"The Hound of the Baskervilles"
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I've read this book before, years ago, and did not enjoy it quite as much as when I was younger. It was lengthier, for one thing, than I remembered, with a large introductory portion. The set-up is pretty good, the building mysteries in the main middle are better, and the conclusion left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Doyle writes his stories like a Scooby Doo mystery: no matter how odd or out of the ordinary or seemingly supernatural the culprit or clues are, it always resolves to pure natural fact. I wonder if there's something to be said about Doyle in that. Anyway, in this case, I think the lack of Sherlock in much of the second act was a factor; it is always fun to try to guess what he's thinking, why he makes certain choices (which always are explained later). That element was gone during a lot of the book. All that being said, though, it is a fair mystery with an acceptable premise and lots of action.
No comments:
Post a Comment