Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Being Sherlock: A Sherlockian's Stroll Through the Best Sherlock Holmes Stories" by Ashley D. Polasek

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Review of "Being Sherlock: A Sherlockian's Stroll Through the Best Sherlock Holmes Stories" by Ashley D. Polasek

Ashley D. Polasek, who has a Ph.D in film and television adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, is an internationally recognized expert on the fictional detective.

Ashley D. Polasek

Sherlock Holmes is one of literature's most recognizable characters, and - due to his vast popularity - has been depicted in a gamut of radio shows, stage plays, movies, and television series.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 short stories and 4 novellas make up the 'canon' of Sherlock Holmes, to which other writers have added their own stories, books, scripts, poems, songs, etc. Thus it seems like Sherlock Holmes will never go out of style.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sherlock Holmes canon consists of 60 stories

Many writers have added to the Sherlock Holmes canon

Almost two hundred actors have portrayed Sherlock Holmes over the years. One of the first was William Gillette who played Holmes in stage plays and silent films.

William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes

Two all time favorite depictions of Sherlock Holmes' are by Basil Rathbone in films and Jeremy Brett on television. More recent front-runners are Robert Downey Jr. in movies, and Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller on television.

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

More unconventional portrayals of Sherlock Holmes include Sir Ian McKellan as an aging sleuth in the movie 'Mr. Holmes' and Yûko Takeuchi as a female detective in the Japanese television series 'Miss Sherlock.' The author also notes that brilliant diagnostician Dr. Gregory House on 'House, M.D.' (played by Hugh Laurie) is a Sherlockian character. And the list could go on and on.

Sir Ian McKellan as Sherlock Holmes

Yûko Takeuchi as Miss Sherlock

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House - a Sherlockian character

Though film and television adaptations of Sherlock Holmes are very popular, Polasek prefers the original stories. She writes, "For all the time I've spent immersed in the screen appearances of Sherlock Holmes, I always return to Conan Doyle's tales. They offer all the delights of the characters, the mysteries, and the atmosphere, and even after wearing the mystery out of them through endless rereading, they still utterly transport me."

In this book Polasek introduces the reader to "the very best the canon has to offer." Polasek shares the stories she loves most, the reasons she adores them, and all kinds of interesting minutiae related to the tales and their screen adaptations. The narrative is illustrated with photos, and it's fun to see Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in an assortment of incarnations.

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson

Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke as Holmes and Watson

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Holmes and Watson

Polasek includes her favorite Sherlock Holmes stories in their entirety, and - though I've read the tales many times - I enjoyed this excursion into the cream of the canon.

A Scandal in Bohemia
Among other things, this story - about the consequences of an unwise romance - introduces the character of Irene Adler. Adler, whom Holmes calls "the woman", is one of Conan Doyle's most notable female protagonists. Over the decades Adler has morphed into a wide variety of guises on screen, including a romantic foil for Holmes.

The Red-Headed League
This yarn, which features a carrot-top man who's hired to copy out the Encyclopedia Britannica, not only stimulates Holme's intellectual curiosity, it also tickles his "blissful sense of the absurd."

The Speckled Band
This tale, about a woman who fears something is amiss in the home she shares with her stepfather, is a notable example of Conan Doyle's domestic trope. It features "a heavily veiled young woman, shaking from fear....who ignites the action by recounting the unexplained death of her sister, Julia."

The Man With the Twisted Lip
This narrative, about a man who disappears in a criminal London neighborhood, "draws on all of the anxieties that feed urban gothic works, beginning with the threat posed by the teeming London underworld to middle-class respectability."

The Solitary Cyclist
This story, about a young woman alarmed by a stalker, allows us to observe Holmes "knightly conduct as he stands toe to toe with one of the canon's most notorious scoundrels: Roaring Jack Woodley."

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
In this narrative about blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton, Sherlock Holmes calls him "the worst man in London." We get a picture of the revolting rotter, including "details of his appearance, manner, speech, reputation, public and private behavior, and his effects on those around him."

The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans
This tale, about submarine plans that are stolen, is a harbinger of the popular spy fiction genre. "It's complete with advanced military technology, foreign agents, international intrigue, personal betrayal, and espionage."

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
This yarn, about a valuable gem found in the crop of a Christmas goose, is the only holiday themed story in the canon. "It offers everything one might want from a Victorian Christmas tale."

The Adventure of the Dancing Men
This mystery, about a woman threatened with notes written in code, helped cement the popularity of cyphers in detective fiction.

The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
This story, about a murdered aristocrat in a VERY male-dominated culture, is "one of Conan Doyle's most moral stories."

The Hound of the Baskervilles
This novella, about a family cursed with a hound from hell, is "arguably the most popular and easily the most read of the sixty tales that make up the Sherlock Holmes canon and beyond that, is recognized as one of the most beloved novels in the English language." The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the most cinematic of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and has been adapted into numerous films and television episodes.

I strongly recommend this entertaining book to fans of Sherlock Holmes and to newbies who want to get acquainted with the famous sleuth.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Ashley D. Polasek), and the publisher (Lyons Press) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 4 stars

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Barb's Book Reviews

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Review of "Being Sherlock: A Sherlockian's Stroll Through the Best Sherlock Holmes Stories" by Ashley D. Polasek

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