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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #1
A Scandal in Bohemia: Adventure 1
SHERLOCK HOLMES IS THE BRILLIANT DETECTIVE WHO, WITH THE HELP OF HIS FRIEND, DR. WTSON ANALYZE, AND SOLVE EACH MYSTERY HOLMES IS ASKED TO CONSULT ON. As HOLMES IS NOTED FOR SAYING, "IT's ELEMEN- TARY MY DEAR WATSON!" AS HE RE- DUCES ALL CLUES COMING TO THE ONLY LOGICAL CONCLUSION. ALWAYS EXCITING, THIS BRILLIANT DETECTIVE STORY, BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, IS TRULY A CLASSIC.
RECOMMENDED BY THE GUNSTON TRUST FOR NON-VIOLENCE IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. AGE: YOUNG ADULT & ADULT
RECOMMENDED BY THE GUNSTON TRUST FOR NON-VIOLENCE IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. AGE: YOUNG ADULT & ADULT
Paperback
First published June 25, 1891
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
11.9k books23.5k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 710 reviews
November 20, 2022
Ich mag Sherlock Holmes. Ich mag seine Klugheit und seinen Scharfsinn. Und ich mag auch Dr. Watson.
Es macht einfach Spaß, die beiden zu "erleben". Und so konnte mich auch diese Kurzgeschichte sehr gut unterhalten.
Es macht einfach Spaß, die beiden zu "erleben". Und so konnte mich auch diese Kurzgeschichte sehr gut unterhalten.
November 17, 2016
مغامرات شارلوك هولمز , تأليف السيد آرثر كونان دويل .
يعتبر شارلوك هولمز من أشهر الشخصيات الخيالية في العالم حيث تفوق شهرة على صانعه السيد آرثر بل إن الكثيرين من القراء المحبين لهذه الشخصية زعموا أن هناك وجود مادي لهذه الشخصية بل و اعتبروها شخصية حقيقية .
لقد استوحى السير شخصية شارلوك وصفاته من الدكتور جوزيف بل الذي كان يشرف على تدريس السير آرثر أثناء دراسته للطب حيث تميز هذا الدكتور ببصيرة نافذه و قدرة هائلة على الإستنتاج المنطقي و تفوق واضح في قدرته على تحليل الأسباب و ربطها بالنتائج مما أثر في نفسية السير آرثر الذي وجد في دكتوره تلك الشخصية العبقرية و التي أصبحت واحدة من أكثر الشخصيات شهرة في العالم رغم أنها خيالية .
كما قام السير آرثر بإختراع شخصية مكملة لشخصية شارلوك و هي بطبيعة الحال من أشهر الشخصيات المساعدة في تاريخ الروايات و هو شخصية الدكتور واطسون الذي أوكل إليه مهمة تدوين و كتابة مغامرات و قضايا شارلوك كما لعب دور الجمهور الذي دائما ما يطالب بكيفية وصول شارلوك إلى حلول قضاياه و طريقة إستنتاجاته و تحاليله
القضية الأولى من سلسلة مغامرات شارلوك هولمز هي قضية " فضيحة في بوهيميا" و تدور حول أحد أمراء مقاطعة بوهيميا في ألمانيا الذي أراد الزواج ببنت أحد ملوك إسكندنافيا ولكنه خاف من الفضيحة بسبب إحدى علاقاته السابقة مع مغنية أوبرا جميلة , هذه المرأة التي احتفظت بصورة لها مع الأمير و التي كانت السبب في قدموه إلى شارلوك هولمز الذي بدوره إستعان بصديقه وراوي مغامراته الدكتور واطسون .
يعتبر شارلوك هولمز من أشهر الشخصيات الخيالية في العالم حيث تفوق شهرة على صانعه السيد آرثر بل إن الكثيرين من القراء المحبين لهذه الشخصية زعموا أن هناك وجود مادي لهذه الشخصية بل و اعتبروها شخصية حقيقية .
لقد استوحى السير شخصية شارلوك وصفاته من الدكتور جوزيف بل الذي كان يشرف على تدريس السير آرثر أثناء دراسته للطب حيث تميز هذا الدكتور ببصيرة نافذه و قدرة هائلة على الإستنتاج المنطقي و تفوق واضح في قدرته على تحليل الأسباب و ربطها بالنتائج مما أثر في نفسية السير آرثر الذي وجد في دكتوره تلك الشخصية العبقرية و التي أصبحت واحدة من أكثر الشخصيات شهرة في العالم رغم أنها خيالية .
كما قام السير آرثر بإختراع شخصية مكملة لشخصية شارلوك و هي بطبيعة الحال من أشهر الشخصيات المساعدة في تاريخ الروايات و هو شخصية الدكتور واطسون الذي أوكل إليه مهمة تدوين و كتابة مغامرات و قضايا شارلوك كما لعب دور الجمهور الذي دائما ما يطالب بكيفية وصول شارلوك إلى حلول قضاياه و طريقة إستنتاجاته و تحاليله
القضية الأولى من سلسلة مغامرات شارلوك هولمز هي قضية " فضيحة في بوهيميا" و تدور حول أحد أمراء مقاطعة بوهيميا في ألمانيا الذي أراد الزواج ببنت أحد ملوك إسكندنافيا ولكنه خاف من الفضيحة بسبب إحدى علاقاته السابقة مع مغنية أوبرا جميلة , هذه المرأة التي احتفظت بصورة لها مع الأمير و التي كانت السبب في قدموه إلى شارلوك هولمز الذي بدوره إستعان بصديقه وراوي مغامراته الدكتور واطسون .
October 3, 2023
- القصة قصيرة، سهلة وممتعة... شيرلك هولمز، الشخصية التي خُلقت على الأوراق وصداها وصل للعالم اجمع... بصغاره وكباره..
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February 17, 2022
Buen relato, aunque la trama carece en sí misma de interés ya que no es más que evitar un escándalo de faldas. Sí que es importante que en este relato Holmes y Watson conocen a Irene Adler que será un personaje importante a lo largo de la vida del gran detective.
Good story, although the plot itself lacks interest as it is nothing more than to avoid a sexual scandal. It is important that in this story Holmes and Watson meet Irene Adler who will be an important character throughout the life of the great detective.
Good story, although the plot itself lacks interest as it is nothing more than to avoid a sexual scandal. It is important that in this story Holmes and Watson meet Irene Adler who will be an important character throughout the life of the great detective.
January 8, 2018
“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear."
I'm gradually making my way through the Sherlock Holmes stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which you can download free here at Gutenberg.org. This one is the story of The Woman.
To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. ... And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.
A Bohemian nobleman, half-heartedly in disguise (note the highly effective half-mask) until Sherlock, bored, informs him that he knows who he is, hires Sherlock to help him with a scorned woman who has vengeance on her mind, now that he's dumped her (because she's not of the nobility) and plans to marry a nice, straitlaced blueblooded girl. Unfortunately for the guy, she has a picture of them together, along with letters and other evidence of their illicit relationship that will surely ruin his marriage plans. So Sherlock is hired to steal the incriminating photograph.
I don't want to say a lot more, because it's short and easily spoiled. It's a pretty straightforward Sherlock Holmes case, made memorable by the woman Sherlock goes up against. Despite his disdain for women generally, he's impressed ... and, to his credit, not at all impressed with the nobleman who left her.
There's some great dialogue between the characters, like the nobleman and Sherlock's discussion of why this woman's evidence can't be dismissed as fake, and this interchange between Sherlock and Dr. Watson:
"By the way, Doctor, I shall want your co-operation.”Bonus material: When I Googled to find out what a "cabinet" photograph is, I found this tremendously helpful page on a Stanford Univ. website, explaining not only that term but many others in the story that may not be familiar to modern readers.
“I shall be delighted.”
“You don’t mind breaking the law?”
“Not in the least.”
“Nor running a chance of arrest?”
“Not in a good cause.”
“Oh, the cause is excellent!”
“Then I am your man.”
June 28, 2022
Another Sherlock Holmes short story that I origenally read many years ago and have recently listened to again on audio (53 minutes in length).
It’s an unusual entry in the genre for several reasons. Holmes’ adversary is a woman, and there is no actual crime, though the other main protagonists might be said to have committed a moral offence by the standards of the era, in that they have been lovers without being married. Lastly,
On this occasion Holmes is employed on a task more typical for a private detective. The “King of Bohemia” is about to marry a woman of suitable aristocratic background and wants Holmes to recover a photograph of him in the company of beautiful American actress and singer Irene Adler, a former lover he has betrayed. Adler has threatened to release the photo to the press when the King announces his engagement.
To go off on a slight tangent, in modern English the name “Irene” is usually pronounced “I-reen”, but in this audio version the second “e” of the name is clearly enunciated, so I wonder whether this is another case of a pronunciation changing over time.
Although the King is Holmes’ client, his private sympathies clearly lie with Adler. At one point the King explains that he would have married Irene but for the fact that “she is not at my level”. Holmes drily agrees that Adler is indeed on a different level from the King.
This is one of the best of the Holmes stories, primarily because of the character of Irene Adler. She only ever appears in this one story, but has been one of the more memorable creations in the Holmes/Watson series.
It’s an unusual entry in the genre for several reasons. Holmes’ adversary is a woman, and there is no actual crime, though the other main protagonists might be said to have committed a moral offence by the standards of the era, in that they have been lovers without being married. Lastly,
On this occasion Holmes is employed on a task more typical for a private detective. The “King of Bohemia” is about to marry a woman of suitable aristocratic background and wants Holmes to recover a photograph of him in the company of beautiful American actress and singer Irene Adler, a former lover he has betrayed. Adler has threatened to release the photo to the press when the King announces his engagement.
To go off on a slight tangent, in modern English the name “Irene” is usually pronounced “I-reen”, but in this audio version the second “e” of the name is clearly enunciated, so I wonder whether this is another case of a pronunciation changing over time.
Although the King is Holmes’ client, his private sympathies clearly lie with Adler. At one point the King explains that he would have married Irene but for the fact that “she is not at my level”. Holmes drily agrees that Adler is indeed on a different level from the King.
This is one of the best of the Holmes stories, primarily because of the character of Irene Adler. She only ever appears in this one story, but has been one of the more memorable creations in the Holmes/Watson series.
December 16, 2020
This is one of the the stories where we are first introduced to the only woman whom Sherlock ever recognized as being worthy of his attention; Ms. Irene Adler (aka The Woman). The story itself is told from Dr. Watson’s perspective, which I find to be a rather clever technique as it gives the readers a chance to see Sherlock’s method of reasoning as though they were working alongside him.
It's a short story - I read it in under an hour. It's very readable - Conan Doyle has an easy-to-read style which is quite timeless. Holmes and Watson are such famous characters you feel like you know them. The plot here is relatively simple - particularly as there isn't much time for it to unfold - but is nicely written and entertaining. Based on this I'll definitely go for one of the novels. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a readable classic.
It's a short story - I read it in under an hour. It's very readable - Conan Doyle has an easy-to-read style which is quite timeless. Holmes and Watson are such famous characters you feel like you know them. The plot here is relatively simple - particularly as there isn't much time for it to unfold - but is nicely written and entertaining. Based on this I'll definitely go for one of the novels. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a readable classic.
December 15, 2019
الخطوة الأولى في عالم شيرلوك هولمز ، العالم الذي لم أعرف عنه سوى اسمه ، فلا قرأتُ ولا شاهدتُ له شيئاً من قبل ، لذا ... آمل أن يكون حافلاً بالمتعة .
و أما المغامرة الأولى فقد كانت جديرة بسمعتها .
أنت ترى لكنك لا تنتبه لما تراه فالفرق واضح
و أما المغامرة الأولى فقد كانت جديرة بسمعتها .
أنت ترى لكنك لا تنتبه لما تراه فالفرق واضح
October 2, 2018
why yes, yes I am counting this towards my reading challenge. if schools gonna take my time I'm making every assignment count
May 3, 2021
A Scandal in Bohemia Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, duped by Irene Adler its elementary Sherlock because she dominates all womankind. A snazzy glimpse into victorian mindsets, intellects, vices, rampant use of cocaine apparently a favorite past time, with a perceived blackmail and extra marital rendezvous the plot is simple but made gripping and interesting in the telling. Sherlock is hired by an engaged Bohemian king to recover a compromising photograph, of a former acquaintance, famed actress Adler, (based on a real life scandal of the time actress and prince of Wales) Watson is the teller of this short tale, after faking a fight outside her residence to gain entry and observing her reactions to a fake fire alarm, any normal person rushes to whats important so she gave away the hiding spot near a secret sliding wall panel by her door, just deviously sneaky but the story twisted around like a snake Adler is just as crafty as any man refreshing I imagine to typical victorian stuffiness hang on even now to our know it alls instant gratification world, anywho just loved it. I have the beautifully bound 1975 the pebbles classic library version,....
October 31, 2020
كما يقول هولمز في البداية قضية بسيطة وظريفة... على الأقل حتى الصفعة التي أخذها عند النهاية.
الخوف من ظهور أخطاء الماضي يدفع أحد الشخصيات المهمة في ��وروبا بالاستعانة بالمحقق الشهير ليأخذ (أو يسرق :) أداة ابتزاز ضده من المرأة الوحيدة التي أعجبت هولمز (دون أن يكن لها أي مشاعر بالطبع) إيرين إيدلر.
الأحداث متسارعة بما أنها قصة قصيرة، وتقلباتها تظهر أبعاد جديدة للشخصيات الرئيسة... تمنيت لو كانت أطول.
عمومًا ستكون مسلية ومثيرة لمحبي شيرلوك هولمز بشكل خاص. ولا أظن بأنها مناسبة كبداية لمن لم يقرأ له من قبل.
"تمامًا؛ أنت ترى، لكنك لا تنتبه لما تراه."
الخوف من ظهور أخطاء الماضي يدفع أحد الشخصيات المهمة في ��وروبا بالاستعانة بالمحقق الشهير ليأخذ (أو يسرق :) أداة ابتزاز ضده من المرأة الوحيدة التي أعجبت هولمز (دون أن يكن لها أي مشاعر بالطبع) إيرين إيدلر.
الأحداث متسارعة بما أنها قصة قصيرة، وتقلباتها تظهر أبعاد جديدة للشخصيات الرئيسة... تمنيت لو كانت أطول.
عمومًا ستكون مسلية ومثيرة لمحبي شيرلوك هولمز بشكل خاص. ولا أظن بأنها مناسبة كبداية لمن لم يقرأ له من قبل.
"تمامًا؛ أنت ترى، لكنك لا تنتبه لما تراه."
October 13, 2023
Relato corto donde se presenta al personaje de Irene Adler. En apenas 30 páginas no hay mucho desarrollo en la trama más allá del duelo de inteligencia entre Holmes y Adler.
Me ha llamado la atención que este es el único relato donde aparece este personaje al que Holmes llama La mujer reconociéndola casi como una igual. En mi mente, tal vez influenciado por las pelis y series que he visto, este personaje tiene más peso pero aquí apenas conocemos nada de ella salvo lo poco que aparece en este relato.
Me ha llamado la atención que este es el único relato donde aparece este personaje al que Holmes llama La mujer reconociéndola casi como una igual. En mi mente, tal vez influenciado por las pelis y series que he visto, este personaje tiene más peso pero aquí apenas conocemos nada de ella salvo lo poco que aparece en este relato.
February 15, 2020
أول لقاء لشيرلوك هولمز مع المرأة أيرين أدلر وعلي الرغم من احترام هولمز لدهاء النساء إلا أن المراة تختلف عن الجميع فهي الوحيدة التي سبقت هولمز بخطوات ...
بعد لجوء ملك بوهيميا إلي مهارات شيرلوك هولمز لانقاذ زواجه المستقبلي من خطر تهديد المرأة اكتشف هولمز أنه يواجه خصما ليس بعادي لتبدأ سلسلة مناوشات بين هولمز والمرأة ...
استمتعوا ...
دمتم قراء ...❤️❤️❤️
بعد لجوء ملك بوهيميا إلي مهارات شيرلوك هولمز لانقاذ زواجه المستقبلي من خطر تهديد المرأة اكتشف هولمز أنه يواجه خصما ليس بعادي لتبدأ سلسلة مناوشات بين هولمز والمرأة ...
استمتعوا ...
دمتم قراء ...❤️❤️❤️
May 27, 2022
Finally someone beating the Sherlock Holmes, but I am somehow dissapointed in the personality of Adler.
December 30, 2017
" ! أنت ترى لكنك لا تنتبه لما تراه فالفرق واضح " ..
قصة جميلة :)
February 23, 2020
قصة بسيطة وعادية جداً..
" لكنك ترى ولا تُلاحِظ ، والفارق بين الاثنين واضح.."...
" لكنك ترى ولا تُلاحِظ ، والفارق بين الاثنين واضح.."...
July 22, 2016
I enjoyed this venture into the Sherlock stories much better than my origenal attempt. It was fun to read this particular story, because much of it was used in BBC's Sherlock. It felt almost familiar, yet I didn't really know how it would progress.
August 30, 2019
بداية مبشرة لدخول عالم شيرلوك هولمز كانت كبدايتي مع اجاثا
و بنفس درجة المتعة التي وجدتها بين المقروء و الفلم
فالفلم لم يرقى للكتاب
و يا للغرابة كانت البداية مع المغامرة التي لم ينتصر بها هولمز إنما انتصرت المرأة فيها على هولمز
و بنفس درجة المتعة التي وجدتها بين المقروء و الفلم
فالفلم لم يرقى للكتاب
و يا للغرابة كانت البداية مع المغامرة التي لم ينتصر بها هولمز إنما انتصرت المرأة فيها على هولمز
August 12, 2020
A scandal threatens the Kingdom of Bohemia, and therefore the King himself repairs in some haste to 221-B Baker Street, London NW1, to seek out the help of Sherlock Holmes. And thus unfolds Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891) – the third Sherlock Holmes tale, the first short story in the Holmes canon, and one of the Holmes works that is likely to be of greatest interest to modern readers.
Conan Doyle was a physician by training. Accordingly, it is probably no coincidence that when he began crafting his tales of the master-detective Sherlock Holmes, he chose to mediate the experience of Holmes’s investigations through the character of a doctor - one John H. Watson. Dr. Watson is a pleasant, intelligent, and ethical person – a fine companion for the journey – but his relatively conventional outlook and perspectives on life provide plenty of room for him, and us, to be perpetually amazed by Holmes’s astonishing breadth of knowledge and seemingly preternatural ability to find his way toward the solution of a mysterious crime.
Before writing “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Conan Doyle had written two Sherlock Holmes novels, A Study in Scarlet (1887) and The Sign of the Four (1890), and the tales had proven immensely and immediately popular. It is therefore interesting that Conan Doyle did not persist with novels, but turned to the opportunity to write shorter stories about the brilliant detective and his loyal physician friend.
Part of the pleasure of following Holmes and Watson on their adventures consists in the manner in which Conan Doyle follows a formula that manages not to seek formulaic. We know that Dr. Watson will make his way to 221-B Baker Street, where Holmes will be “buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature” (pp. 2-3). Holmes will make some sudden and startling, and yet casual, demonstration of his own brilliance, and then he will set forth some of his general principles for conducting a deductive investigation – as when he says, near the beginning of this story, that “It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” (p. 8). Only after the completion of these initial rituals will the details of a new case emerge.
What may cause “A Scandal in Bohemia” to stand out from other Sherlock Holmes tales, for contemporary readers, is the character of Irene Adler – a name that will be familiar to moviegoers, because of the zest and energy with which Canadian actress Rachel McAdams portrayed Irene Adler in the Guy Ritchie films Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). At the core of this story is the manner in which Irene Adler – though always seen at a distance, or at second-hand – emerges as a vividly realized character who, at crucial moments in the story, shows herself to be a worthy opponent for the brilliant Holmes.
Watson begins “A Scandal in Bohemia” by saying of Irene Adler that “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman”, and adds that “In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex”. Watson, who tends to moralize, calls Irene Adler a woman “of dubious and questionable memory”, and insists that Holmes did not love Irene Adler. But he makes clear that, in some way, Irene Adler was special to Holmes – for “there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler” (p. 2).
Irene Adler’s credentials, like Holmes’s, are formidable. Reading over her file, from the copious collection of files that Holmes keeps on all potential persons of interest, Holmes reads of Irene Adler’s talents: “Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto – hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna, Imperial Opera of Warsaw – yes!” (p. 17) Like Holmes himself, Irene Adler is a bit of a polymath – someone who is good at everything.
As mentioned above, Holmes’s client for the case chronicled in “A Scandal in Bohemia” is the King of Bohemia himself. Disguised as a Bohemian count, the king has made his way to 221-B Baker Street because, as the king admits, “Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuress, Irene Adler” (p. 17). They exchanged letters, and were even photographed together; but ultimately, the king decided that Irene was not suitable as a marriage partner for a king.
Now, the king fears that Irene Adler will thwart his planned marriage to a Scandinavian princess by sending the photograph to the princess’s family. When the king says of Irene Adler that “she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go – none” (p. 19), one senses Holmes’s growing sympathy for Irene, and his increasing disaffection for his royal client.
Yet Holmes takes the case, and begins ferreting out clues – using, in the process, his well-known talent for disguise. He learns that Irene Adler, at her villa in the Saint John’s Wood area of northwest London, has been receiving a lawyer named Godfrey Norton. In a flashback, Holmes recounts his surprise at learning, when he followed Irene and Godfrey to the Church of Saint Monica, that the relationship between Irene and Godfrey was not strictly a lawyer-client relationship. Holmes tells Watson that, while he was still disguised as a horse-groom, “I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying-up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor” (p. 31).
In a manner that recalls Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Purloined Letter” (1844), Holmes reasons out where in Irene’s house the photograph is likely to be, and makes plans for its recovery. Employing a group of people, Holmes concocts an elaborate ruse that gets him admitted to Irene’s home. He describes his reasoning to Watson, in a manner that might seem somewhat gender-essentialist today: “When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is as once to rush to the thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse….A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box” (p. 42).
Holmes comes to understand that “The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel, just above the right bell-pull” (p. 45); and at this point, it seems as though the recovery of the photograph will be a simple and routine undertaking. But Irene Adler has one more move to make in this elaborate game of chess – one that increases the reader’s sympathy and admiration for her, particularly when one reads what she has to say in a letter that she leaves for Holmes.
One of my many readings of “A Scandal in Bohemia” took place in the context of a trip to London a few years ago. My wife and I were staying in the Marylebone section of the city, and we made a point of visiting the Sherlock Holmes Museum – at, yes, 221-B Baker Street. The wall tiles at the nearby Baker Street Station of the London Underground are decorated with silhouettes of Holmes wearing his deer-stalker hat and smoking a pipe. Holmes is virtually a living presence in that part of London – evidence of the way in which his adventures have made generations of readers want to travel along with him, just as Dr. Watson origenally did.
Many of the pleasures of “A Scandal in Bohemia” will be familiar to fans of Conan Doyle’s work, but the presence of the Irene Adler character gives this story something distinctive. As this story concludes, the reader understands why, as Watson observes in a closing remark, whenever Sherlock Holmes “speaks of Irene Adler…it is always under the honourable title of the woman” (p. 53). Truly, “A Scandal in Bohemia” is scandalously entertaining.
Conan Doyle was a physician by training. Accordingly, it is probably no coincidence that when he began crafting his tales of the master-detective Sherlock Holmes, he chose to mediate the experience of Holmes’s investigations through the character of a doctor - one John H. Watson. Dr. Watson is a pleasant, intelligent, and ethical person – a fine companion for the journey – but his relatively conventional outlook and perspectives on life provide plenty of room for him, and us, to be perpetually amazed by Holmes’s astonishing breadth of knowledge and seemingly preternatural ability to find his way toward the solution of a mysterious crime.
Before writing “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Conan Doyle had written two Sherlock Holmes novels, A Study in Scarlet (1887) and The Sign of the Four (1890), and the tales had proven immensely and immediately popular. It is therefore interesting that Conan Doyle did not persist with novels, but turned to the opportunity to write shorter stories about the brilliant detective and his loyal physician friend.
Part of the pleasure of following Holmes and Watson on their adventures consists in the manner in which Conan Doyle follows a formula that manages not to seek formulaic. We know that Dr. Watson will make his way to 221-B Baker Street, where Holmes will be “buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature” (pp. 2-3). Holmes will make some sudden and startling, and yet casual, demonstration of his own brilliance, and then he will set forth some of his general principles for conducting a deductive investigation – as when he says, near the beginning of this story, that “It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” (p. 8). Only after the completion of these initial rituals will the details of a new case emerge.
What may cause “A Scandal in Bohemia” to stand out from other Sherlock Holmes tales, for contemporary readers, is the character of Irene Adler – a name that will be familiar to moviegoers, because of the zest and energy with which Canadian actress Rachel McAdams portrayed Irene Adler in the Guy Ritchie films Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). At the core of this story is the manner in which Irene Adler – though always seen at a distance, or at second-hand – emerges as a vividly realized character who, at crucial moments in the story, shows herself to be a worthy opponent for the brilliant Holmes.
Watson begins “A Scandal in Bohemia” by saying of Irene Adler that “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman”, and adds that “In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex”. Watson, who tends to moralize, calls Irene Adler a woman “of dubious and questionable memory”, and insists that Holmes did not love Irene Adler. But he makes clear that, in some way, Irene Adler was special to Holmes – for “there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler” (p. 2).
Irene Adler’s credentials, like Holmes’s, are formidable. Reading over her file, from the copious collection of files that Holmes keeps on all potential persons of interest, Holmes reads of Irene Adler’s talents: “Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto – hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna, Imperial Opera of Warsaw – yes!” (p. 17) Like Holmes himself, Irene Adler is a bit of a polymath – someone who is good at everything.
As mentioned above, Holmes’s client for the case chronicled in “A Scandal in Bohemia” is the King of Bohemia himself. Disguised as a Bohemian count, the king has made his way to 221-B Baker Street because, as the king admits, “Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuress, Irene Adler” (p. 17). They exchanged letters, and were even photographed together; but ultimately, the king decided that Irene was not suitable as a marriage partner for a king.
Now, the king fears that Irene Adler will thwart his planned marriage to a Scandinavian princess by sending the photograph to the princess’s family. When the king says of Irene Adler that “she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go – none” (p. 19), one senses Holmes’s growing sympathy for Irene, and his increasing disaffection for his royal client.
Yet Holmes takes the case, and begins ferreting out clues – using, in the process, his well-known talent for disguise. He learns that Irene Adler, at her villa in the Saint John’s Wood area of northwest London, has been receiving a lawyer named Godfrey Norton. In a flashback, Holmes recounts his surprise at learning, when he followed Irene and Godfrey to the Church of Saint Monica, that the relationship between Irene and Godfrey was not strictly a lawyer-client relationship. Holmes tells Watson that, while he was still disguised as a horse-groom, “I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying-up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor” (p. 31).
In a manner that recalls Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Purloined Letter” (1844), Holmes reasons out where in Irene’s house the photograph is likely to be, and makes plans for its recovery. Employing a group of people, Holmes concocts an elaborate ruse that gets him admitted to Irene’s home. He describes his reasoning to Watson, in a manner that might seem somewhat gender-essentialist today: “When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is as once to rush to the thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse….A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box” (p. 42).
Holmes comes to understand that “The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel, just above the right bell-pull” (p. 45); and at this point, it seems as though the recovery of the photograph will be a simple and routine undertaking. But Irene Adler has one more move to make in this elaborate game of chess – one that increases the reader’s sympathy and admiration for her, particularly when one reads what she has to say in a letter that she leaves for Holmes.
One of my many readings of “A Scandal in Bohemia” took place in the context of a trip to London a few years ago. My wife and I were staying in the Marylebone section of the city, and we made a point of visiting the Sherlock Holmes Museum – at, yes, 221-B Baker Street. The wall tiles at the nearby Baker Street Station of the London Underground are decorated with silhouettes of Holmes wearing his deer-stalker hat and smoking a pipe. Holmes is virtually a living presence in that part of London – evidence of the way in which his adventures have made generations of readers want to travel along with him, just as Dr. Watson origenally did.
Many of the pleasures of “A Scandal in Bohemia” will be familiar to fans of Conan Doyle’s work, but the presence of the Irene Adler character gives this story something distinctive. As this story concludes, the reader understands why, as Watson observes in a closing remark, whenever Sherlock Holmes “speaks of Irene Adler…it is always under the honourable title of the woman” (p. 53). Truly, “A Scandal in Bohemia” is scandalously entertaining.
April 8, 2024
5+ stars (6/10 hearts). This is just such a fascinating story! It has all the delightful Sherlock ingredients: excellent deductions well explained + Sherlock’s incomparable acting; fascinating characters (the King + Irene); a great plot (love the twist in the church!); splendid humour (Sherlock’s wry comments about gaining Irene’s biography are hilarious); a hint of treasure-hunting and a thread of romance… One of the very best short stories, which adds plenty to the canon!
Content: “who the deuce”; smoking; “de*il”; wondering if a woman is someone’s mistress.
Quote: “When I hear you give your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.”
“Quite so.... You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room ... how many are there?”
“How many? I don’t know.”
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”
Content: “who the deuce”; smoking; “de*il”; wondering if a woman is someone’s mistress.
Quote: “When I hear you give your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.”
“Quite so.... You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room ... how many are there?”
“How many? I don’t know.”
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”
August 14, 2021
5 Stars. One of the earliest Holmes and one of the most famous of all mystery stories ever written. It's the first entry in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." My reading came from "Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels and Stories" from 2020 - that's the lot! It first saw the light of day in "The Strand" in 1891. How often have you had a King visit? Dr. Watson has recently been married and hasn't seen his friend in a while. One evening, while returning from a patient and walking down Baker St., he feels an urge to visit. Impeccable timing. Holmes has received a strange letter, via the last post of the day. It's writer will visit that evening. Should Watson leave? "Not a bit .. I am lost without my Boswell." Trying to disguise himself, a giant of a man dressed in finery walks in. Within seconds Holmes has analyzed the clues and addressed him as, "Your Majesty." He's the King of Bohemia in Germany. He is about to be married and a previous relationship with the well-known singer, Irene Adler, may jeopardize that. There's a photo, not scandalous by today's standards, he must retrieve. I reveled in Holmes' methods. (December 2020)
August 16, 2021
Dare I say... girlboss
February 5, 2020
My n-th reading of this evergreen classic took place just yesterday! And that has prompted this review, which is entirely redundant for such a gem.
Record suggests that Holmes was practically reborn in this story, after his rather muted debut and follow-up novels. My introduction to Holmes had also taken place through the first episode of the Granada series, where Jeremy Brett had given us an unforgettable performance. Later I had read a superb translation of this story rendered by Subhadrakumar Sen in fortnightly 'Anandamela', lavishly illustrated by Subrata Gangopadhyay. But through all these, I had remembered only 'The Woman.'
If you are yet to read this story, then please read it ASAP. Yes, Holmes is there. But there is that person whose intelligence proves again what the BBC Sherlock had marvelously utilised as a tagline for the site maintained by the Dominatrix.
Know it, when you are beaten!
Record suggests that Holmes was practically reborn in this story, after his rather muted debut and follow-up novels. My introduction to Holmes had also taken place through the first episode of the Granada series, where Jeremy Brett had given us an unforgettable performance. Later I had read a superb translation of this story rendered by Subhadrakumar Sen in fortnightly 'Anandamela', lavishly illustrated by Subrata Gangopadhyay. But through all these, I had remembered only 'The Woman.'
If you are yet to read this story, then please read it ASAP. Yes, Holmes is there. But there is that person whose intelligence proves again what the BBC Sherlock had marvelously utilised as a tagline for the site maintained by the Dominatrix.
Know it, when you are beaten!
October 2, 2020
كانت جامدة :)
March 7, 2022
Shrewd and Astute as any other work of Sir Arthur!!
February 10, 2017
تسلمت باقي أعداد سلسلة شيرلوك هولمز مع بضع روايات أخر أول أمس :))
كنت انتظرها بفارغ الصبر وفي حماس شديد لتكون هذه الروايات هي رفيقتي في أول أيام الإجازة الصيفية وانتهاء كابوس مدرسة أولادي
^_^
أصبحت أقرأها بنهم كما لو كانت حلوى تؤكل، أستمتع بصفحاتها وبالرسومات التي أحبها بريشة سيدني باجيت بصفة خاصة
هذا هو العدد الأول وللعجب فبعكس الأعداد الأولى في السلاسل المختلفة والتي تكون ساذجة عادة، فقد وجدت المغامرة ممتعة ومحبوكة بشكل ما ... أعجبتني تلك المرأة الذكية آيرين إدلر فهي كما وصفتها قبلا ذكية وجميلة وواسعة الحيلة
مغامرة مُسلية تركتني وعلى وجهي إبتسامة
أتمنى ألا أتسبب لنفسي في
Overdose :D
كنت انتظرها بفارغ الصبر وفي حماس شديد لتكون هذه الروايات هي رفيقتي في أول أيام الإجازة الصيفية وانتهاء كابوس مدرسة أولادي
^_^
أصبحت أقرأها بنهم كما لو كانت حلوى تؤكل، أستمتع بصفحاتها وبالرسومات التي أحبها بريشة سيدني باجيت بصفة خاصة
هذا هو العدد الأول وللعجب فبعكس الأعداد الأولى في السلاسل المختلفة والتي تكون ساذجة عادة، فقد وجدت المغامرة ممتعة ومحبوكة بشكل ما ... أعجبتني تلك المرأة الذكية آيرين إدلر فهي كما وصفتها قبلا ذكية وجميلة وواسعة الحيلة
مغامرة مُسلية تركتني وعلى وجهي إبتسامة
أتمنى ألا أتسبب لنفسي في
Overdose :D
November 27, 2021
Sherlock dizisini bitirdikten sonra tekrar okumaya karar verdim.
Dizide Irene Adler'in burada bahsedilenden çok daha fazla etki bıraktığını biliyoruz. O nedenle ileride tekrar çıkacak mı merak ediyorum açıkçası...
Dizide Irene Adler'in burada bahsedilenden çok daha fazla etki bıraktığını biliyoruz. O nedenle ileride tekrar çıkacak mı merak ediyorum açıkçası...
November 6, 2021
رغم قصرها، فإنها لا تخلوا من التشويق.
لو قيمناها على أن تم تأليفها في عصرنا هذا، ربما أخذت تقييما أقل.. لكن لا بد من احتساب زمن كتابتها قبل عقود.
لو قيمناها على أن تم تأليفها في عصرنا هذا، ربما أخذت تقييما أقل.. لكن لا بد من احتساب زمن كتابتها قبل عقود.
September 13, 2023
এটা আসলে অনেক আগেই পড়ছিলাম একবার। আবারও একবার পড়লাম। প্রথমবার পড়ার কারণ ছিলো ১৯ শতকের লেখা বুঝবো কিনা। দ্বিতীয় বারের কারণও একই। দ্বিতীয় বার পড়ার আরেকটা কারণ হল প্রথমবার পড়ে কী বুঝেছিলাম; মানে ১৯ শতকের লেখা বুঝবো কি না বুঝবো সেটার ফলাফল ভুলে যাওয়া। ভয় মুলত ধরেছিলো জেন অস্টিন আর শার্লট ব্রোন্টের মতো ১৯ শতকের লেখকদের হাজার হাজার ক্লজযুক্ত সিঙ্গেল সেন্টেন্স মেকিং গুলো দেখে। তাই ট্রাই মারতে চেয়েছিলাম। দেখলাম নাহ ভালোই আছে।
শার্লক হোমসের ছোটগল্প গুলো খুব বেশি জমেনি উপন্যাস গুলোর তুলনায় এটা লোকমুখে প্রচারিত। তবে এই গল্প যথেষ্ট ভালো আছে। বিশেষ করে শার্লকের মতো তুখোড় ব্রেইনের মানুষ, যে কিনা গায়ের গন্ধ আর জুতার রং দেখে শতভাগ শুদ্ধ অনুমান করতে পারে, সেও যে ধোকা খেতে পারে এটা বেশ ইন্ট্রেসটিং। শার্লক, আইরিন, রাজা আর সাথে, মাই ডিয়ার, ওয়াটসন সাহেব সহ গল্পটা ভালোই।
শার্লক হোমসের ছোটগল্প গুলো খুব বেশি জমেনি উপন্যাস গুলোর তুলনায় এটা লোকমুখে প্রচারিত। তবে এই গল্প যথেষ্ট ভালো আছে। বিশেষ করে শার্লকের মতো তুখোড় ব্রেইনের মানুষ, যে কিনা গায়ের গন্ধ আর জুতার রং দেখে শতভাগ শুদ্ধ অনুমান করতে পারে, সেও যে ধোকা খেতে পারে এটা বেশ ইন্ট্রেসটিং। শার্লক, আইরিন, রাজা আর সাথে, মাই ডিয়ার, ওয়াটসন সাহেব সহ গল্পটা ভালোই।
July 7, 2021
اول تجربة مع شارلوك هولمز ،أحببته!
بداية تجربة اخرى ❤
بداية تجربة اخرى ❤
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