SHERLOCK HOLMES - My Life and Crimes [Import] [Hardcover]

Michael (re: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) Hardwick (Author), John Atkinson; (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harvill Press; First Edition edition (1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 000272748X
• ISBN-13: 978-0002727488
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,534,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography, my dear Watson..., August 5, 2004

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes (Hardcover)

In this book, written by Michael Hardwick (who has made a career of doing commentaries, novels, plays and other such Sherlock Holmes-related media, often in collaboration with Mollie Hardwick), we have an aging Holmes reflecting autobiographically upon his life from his early days up to the affair with Moriarty and his missing three-year period, the Great Hiatus, or, as Hardwick would have Holmes have it, the Great Lie.

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous characters in literary history; his stories are legendary in langauges and cultures around the world, and for being a character so much a part of his time in Victorian London, he has attained a timeless and universal quality that makes him a character of global appeal. Scholars and fans have had organisations formed, historical markers erected to commemorate fictitious events, and, of course, a never-ending supply of commentary and 'fan fiction'. Hardwick's book is a hybrid, part invention, part commentary.

Due to the nature of the material, those who become a Sherlockian or Holmesian love to follow the clues to solve the unknown, the mysteries -- Conan Doyle was not always diligent about filling in the details of Holmes' life; this is where authors like Hardwick come into play. Hardwick proposes answers to many of the questions of Holmes life, such as where he attended university, his American experiences, behind-the-scenes material on many major cases, and Holmes' true activities during his absence from the public eye after his supposed death at the Reichenbach Falls.

Hardwick does a good job at incorporating the actual material from the canonical stories (56 short stories and 4 novels), as well as actual historical events of which Holmes could have been a part. His narrative is in keeping with the same style of writing as Conan Doyle for the most part; a bit flat at times, but then, Conan Doyle usually wrote as Watson, rather than Holmes. This is a memoir looking back on early days by an aged Holmes in his retirement, some time after 'His Last Bow', and indeed after the death of Watson.

Sherlock Holmes scholars debate the material contained here -- this is presented without annotation as to the divergent strands of Holmesian speculation. As an autobiography, it is plausible if not entirely convincing, and will interest any fan of Holmes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a winner., March 9, 2011

By 

mysterious silk lady (Burleson, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes (Hardcover)

This was the most disappointing of the many "adventures" of Sherlock Holmes I've read. The writer seems to be trying set himself above the original author who created Holmes but Conan Doyle would never have used such sarcasm. The most unforgivable remarks were his denigrating treatment of Dr. Watson. Boo, hiss and no accolades for Michael Hardwick from this reader! Would not recommend this writer to anyone.