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(4 / 5) – Worth It!
Definitive. Audio. Stephen Fry. That is what it took for me to finally read a Sherlock Holmes novel.
I am not sure why I had never picked up Sherlock by Arthur Conan Doyle before the age of 40, but once I did it was a delight to move through this definitive collection narrated by Stephen Fry. I have always adored Fry and his personal introductions to each published book of Doyle’s, helped this novice navigate the history alongside the modern implications of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
In this audio collection, Stephen Fry became the voice of Watson which was a wonderful delight though almost 63 hours of listening time. Completing this collection did require a few breaks on my part over the course of five and half months. I absolutely adored the cadence and rhythm Arthur Conan Doyle employs with Watson’s narrative. It is engaging, illuminating and humorous as Holmes and Watson partake on many an adventure. I preferred the short stories that focused primarily on the cases themselves.
I was grateful to have read the novels and with Fry’s introductions they were more accessible and contextualized for me. As a fan of the newer BBC version of Sherlock I was delighted to find so many fun and interesting tie-ins to the stories directly. I can only imagine how wonderful a superfan would find those shows as there are so many fun nods and references only they would have understood.
It was a great delight to listen to and I am extremely glad I have taken the time to hear these stories and I imagine I will find myself returning to them again in the years to come.
Happy Reading!
Hannah
