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The Complete Sherlock Holmes | 
 enlarge | Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
Category: Book
Buy Used: £15.59
Used (10) from £15.59
Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 1042554
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1136
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.3
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.2
ISBN: 0385006896
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780385006897
ASIN: 0385006896
Publication Date: June 1930
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 A Must-Have Classic August 11, 2008
The COMPLETE Sherlock Holmes collection is something you HAVE to have on your bookshelf if you ever read a book. Like Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Alexandre Dumas, Aldous Huxley, Oscar Wilde and SO many more... Conan Doyle is such a big name that no proper collection is complete without it. Have you ever said: "Elementary, Dr. Watson", knowing it was taken from a Sherlock Holmes story without ever having read one? My point exactly. A proper degree of classical education requires a certain amount of FIRST-HAND knowledge. You need to read the books yourself.
In this case, it doesn't take much of an effort; the stories of Holmes & Watson are quite entertaining. Some of them, frankly, aren't as good as they're hyped up to be, but others are everything you've ever heard.
The book is made in a solid hardcover, with properly well-printed, large pages with gold-lined edges. It's quite a big book, but each story isn't too long. You can read it some, and then leave it for a while if you so wish. This is great bedtime reading, though, and (as I said) something you need to have.
The best volume you'll ever own February 25, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is undoubtedly the best volume of the entire Holmes canon that you're ever likely to own. I own a great many copies of the various stories including some "complete" volumes but this is undoubtedly the best. The quality of the book is clear. It is a sturdy size with lovely gilt edged pages. The layout is excellent and clear even if the quality of some of the images is less than ideal.
In short buy it as you cannot do better.
One to treasure October 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This volume contains all the Holmes & Watson stories, the complete collection for a bargain price. Every single story is delicious: gaslit streets on cold and foggy nights, mysterious crimes the inept police force is unable to solve, and villains, rogues and miscreants galore... There's nothing like snuggling up under the duvet with this book on a winter's evening!
'You know my methods. Apply them' May 11, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In 1998, the BBC became the first production company ever to dramatise the entire canon (56 short stories and 4 novels) of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, taking 9 years to complete in total, with Bert Coules being the principle writer of the production.
Clive Merrison (Holmes) and Michael Williams (Watson) starred in every recording, and their relationship comes across superbly well, with clear affection between the two being evident. I will admit, it did take me a while to warm to Merrison as Holmes, but having listened to the CD's many a time, I fully appreciate what he bought to the role, playing the detective with his exaggerated mannerisms and mood swings. Williams' Watson is a strong character, often standing up to Holmes arguing his point (particularly when Holmes often dismisses his romanticised written versions of their exploits!!)
The overall production (as one might expect from the BBC) is first class, and you are immediately transported back to the times when hansom cabs were rushing the pair to the scene of a crime. Some of the later stories Doyle had written do not stand up to the earlier ones, however, this does not detract from performances of the radio cast.
A total of 64 CD's come in a sturdy presentation box, together with an 83 page CD sized booklet that provides an insight into the making of the radio programmes.
Also recommended, are The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Volumes 1 (ISBN 0-563-52407-) and 2 (ISBN 30-563-53039-1) that were written by Bert Coules, and inspired by the original Doyle stories. Sadly Michael Williams had passed away when these were produced, however Andrew Sachs fills the role sufficiently well.
 Mix Bag of Holmes April 23, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Up front, I should say I am more a connoisseur of Watsons than Holmes. Ever since I started reading the stories in the seventh grade back in the mid-1970's I have had more affinity with Watson. Holmes was often overbearing, rude, and had insufferable bouts of self-pitying depression. Watson was sturdy and reliable and nice.
Michael Williams, a solid actor, is sturdy, reliable and nice. It's increasingly clear as this series progresses why Holmes wants/needs Watson around him. This is a Watson who takes modest pride in the stories he is producing about his friend and often stands as an equal to holmes in celebrity, if not in intellect.
I have heard every one of these stories on the radio, so I feel confident in speaking about them. Some are magnificent, some aren't. Bert Coules and other writers did a good job in many respects. They were bold enough to confront some of the utter nonsense in the Holmes tales and bring it to the fore. For instance, Holmes just eludes attempts by Moriarty's minons in "The Final Problem" and Watson incredulously says, "Forgive me, but this man is a criminal genius and he arranges for someone to throw a brick at you?" There are worse bits of nonsense in the stories that have troubled me for thirty years. That the writers are courageous enough to highlight this material rather than sweep under the rug is a good thing, and I enjoyed it.
Even more intriguingly, they've tended to make the whole into one long story. Holmes and Watson have almost Proustian moments of memory, where they recall (to us, too) things that happened many episodes before. By the end of the series (aside from a couple of exceptions) in "His Last Bow" and "The Casebook", the listener realizes they are telling the stories as if they occurred in chronological order, despite where the author said they should fall. It's a phenominal, epic achievement and it deserved a first-class Holmes and Watson. They got a Watson of the first water. I'll speak of Holmes later. First, the down side of the writing.
The problem with the writing comes when Conan Doyle's stories -- as they frequently are -- are paper thin. Frankly, some of the original stories aren't worth much, and it's not a matter of pride to brag about having dramatized them all if some of them are stinkers. In some cases, the writers make up as new material they borrow from the stories.
The presentation is odd, too. The Sherlock Holmes stories start with Holmes and Watson receiving and interviewing clients. In the series, many of these stories cross-cuts, sometimes with little more than a minute or two of dialogue. Holmes and Watson are learning about the case, then there is an abrupt cut to some place else (usually the past) and two stories are constructed simultaneously. A listener who knows the stories well should have no confusion. Newcomers may be bewildered. And much of the non-Holmes material is "made up" by the writers and shows their preferences.
Then, too, sometimes when I fully expected a show to end on an up note, they decided to write some nastier turn that left one feeling deflated. Occasionally they took the liberty of jabs at this or that where they might have been better advised to button up on polemics. Since my politics probably differ from those of most show-biz writers, I dismay at the use of revered literary figures being the mouthpieces for these writers' cheap shots.
Then there is the problem of Clive Merrison. Physically, he might get away with playing Holmes on tv. He certainly looks closer to the Strand illustrations than Edward Woodward or Michael Caine, both of whom have tried on the deerstalker.
The reason I started this review babbling of Watsons is because I've always cared more for him. I prefer dramatizations of clever Watsons. I'm devoted to dramatizations with David Burke, Edward Hardwicke, Andre Morell, Ralph Richardson and Ben Kingsley. Of lesser Watsons, I particularly enjoyed Colin Blakely's and James Mason's. And I never took offense at Nigel Bruce or Norman Shelley or Bernard Fox, whose Watsons made you feel that Holmes had personal care of senility patients.
My favorite Holmeses were the ones with clipped, precise speech: Carleton Hobbes, Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone and John Gielgud.
Clive Merrison took some getting used to, and I frankly never got used to him. His Holmes is very whiney, even more than Robert Stephens'. Admittedly, Conan Doyle's Holmes was anti-social, often unhappy and self-pitying. He took drugs. He was rude and peremtory. Therefore, Merrison's unique vocal take on Holmes may actually be closer to the truth (if there was a truth). Perhaps I find him annoying for the same reason I found the literary Holmes annoying. If that is so, then he's done an exquisite job of capturing the Holmes of the stories. I never find his laughter realistic -- but I was always a little shocked when Holmes laughed in the stories.
There's no point in complaining about him. This is what we have and it's part of the greater Sherlock Holmes universe. And because of the overall epic effect this series has, because the writers plug gaps and offer insights they've gleaned from one hundred years of Holmes researchers, it will prove a legendary. Michael Williams may deserve to go down as (perhaps) the best Watson ever. Merrison isn't a bad actor, but to me he doesn't "sound like" Holmes. There's a lot of good here; but in Sherlock Holmes series one ought to be able to appreciate the Holmes. Despite my love for Michael Williams, I wish the BBC would release a Carleton Hobbes set as an alternative.
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