God ••••, he should be dead. Japanese wrestling techniques, or whatever it was, my arse. What a pish poor excuse that was, that Conan Doyle should be shot, even if he is already dead, don't think that'll stop me. Watson should have said Holmes was a fake and shot him to stop all those •••• stories that came after. The Valley of Fear? Valley of Boredom more like, what a ••••••• shite story and the others, that one about the three Garridebs, absolute pants it was. AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
••••••• Hell!
Doyle wanted to stop after he killed off Holmes, but I think due to popular demand he kept on doing stories. You could tell his heart just wasn't in it anymore.
Not all the stories Doyle wrote after the return are bad. The stories in the Return collection are overall comparable to the stories written before the return, even if there are not as many classics. Then Doyle followed that up with "His Last Bow", which represents some of his best work, there's not a weak story in that collection. And the "Valley of Boredom" easily ranks with the most thrilling books I've ever read.
There was a story called the "Valley of Boredom"?
That's news to me.
The Valley Of Fear -- those who don't like it... I liked it, though, it was one of my favorites as a teenager.
A truly fun romp for all. Yet nits abound.
I can't believe William Baring-Gould skipped this one. According to Holmes in this adventure, his elder brother "preserved" his rooms for the three years Sherlock spent galavanting around. So Mycroft has been paying rent for and empty apartment for three years? I know Mycroft is rich, but this is a ridiculous expense. And the fact that Sherlock Holmes' rooms are still being paid for and preserved by somebody has to be a huge flashing warning light to the London underworld that the great detective is not quite dead after all. What Holmes obviously meant to say was that Mycroft preserved his stuff for three years, and upon Holmes' return to London, he obligingly moved it back to 221B Baker St., which conveniently was untennanted at the time.
Baring-Gould and his sources heap scorn on the idea that anyone could "reverse his boots" and thus leave no telltale tracks in a wrong direction. I don't think Holmes was talking about putting his shoes on backwards (which, as B-G giggles, has really got to hurt), I think he just meant walking backwards. Walking backwards up a mountain path is not fun at all, which is probably why Sherlock abandoned that plan.
Pages and pages have been written about Holmes' European and Asian itinerary for the three years he was presumed dead, showing how many of the places he supposedly visited were embroiled in civil wars or did not admit Christians or whatever. Can't anybody tell he was kidding when he listed all those fantastic places?
I know it would have destroyed the drama for Holmes to have sent his best friend a note two years before saying he wasn't dead, but the excuse of feared Watsonly indiscretion is one of the lamest I have ever heard. The Moriarty trial did not last for the entire three years Holmes was away, and Watson has always been very obliging about not publishing information Holmes requests that he withhold. The poor guy loses his best friend and his beloved wife in quick succession and Sherlock can't be bothered to sent him a sympathy card just 'cause he might be "indiscreet"?
Personally, I think Watson sank into depression after Mary died. He took a few months at a seaside convalescence home, retreated from the world, and stopped his mail. Holmes, in Paris or Montpellier or somewhere, did send him a short restrained Victorian note saying, "So sorry for your loss, old chap. Hang in there. I am given to understand that you are protecting your solitude at the moment, but if you ever want some company, just drop me a line." Watson, of course, never got the letter, and Holmes just assumed that the good doctor hadn't believed his eyes, and decided that a personal reunion at the appropriate time might be better.
But that's just me.