it was flashback, we thought it was a different story altogether! Despite this shortcoming, the story itself was very nice.
We’d definitely recommend Sherlock Holmes.
Rating
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