The Tortoise and the Hare Entry No. 9

The Sign of Four
By Arthur Conan Doyle

You have to wonder what sort of chap Arthur Conan Doyle was. By his writing: curious (knows all sorts of random things), has a sense of humour (in his own sardonic way), widely read and possibly a linguist (quotes Goethe in German), youthful to conjure sea-spanning adventures in his adulthood (run-of-the-mill won’t do), and surprising (I didn’t expect a romance involving Watson no less). I should love to invite him to my supper table to pick his brain.

I enjoyed learning about the worldview of the author at the time the novel was written. Britain was clearly the imperialist. A distinction was made between Whites, “Hindoos,” and Mohammedans. Such a categorisation would hardly hold up today. Did you know homeless children were once called street Arabs? The opening scene of the book shows Holmes injecting cocaine into his system through a syringe. Clearly, the book was an education. Do translate the German Goethe passages. They’re worth it.

The Sign of Four presents Sherlock Holmes as we know him. It is one of true detective fiction. But if I were to start reading the Sherlock novels, I’d start with A Study in Scarlet. In all fairness to me, I did follow my advice to reading Sherlock Holmes in the past book review. I tried to read a little every day. It must pay to more patiently read it as it was originally put out: as a monthly serial publication. For that, I’d tag it as tortoise read.