Reading Life

Followers

Showing posts with label Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Show all posts

Thursday, March 5, 2015

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

Graham Moore won an Oscar for the screenplay adaptation of Andrew Hodges' Alan Turing: The Enigma. 

Before he wrote the screenplay for Imitation Game, howeverMoore wrote this novel, The Sherlockian. 

The Sherlockian is a remarkable literary thriller published in 2010 that alternates between the present and nineteenth century London.

One of the "Irregulars," a fan group for Sherlock Holmes fiction, may have murdered one of their own and pilfered a rare Sir Arthur Conan diary. Harold, one of the irregulars, is haplessly drawn into the affair and determined to work out who killed Alex Cale. 

In a parallel story, set in the past, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, receives a strange package (a letter bomb) in the mail. Doyle has taken a seven-year break from writing about Holmes. 

The letter bomb has a newspaper clipping about a murder. This inspires Doyle to track down the killer in a manner that would make his fictional creation, Holmes, proud.

Doyle discovers a connection between two unlikely cases. In one case, a young bride with a three-headed crow tattoo is strangled and placed in a tub. In another, a woman in Whitechapel is found strangled in an alley.

He and his friend Bram Stoker conduct surveillance on their own and later work in conjunction with Scotland Yard. 

In many respects, The Sherlockian is a thriller. The scenes are fast-moving and captivating and the characters lives are at stake. 

Since Moore writes from a position of great knowledge about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation, Sherlock Holmes, it is also a top literary thriller.

If you want to read more about Arthur Conan Doyle and his friendship with Bram Stoker, you may want to read Julian Barnes' novel, Arthur and George

Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Real World of Sherlock Holmes

The Real World of Sherlock Holmes by Peter Costello.

Front Cover

Costello gives a fascinating look at Sherlock Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the real mysteries he investigated. Trained as a doctor, Doyle became fascinated by forensics of the day as taught by Dr. Joseph Bell. What is lesser known, however, is that average citizens contacted Doyle to help solve cases. Just like his legendary literary counterpart, Sherlock Holmes, Doyle solved cases and vindicated the innocent.

Sherlock Holmes is more popular than ever in movies and miniseries. PBS has a Fall 2013 two-hour special, How Sherlock Changed the World and the BBC has the popular Sherlock set in contemporary times.

Blog Archive