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Wednesday 3 April 2013

Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur - An A-Z post

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is so well known he hardly needs any introduction. He was the man behind probably the most famous detective of them all, Sherlock Holmes, and brought the detective fiction genre hurtling into the homes of the public.

Image courtesy of travelbetweenthepages.com


I had never read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories before, and my first foray into his world was through The Sign of Four.

The story is set around the backdrop of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, with the theft of priceless treasure the main driver behind the plot. Between murder and theft, the treasure changes hands many times before ending up at the bottom of the Thames river. Those involved include British colonists and the native Indians, all claiming to have some stake or other in the loot.

The theme of The Sign of Four, in terms of my OU study, is home and abroad in the Victorian age. How the British colonists are represented in India, and how the foreign land is described back home have been central in the reading of the text.

The Sign of Four was first published in February 1890 in a Philadelphia literary journal, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.
It appeared alongside another well known author, one Oscar Wilde, whose novel The Picture of Dorian Gray appeared in the same edition. I wouldn't mind owning a copy of that!


A to Z Challenge [2013]
  
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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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14 comments:

  1. One of my favorite authors -- I am a mystery buff -- but the books have to be well-written as his are. Great background info -- very interesting.

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    1. Thank you, I've trying to find a balance between being informative but keeping it brief. A-Z is a busy time!

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  2. And not to mention how much his works have influenced popular culture. BBC Sherlock fans here, anyone?

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    1. Do you know, I've only watched the most recent BBC Sherlock's, and only about half of them. I might have to catch up.

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  3. I'm a BBC Sherlock fan, current and previous. (since the prev commenter asked) Not a fan of the new version with Watson as female.

    Good choice of C word, and I'd love to own a copy of that book too, Doyle and Wilde!

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    1. I bet it's worth a few pennies. I agree, having Watson as a female was a move I wasn't keen on.

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  4. You know, I haven't actually read any of the original Sherlock Holmes books. I'll have to give it a go. I do love the BBC Sherlock.

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    1. I'm definitely going to read more of the Holmes stories, and they're quite inexpensive on the Kindle ;-)

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  5. I have not read many mysteries. I do want to try them, so Sherlock Holmes books would be a great place to start. I've watched a bit of the BBC Sherlock episodes. Really good so far!

    Ana

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    1. You won't be disappointed with Sherlock Holmes, I'm looking forward to reading more when my course has finished.

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  6. Just stopping by from the A-Z List to say "Hi" and good luck with the rest of the challenge!

    Ahhhh, it seems that we are doing a similar theme for the challenge ;)

    Good post!

    xx

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    1. Thanks Vikki, and for stopping by. From your challenge posts I know you'll be familiar with my topic tomorrow ...

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  7. I'm married to a massive Sherlock Holmes/Conan Doyle fan so I'd read this before, but I really enjoyed learning about the background to it in the course.

    It's great that you can read something like that and enjoy it, then learn about the context it was written in and enjoy it on a whole new level.

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  8. I've never read Conan Doyle -- shame on me. But I am a big fan of Wilde.

    Jan at Website
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