Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes in Russia

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

 

 

This book is interesting not just for the story line or locale,but also because nothing is known of either of the two authors,P.Orlovetz and P.Nikitin. Of the seven stories in this volume,two are by Orlovetz,with the remainder by Nitikin.

In the 21 page introduction the history of Sherlock Holmes,and his adventures in Russia,is told from an historical view. This helps set the reader up for what follows. What is fascinating is that nothing is known about either writer-where they came from,where they lived and so on. About as close to any real information is that Nitikin,(who wrote novels,short stories,and childrens books) is known to have been one of the more prolific S.H. pastiche authors,whose work was done between 1907-1908. Other than that-nothing.

The stories themselves are naturally heavily Russian orientated---down trodden people of differing classes and the caste system come to the fore in various stories. The dialogue is written with somewhat of a Conan Doyle style,but,at times,is either a little stiff or interesting,depending on the reader's viewpoint. These tales give an ever-so-slight look into this era of Russia,and how they viewed not only S.H.,but the Russian way of life. The crimes Holmes solves are not the usual,straight forward,but with a twist murders with mysterious surroundings that readers have come to know. Rather they involve subjects that sometimes don't come immediately to mind when thinking of Holmes and Watson,and that's what gives this book an interesting flavor. There are criminals to be sure,thefts of valuable (Nikitin's tale of the theft of a black pearl) objects,and so on but with a distinct Russian outlook. Orlovetz's story of corrupt officials from the lowest rank to the highest,involving the railroads and the "black market" in stolen goods,uses a number of Holmes devices such as disguises,Holmes disappearing for lengths of time,and using Watson as a lookout and another pair of eyes,will be familiar to Holmes readers. Keep in mind that these stories were written a hundred years ago,with then current thinking and world outlook. And that's what makes these tales interesting to read-their written with an outlook that's a bit different than western thinking. There are also descriptions of Russian landscapes throughout,which help set the scene for Holmes and Watson,and help to involve the reader in the various stories.

If you're the type of reader who likes Holmes in all his different permutations,this is a fun,quick read. If you're a stricter traditionalist,you might not find these enjoyable. The four-star rating is a combination of writing style,storyline,and for the interesting overall Russian slant of these stories. For readers who enjoy reading S.H. in the pastiche form,and who like to collect different books with a slightly different slant concerning S.H. and Watson,this will fit on your shelf nicely.

The Introduction, by George Piliev, explains the spurt in popularity of Sherlock Holmes tales in Russia in the first quarter of the 20th Century. Poor communications, translation problems and difficult legal barriers slowed publication of Doyle's works in Russia to the point that it failed to satisfy the clamoring the `Reading Public' which even included the Imperial family. The slow translation of Doyle's works, in conjunction with the exploding popularity of Holmes led to maniacal inclusion of Holmes in advertisements, plays, children's tales and all elements of cultural life. The `Superstar' phenomenon came early to Russia. In place of translations of Doyle's tales, a number of home-grown authors met the spiraling demand for Sherlockian stories, creating a Literary `bloom' of indigenous Sherlockian tales.

Similar `blooms' have occurred in Danish, German, Chinese and East Indian literature at various times in the last Century. This book contains a selection of seven tales from this Russian Literary `Bloom' by two different authors. The selection in this volume was made carefully by the editor/translator, with an eye toward showing off the best of the lot and displaying the characteristics most common to the Literature as a whole.

The first two stories are by P. Orlovetz (details unknown) and give the commonly used rationalization for the presence of Holmes and Watson in Russia, an extended vacation. These tales are barely readable, especially to anyone familiar with the Canon. The plots are minor and lacking in any real logic and the characterizations are unrecognizable. The only strengths in these tale are in their presentation of conditions in Czarist Russia.

The final five tales, credited to P. Nikitin (again, details unknown), are a definite step up in quality. There are marked improvements in plotting and some of the characters are well-drawn and interesting. Further, the events include happenings that were typical of the times and settings. Each is a reasonably entertaining mystery, set in a lively and exotic land with interesting persons and events.

The real problem is that none of those persons are Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson. Their names are used but nothing much else is familiar. In a couple of the later tales, the hero makes a few sensible inferences from clues and local knowledge, but the instance of Holmes on `observation' is not present. The detective acts much as one would expect a Pinkerton agent to function; systematic, careful, sensible, but there are no flashes of insight and no deductions worth observing.

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones; March, 2010.