This vivid biography, written by John Dickson Carr, a giant in the field of mystery fiction, benefits from his full access to the archives of the eminent Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—to his notebooks, diaries, press clippings, and voluminous correspondence. Like his creation Sherlock Holmes, Doyle had "a horror of destroying documents," and until his death in 1930, they accumulated to vast amount throughout his house at Windlesham. They provide many of the words incorporated by Carr in this lively portrayal of Doyle's forays into politics, his infatuation with spiritualism, his literary ambitions, and dinner-table conversations with friends like H. G. Wells and King Edward VII. Carr, then, in a sense collaborates with his subject to unfold a colorful narrative that takes Doyle from his school days at Stonyhurst to Edinburgh University and a medical practice at Southsea, where he conceived the idea of wedding scientific study to criminal investigation in the fictive person of Sherlock Holmes. It also explores the private tragedy of Doyle's first marriage and long-delayed second as it follows him into the arena of public activity, propaganda, and literary output that would win him not only celebrity but also knighthood. 8 pages of black-and-white photographs are featured.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's Okay,
By Book Lover "Savoy" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Paperback)
I knew nothing about Doyle before reading this and there is a fair amount of useful information about the author's life. Unfortunately, it is not particularly well written. The author uses childish "but more about that later" transitions to create suspense. Also, Carr like many biographers falls in love with his subject. Sherlock Holmes stories are not the summum of English language literature. Carr vastly overates Doyle as a writer, but not as a man. This is a book that you should pick up at a used book sale for 50 cents.
13 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
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Exuberant Victorian,
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This review is from: The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Paperback)
Some listings of biographical archives appear at the end of the book. Charles Doyle, the father, was by profession an architect. Charles Doyle liked fishing. Arthur was educated by the Jesuits at Stonyhurst. At age 15 he visited relatives in London and was a rabid sight-seer. He studied in Germany for one year. He went to medical school at the University of Edinburgh, living at home. It was 1876 when he began.At holiday on the Isle of Arran in 1877 he met Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell used his powers of deduction to impress the students. Conan Doyle took his medical degree in 1881 and signed on to be a ship's physician on a voyage to the Gold Coast, the west coast of Africa. Arthur's London relatives were prepared to do him favors but they believed in the teachings of the Catholic Church and he did not. He decided to open a practice in Portsmouth. His mother and aunt supplied him with furniture. In 1883 one of Arthur's stories was accepted by CORNHILL MAGAZINE. He joined the literary and scientific society. A commission from the Gresham Life Insurance Company helped his income. The more he saw of medical practice, the more he turned to writing. He learned that he could write fiction that readers would take for absolute truth. He worked by fits and starts. He married a Miss Hawkins. Her mother lived with the couple. Married life stimulated his mental powers. A STUDY IN SCARLET as written in 1886. He sold the copyright for twenty five pounds. His favorite writers were Stevenson and Meredith. The book of his he prized was THE WHITE COMPANY. He put a vast amount of research into it. THE SIGN OF FOUR appeared in 1896. Two Holmes series were brought out in 1891 and 1892. The stories ran in THE STRAND MAGAZINE. He moved to Davos, Switzerland for the sake of his wife's health. Conan Doyle introduced skiing as a sport in Switzerland. On an American visit he saw Kipling in Vermont. He met Jean Leckie in 1897 and fell wildly in love. He fought the devil for ten years. He steadied himself by reading Renan. In a new study at his house called Undershaw he determined to bring back Sherlock Holmes. He wrote a play and sent it to Beerbohm Tree. William Gilette, an American, was interested in playing the part. The actor infected Conan Doyle with his own enthusiasm. He spent about five months in South Africa at the time of the Boer War manning a hospital dealing with a fever epidemic. He received a knighthood. In 1907 he married Jean Leckie. After World War I and the loss of his oldest son Conan Doyle pursued the cause of Spritiualism. Sherlock Holmes was revived again in HIS LAST BOW.
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