Friday, November 26, 2021

Sherlock Holmed: Selected Stories -- Take 2

I don't know why I put off reading this book for so many years.  It turns out, it's a rollicking good time!

Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are fast-paced and easy to read.  Dr. Watson, our narrator, does sometimes go overboard in his adulation of the private detective, but such passages are usually short-lived.  Aside from those sections, I had a darn good time with this one.

I like short stories as a concept.  I like that I can dip in and out and generally don't have to commit too seriously.  Short stories are less intimidating to get started on.  Even though any book can be stopped at any time, I hesitate to begin a hefty novel if I don't have a big block of time to commit to it.  And this is not to indicate that I don't ever stop mid-short-story.  I do.  This whole thing logically makes no sense; I get that.  But nevertheless, that is the case in my brain.  It's easier to start a short story.

And so I did.  And then I kept reading.  Despite my delay in writing this post, I got through them pretty quickly, at least for me.  I was never much of a mystery reader when I was growing up.  I don't know why this is, but I was not.  Then I read Lush Life, by Richard Price.  This was not the world's best mystery by any stretch of the imagination, but it did open up my eyes to the fact that a mystery read could be quick and fun.  Such is the case with Sherlock.

And, as the end of the year closes in, I am able to tick one more book off my 2021 Reading Challenge!

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