Bookraft

Many visions of Sherlock Holmes have arisen since 1930 when Sherlock's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died. One of the latest Sherlock incarnations can be seen on movie screens this Christmas starring Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock and Jude Law as Dr. Watson. And in 1999 there was an animated series of Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century produced by Disney and Scottish TV. This story's method for preserving Professor Moriarty and bringing him back to life should not be confused with the cryogenic method used by the 1987 Michael Pennington/Margaret Colin TV movie. As one can see Sherlock has had a mixed "afterlife".

All of these productions feature Sherlock entangled with his great foe, Professor Moriarty. And many of their plot sequences are more like action hero stories than the carefully nuanced murder mystery cases one might be familiar with from the original Conan Doyle Sherlock cases.

The original cases emphasized keen observation, relentless detective sleuthing and some clever undercover work. One immediately can think of such sleuthing gems as the Adventure of the Speckled Band or theCase of the Five Orange Pips. In some cases just figuring out what and how a crime was committed is the fascination. In contrast, the cu5rrent movie has an almost preposterous plot line with Blackwood/Moriarty planning to wipe out all the members of British Parliament in order to start a war against America - call it the Case of Incorrigible Incredulity.

So with this in mind I decided to take a look at the first Sherlock Holmes adventure, A Study in Scarlet, written by Conan Doyle in 1887 when he was 27. Now this story is a classic Holmesian who-dunnit. The story introduces us to both Dr. Watson, a down-on-his-luck Boer War veteran, linking up with Sherlock Holmes at a shared 221B Baker Street residence. Sherlock appears to Dr. Watson and readers to be an eccentric, scientific dilettante - exceptional in a diverse but seemingly unrelated set of skills: chemistry, trail tracking, the world of poisons, boxing and other manly arts and weapons, the geology of soils, botany and plants as related to their chemical byproducts, etc. In other areas such as politics, literature or philosophy, Sherlock is almost totally uninterested as marked by his ignorance of the goings on in these arts. But Sherlock cannot be called a philistine as he plays the violin, enjoys the opera, and has a fascination for stories.

So when Dr Watson describes an interesting case on Brixton Road, Sherlock immediately perks up and follows in pursuit of what he soon identifies as a Study in Scarlet.As a reader already familiar with many of the Holmes stories, but not the first, I am delighted to hear how Sherlock and Dr. Watson get together. It is intriguing to discover that Dr. Watson is the invalid, still recovering from his grievous injuries during the Boer War. Dr. Watson needs to share the rent with Holmes as he hopes to restart his medical career.

Also it is fascinating to see the power of observation and consequent deductive resoning in this case. The victim is found dead in a deserted house with no mark of injury by a policeman in the pre-dawn morning hours. Holmes, at the invitation of Scotland Yard detectives comes upon the murder scene and through careful observation and trail tracking in the dirt pathway - he concludes about the height, physical strength, and cunning of the murderer. Holmes, based on having a surprise wedding ring, expects to have the murderer corraled within the day. But to his and Dr. Watson's surprise Holmes' trap is foiled.

And suddenly in the next chapter one finds oneself in the great American desert and highlands that covers almost all of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. It is not just the Rocky Mountains but also the dry, famishing desert basins between the mountains. Here, the last 2 survivors from a small 30 person wagon train,, a little girl and a savvy but wasted scout are about to expire for lack of food and water on the Colorado rim of this unforgiving country. But an advancing army of 10,000 settlers, the Mormons of Illinois and Missouri, on their westward trek under the leadership of Brigham Young in their search for Zion, run smack into these two unfortunates and rescue them from certain, buzzards-already-in-the-sky death.

Hunnh? What is going on here ?

Suffice it to say that I am bewildered. But trust me, Conan Doyle ties together this stark, tragic story of the American West with the strange Brixton Road murder in a tale that is nothing less than a bravado storytelling performance and wonderful start to the tales of Sherlock Holmes. I'll take this eccentric sleuth over the Super-action movie hero Holmes anytime, anywhere, any day.