Sherlock Holmes
I don’t remember whether my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes was reading a book or watching a film. My feeling is that it was the latter and I know with certainty that my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes on screen was Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson.
This series of films were very much part of my childhood. Black and white films that filled in weekends and evenings and until the Jeremy Brett incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, very much the mental picture I had in my head when reading the stories.
Of course there are multiple incarnations of Sherlock and Watson, both in terms of tv and film, many of which I have seen and some that I haven’t. I think I am very much stuck with Rathbone and Brett in my thoughts as being the archetypal embodiment of the characters of the stories on screen. I have some favorable feelings towards the Benedict Cumberbatch modernisation of the stories, but wherever you look there are many reimaginings and publications and productions of the stories or aspects of them.
Over the years I’ve been the recipient of many of these (when people find out you have an interest in something it’s very common for them to feed your interest at regular opportunities - birthdays, Christmas etc.) One that I finished reading recently was “Moriarty” by Anthony Horowitz
This is a take on the events after the story “The Final Problem” when Holmes and Moriarty apparently both plunge to their deaths at The Reichenbach Falls, and when Holmes is revealed to still be alive in “The Empty House”. The pedigree of the author is without question and it was a good read, but without giving too many spoilers it had a twist at the end which was taking things too far (imo). This I find to be a common problem with many non-Conan Doyle stories. Whilst the imitation of the characters in the stories many authors take a step towards making their take their own that they do something in the story that tests the believability of it.
I should of course know this after all the years that I’ve been reading the stories but of course when you enjoy something and immerse yourself in it, you look for things beyond the limits where the original author is not creating anything new. I think similarly with the original Inspector Morse stories. The fact that a believable tv series was created that followed the books and created new stories and that this then spawned two further related series but that the original author stated that there would be no new books means that there is a limit to what you can immerse yourself in, although there is quite a bit of material out there.
The problem with doing this though in the case of Sherlock Holmes is that there is so much stuff out there, that the cream doesn’t always rise to the top and some of what is there isn’t to my tastes. I’ve learnt therefore to only stick to what I know I’ve enjoyed, and only very carefully to consider other things and then in small doses.
Thanks for reading.