The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

If you didn’t already guess, I pretty much suck at maintaining websites and at writing and at doing stuff worth writing about. Well I could talk about my WoW exploits, but I want to preserve some semblance of not being a complete junkie…though I suspect I’ve already failed at that, as well. Anyway, the one thing I have going for this site is my book reviews, because now that the mind-drain that was college is long over, I can go back to reading for fun like I used to in “the old days.” And while I’m no New York Times Book Reviewer (or even a mildly popular blogger) I continue to write up my reviews so that I can one day look over my posts and say “ah yes, I recall reading that book and according to this post written by me, found it extremely enjoyable…not sure why I don’t remember a thing that happens in it.” Why this happened just the other day when I was reading my blog titles and saw a post on Slaughterhouse-Five and I said “what the-…which book is-…oh right, right, I did read that book…huh.” But I digress. On to the book review.

It’s funny to me how I’ve always known of Sherlock Holmes. And who hasn’t heard “Elementary, my dear Watson,” in some long forgotten context, which actually never really existed? Yet I’ve never read a mystery novel written by Sir Conan Doyle, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen any of the TV movies or mini-series. Probably the closest I ever got to see an adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story was that Saved by the Bell episode where the gang winds up in some cooky old house playing a 90’s version of those mystery dinner role-playing games (those crazy kids). By the by, googling “mystery dinner role-playing” will lead to quite a few groups out there that actually stage these things for you…there’s just a whole other world out there, sometimes, is what I’m saying (and, no, it’s not pr0n). So I was actually looking forward to picking up The Hound of the Baskervilles and discovering for myself what this Holmes guy was all about. Many thanks to Rock who donated Sir Conan Doyle’s complete collection to my measly library.

Reminds me of the upcoming Worgen class for WoW....dammit, there I go again!

The first thing that jumped out, which is probably not news to anyone, is that the story is told from Watson’s point of view, and not at all from Holmes’. In fact, Holmes was absent for a good part of the story (maybe a little over half the story) so that overall we experience the entire story as Watson does. Watson is clever and inquisitive but not a master-mind like Holmes, and so, as the reader’s proxy, he is as perplexed and surprised by the conundrums of the story as the reader is. As clever as Watson is, his explanations (like ours) tend to be wrong, something which (in my opinion) amuses Holmes to no end. To be perfectly honest, I would have to say that Holmes is an arrogant, teasing, righteous know-it-all. However, he does actually know it all, so you can’t fault the guy for looking down on everyone else.

The story itself sounded like the makings of a decent X-Files episode, in which an older gentleman is found dead in his own backyard from what appears to be a heart attack, but the locals are convinced that the man was attacked by a supernatural creature in the form of a hound with blazing eyes and jaws (though I’m betting there are many X-Files episodes with similar premises…there’s only so much supernatural stuff to go around). The gentleman is Sir Charles Baskerville, the wealthy land-owner in the area (obviously), who dies leaving only one heir, Sir Henry Baskerville. Dr. Mortimer, a friend of the family, hires Holmes to solve the mystery and protect Sir Henry, who is believed to be in danger. According to Dr. Mortimer, the Baskervilles have been cursed for centuries by the Hound of the Baskervilles, who kills the Baskerville heirs as revenge for the evil doings of Sir Hugo Baskerville, described as an evil and sadistic man who enjoyed kidnapping women and later sending his hounds after them when they got away.

Knowing nothing about the story, I was not expecting any supernatural elements, which really make the story creepier. I was expecting very formal writing where nothing too unpleasant happens and murders are committed quietly and neatly. In fact, the story can get gory and violent without being over-the-top or cheesy. The story-telling did lose a bit of steam towards the last quarter of the book, as the mystery is resolved well before the end, but I think I’ve gotten too used to mystery stories that rely on the last 20 pages to bring all the events to the climax (Harry Potter, I’m looking at you). Overall, though, I highly enjoyed it and am glad I have finally read a Sherlock Holmes mystery. For those wondering, this was another card in my deck of 52 Great Books to Read.

20 down, 32 to go.