Customer Reviews

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels (Non-Slipcased Edition) (Vol. 3)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wounderful annotated version of Sherlock Holmes, its illustrations are magnificent and the notes are extermely helpful to the ambitious reader, but when by this book you must to remember that this is a annotated version of the canon, and it is a beautiful book because of this, so its pages are fully pictured not just to illustrate the referred text but also fot the sake of the reader and in order to let we take in account the marvellous work that fill the pages of the magazines and books that tell the history of the most famous detective ever. This book is not a biography of Arthur Conan Doyle, but a pleasant annotated history of Sherlock Holmes and should be faced in this way. Therefore I trust recommend that Sherlock's beginners start to read a version without the extensively annotated presented in here and then, when your curiosity was raised, buy this unforgettable collection of histories for the sake of yourself.

I simply wished to add a 5 Star rating here, for a great book. As near to looking over ACD's shoulder as it comes, and as good as it gets (along with Baring-Gould for a perfect measure). 5 * * * * * 5

I purchased this version of the Sherlock Holmes novels because I am interested in the cultural & historical contexts of literary works. While the annotations in this volume are certainly interesting and useful, the way that there are formatted is not. First, the annotations themselves will sometimes take up two or three pages at a time, breaking up the actual text so that I have to keep flipping back and forth; sometimes, a set of annotations is located on the flip side of the page to which they refer. I much prefer annotations as footnotes or, less so, as endnotes. Second, there is a tremendous amount of white space on most pages, so the page layout is not as economical as it could or should be; this contributes to the hulking size of the book, making it difficult to read in bed, as I often do. Third, the annotations text is in red, which can be difficult to read in lower light. Fourth, less illustrations could have been used; sometimes the same scene is illustrated two or three times.

I usually love annotated books but I was dissapointed in this one. There are WAY too many notes for my tastes. At times I thought I was still reading the novel to find Oh no it was 3 pages of notes. I had never read any Sherlock Holmes before and thought the notes would explain things but there were too many notes to keep track of the plot. I do however think that a Sherlock buff would really enjoy all the extras... for a novice it was too much. The quality of the book was good and the pictures were nice additions.