Apr 01, 2004 07:25 PM
3860 Views
(Updated Apr 01, 2004 07:25 PM)
Without doubt, the Hound of Baskervilles is the magnum opus of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is the most appropriate book for readers who are waiting to be introduced to the world of Sherlock Holmes. The novel features the immortal detective, Sherlock Holmes and his loyal assistant Dr Watson who form the most lethal partnership against crime in Victorian London. This novel describes an adventure where the duo faces a mystery involving the supernatural.
Readers should note that it was Edgar Allen Poe who first introduced the literary device in detective fiction of featuring an intelligent detective and a comparatively dense sidekick in his Auguste Dupin stories. However, this novelty was adopted by Sir Conan Doyle with great effect in his Sherlock Holmes stories and it has served as a clone for countless other detective stories, a prominent example being Agatha Christie?s Hercule Poirot and Capt Hastings.
The adventure is set in mid 1890?s in England. Like all Holmes adventures, the tale takes off in the drawing room of Sherlock Holmes at the famous 221B Baker street with Holmes making deductions from a walking stick. The owner of the stick, Dr Mortimer makes his appearance and confirms the deductions made by Holmes to be correct. The reader dazzled by the deductions made by Holmes and the confirmation that follows is hooked thereon to the book. Dr Mortimer unravels a Gothic story of an ancient curse on the House of Baskerville.
The story is that all heirs to the Baskerville estate are cursed to a fate from which there is no escape i.e., death in the hands of a gigantic hound. Two of the previous heirs have already met that fate and the next in line of succession is Sir Henry Baskerville, who inherits the estate due to the death of his uncle, Sir Charles Baskerville, at the hands of the Hound. Sir Henry receives the news of his inheritance in Canada and returns to England to claim his family seat. Dr Mortimer seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes in warding of the gruesome fate that is likely to visit Sir Henry.
How Holmes uses his ingenuity and his deductive powers to prevent such a happening forms the rest of the novel. Does Holmes save the life of the unfortunate heir? Read to find out for yourself.
The novel moves at a very fast pace and I think readers will find in this book an extraordinary exhibition of the literary craft of Sir Conan Doyle. To give an example, this novel despite being a thriller moves the story largely through a narrative, incidents that happen are few but despite this fact, the story races on like a formula one car. Another interesting point is though Sherlock Holmes is the central figure in the story; he remains largely away from the scene of action and bases his deductions on Dr Watson?s reports. The author has been able to trying out the eerie atmosphere tellingly and the descriptions of the moor are vivid. The denouement at the end of the story and the way by which light is cast upon the mystery by Sherlock Holmes is amazing. Like all good detective novels, there are plenty of red herrings strewn around to mislead the reader. In my opinion, the Hound of Baskervilles is the best work of detective fiction that has flowed from the pen of Sir Conan Doyle. The novel is written over 100 years ago but still manages to fascinate the reader with its mystery and will continue to do so in the years to come.
I am distracting you from your duty-to get a copy of the book-fast. Conan Doyle is waiting for you to spin his web of mystery. Readers, wake up, the game is afoot.
