Review:The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes/Frank Darlington
This review of the book "The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes ", by Philip Weller was written by Frank Darlington and published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 3, 1992).
Review
- The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes
- by Philip Weller with Christopher Roden
- Studio Editions, 1992; 144pp: £12.95 ISBN 1-85170-722-0
Reviewed by Frank Darlington
Greenhough Smith, the editor of The Strand Magazine in the period central to our Doylean interest, maintained that he often went against his own tastes in determining what went into his popular periodical. It is generally agreed that he had a fine ability of knowing what the public liked.
The keen intuition of such an editor (whose catalytic role was no less important than that of a certain young dresser at Bart's), has been supplanted by a more scientific means of determining the wishes of the fickle public — the market research survey. Praise for such auguring may be in order, for the book under review here is a happy result of this modern method of assessing marketing viability.
Though the choice of contents was determined by requests from respondents to a questionnaire, the choice of authors was an inspired one. The multi-hatted Philip Weller supplies the requisite Holmesian material with a missionary's zeal and Christopher Roden provides the Doylean data with the dedication to be expected from one wedded to the premise that there are game players' who have much to gain from exposure to an inviting introduction to the creator who was responsible for the created.
To specifics what, you may well ask, distinguishes this oversized, lavishly illustrated volume from a choice of other coffee table, pot-pourri pot-boilers? To enumerate:
1. There is a larger and better selection of illustrations, a large number of which are in colour.
2. The summaries of the canonical stories differ from the Michael and Mollie Hardwick collation in that each plot precis is followed by a brief recital of some of the major points of scholarly exegesis those absorbing details that raise many an interesting question and that were characterised by Christopher Morley as 'Endless delicious minutiae to consider!'
3. The section devoted to Holmesian collectables offers practical advice and is, if not absolutely (Holmes' favourite modifier for unique!), then at least perhaps unique in books of Holmesian reference.
The de rigueur errors (doubtless obeisance to the Almighty, who alone represents perfection!) are few and minor one could say venial. Though if you hear a how! of angst. that could well be Tony Howlett, who masterminded the reconstruction of the 221B sitting room that is the centrepiece of The Sherlock Holmes Museum at Meiringen. Switzerland. The picture of his realised dream, on page 37, is incorrectly identified as being the sitting room reconstruction by Adrian Conan Doyle at the Chateau de Lucens in Switzerland.
A singular inclusion is a curious article by P. L. Anness which suggests that Holmes might have been Jack the Ripper. It is stated that the two authors of the volume emphatically deny, as do all right-thinking people, such arrant apostasy. The writer's thoroughness in attempting cogent arguments to advance this heretical hypothesis would tend to make one suspicious of his statement that the theory ... is included herein for the purposes of academic completeness."
If Mr Weller has shown a benign bias in favour of catering to the needs and interest of new recruits to the Holmesian cult, then Mr Roden has demonstrated his own uniquely qualified facility for limning in a short space the pertinent C.V. of the multi-faceted genius that was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. With an enviable economy of words he has offered the essentials to attract the neophyte to pursue further knowledge of the doll-maker who gave us the Master Detective. I believe it to be the best compact, concise, yet comprehensive introductory sketch of ACD that I have had the pleasure of reading. In short How to be Well-Informed in One Easy Chapter!
This up-to-date compilation, designed to introduce the novitiate to the Grand Game and please the eye of the well-grounded, may likely find its way onto those basic library lists attention Mr J.B. Shaw, Mr O. Penzler, et al.
F.D.
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
