The Valley of Fear Chapters 1-4
While I have always found mystery stories to be interesting, I do not have much experience with them. This makes The Valley of Fear one of the first mystery novels I have actually opened and my second novel about the exploits of Sherlock Holmes. I have read The Hound of the Baskervilles (and seen the 1939 film adaptation), but, if I recall correctly, Holmes was not present for a large part of that novel.
The novel begins by immediately giving the reader a taste of the dynamic between Holmes and Watson. Holmes does not make a good first impression, rudely cutting off Watson and appearing too absorbed in his work to bother listening to him. However, Watson seems to take this in stride, and I suspect that this banter is quite common between the two of them. After a short discussion about Moriarty, a mysterious, intelligent criminal mastermind that will most likely be spoken of later in the novel, Holmes shows off his deductive skills by cracking a code without a cypher. This section allows the reader to properly understand (and thus by impressed by) Holmes' logical deductions. Doyle does this by having Holmes walk Watson through the problem step by step. This also shows another part of the dynamic between the two characters: one between a teacher and student. Holmes becomes the teacher helping his student (Watson) solve a complex problem by having him do it step by step. In addition, I found Watson's more direct and straightforward approach to be a nice contrast to Holmes' careful logical deductions. Finally, I found it interesting that Doyle chose not to make Holmes a perfect detective. His misstep in choosing the newest almanac is small, but it shows that even the best detective can make mistakes. Doyle could have easily chosen not to include that mistake, so I am curious as to why he did so.
Chapters Two and Four makes it quite obvious that Holmes' observational skills and his depth of knowledge are exceptional. For example, he is able to recognize a painting by a relatively obscure artist and recall most of the details in Moriarty's study, which allows him to conclude that Moriarty was gaining money from crime. He is also able to pick up on small details that others may have missed. For example, although the basic facts about the crime and evidence are already known, Holmes is able to greatly improve their usefulness after a short inspection. He concludes that the note left behind was definitely not written in the manor after looking at the ink and pens, and he was the first to notice that the markings on the closet floor and window seem to be made by different feet. These skills allow him to draw conclusions that were previously impossible to make and are essential in making him such an impressive detective.
A small note on Chapter Three: it seems like this chapter is almost entirely background information. I wonder how much of it will be needed to solve the mystery at hand.
The novel begins by immediately giving the reader a taste of the dynamic between Holmes and Watson. Holmes does not make a good first impression, rudely cutting off Watson and appearing too absorbed in his work to bother listening to him. However, Watson seems to take this in stride, and I suspect that this banter is quite common between the two of them. After a short discussion about Moriarty, a mysterious, intelligent criminal mastermind that will most likely be spoken of later in the novel, Holmes shows off his deductive skills by cracking a code without a cypher. This section allows the reader to properly understand (and thus by impressed by) Holmes' logical deductions. Doyle does this by having Holmes walk Watson through the problem step by step. This also shows another part of the dynamic between the two characters: one between a teacher and student. Holmes becomes the teacher helping his student (Watson) solve a complex problem by having him do it step by step. In addition, I found Watson's more direct and straightforward approach to be a nice contrast to Holmes' careful logical deductions. Finally, I found it interesting that Doyle chose not to make Holmes a perfect detective. His misstep in choosing the newest almanac is small, but it shows that even the best detective can make mistakes. Doyle could have easily chosen not to include that mistake, so I am curious as to why he did so.
Chapters Two and Four makes it quite obvious that Holmes' observational skills and his depth of knowledge are exceptional. For example, he is able to recognize a painting by a relatively obscure artist and recall most of the details in Moriarty's study, which allows him to conclude that Moriarty was gaining money from crime. He is also able to pick up on small details that others may have missed. For example, although the basic facts about the crime and evidence are already known, Holmes is able to greatly improve their usefulness after a short inspection. He concludes that the note left behind was definitely not written in the manor after looking at the ink and pens, and he was the first to notice that the markings on the closet floor and window seem to be made by different feet. These skills allow him to draw conclusions that were previously impossible to make and are essential in making him such an impressive detective.
A small note on Chapter Three: it seems like this chapter is almost entirely background information. I wonder how much of it will be needed to solve the mystery at hand.
I agree that Sherlock does seem significantly more rude to Watson than in past adaptations. I think that Watson is also becoming more confident in his own abilities and thus getting fed up with Sherlock's behavior.
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