Hound of the Baskervilles (Aladdin Classics) (Paperback)

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Foreword)
Key Phrases: Sir Henry, Sir Charles, Baskerville Hall (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
We owe 1902's The Hound of the Baskervilles to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson--left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel--save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

Many Holmes fans prefer Doyle's complete short stories, but their clockwork logic doesn't match the author's boast about this novel: it's "a real Creeper!" What distinguishes this particular Hound is its fulfillment of Doyle's great debt to Edgar Allan Poe--it's full of ancient woe, low moans, a Grimpen Mire that sucks ponies to Dostoyevskian deaths, and locals digging up Neolithic skulls without next-of-kins' consent. "The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul," Watson realizes. "Rank reeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay ... while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet ... it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths." Read on--but, reader, watch your step! --Tim Appelo --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-In what is arguably both the best Sherlock Holmes story in the canon and one of the classic all-time mystery novels, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle parlays his interest in the occult with keen scientific detection in a story that prominently showcases Dr. Watson. Upon hearing Dr. James Mortimer's saga of the haunted Baskerville family and the recent death of family head Sir Charles Baskerville, apparently from the hound of the legend, Holmes and Watson begin their investigation. When the estate's heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, arrives in London from Canada strange things immediately occur and Holmes dispatches Watson to accompany Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall. Situated in Dartmoor in Devonshire, the estate borders a tremendous moor that includes Grimpen Mire, the deadly quicksand-like bog, and provides the Gothic atmosphere that so beautifully saturates the storyAthe oppressive manor and nightly sounds of a wailing woman, Neolithic ruins and monoliths throughout the moor, a mysterious butler and his agitated wife, an escaped killer at-large on the moor, and the spectral and murderous hound. This expurgated version is wonderfully conceived and executed in every aspect, but particularly in the dexterous delivery of veteran British actor, Tony Britton. His diverse and distinctive portrayal of over a dozen characters is singularly commanding. This literary masterwork that has found its simpatico audio incarnation should be an obligatory purchase for all audio collections.
Barry X. Miller, Austin Public Library, TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068983571X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689835711
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,373 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A devilish affair", January 29, 2006

By	Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

When Henry Baskerville, the last remaining scion of the family, travels from Canada to England to take up residence in Baskerville Hall after the puzzling violent death of his uncle, Sir Charles, he is immediately greeted with a string of baffling mysteries not the least of which is the legend of an enormous hound residing on the moors in Devon. Dr James Mortimer, family friend to the Baskervilles, engages Holmes and Watson to advise and protect Henry and to resolve the issue of the hound's existence once and for all. Not one to believe in supernatural phantoms such as this spectral hound from hell endowed with "blazing eyes and dripping jaws", Holmes dispatches Watson to scout out the terrain and place the neighbouring residents under the proverbial magnifying glass - Stapleton, the accomplished entomologist and his beautiful sister, Beryl, who attempts to warn off Henry from taking up residence in the hall; Frankland, a crotchety busybody with a telescope and his troubled daughter, Laura Lyons, recovering from an ill-advised marriage; and the Barrymores, long time butler and housekeeper to the Baskerville family, who are clearly carrying a disturbing secret of their own.

True to the well-established paradigm of the Holmes canon, Doyle allows Watson to tell the tale with a deliciously full serving of speculation, theorizing based on "incomplete data", emotion, gentlemanly bravado, flowery Victorian atmosphere, elegant dialogue, and extensive detail on the routine of daily living at the turn of the century such as communicating by telegram and traveling by coach. His development of the bleak, dark, gloomy atmosphere of the moor is masterful:

"Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose in the distance a grey, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in a dream."

An easy one evening read over the comfortable space of a couple of hours, The Hound of the Baskervilles moves swiftly from the traditional cozy opening of Holmes' Baker Street digs to a resounding climax that is packed with more excitement and action than almost any other story in the entire Holmes litany. Two thumbs up and a five star recommendation to readers of all ages!

Paul Weiss

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coyle Energetically Ignites His Story [132], July 7, 2007

By	Miami Bob "Resurgent Reading" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

Some proclaim Doyle's greatest work to be "The Hound of the Baskervilles." And, it may be just that.

Set on a British estate, mixing science fictional accounts with old wive's tales and mythology, it is not a standard tale of urban sleuthing. This involves Holmes outside of London, and working with the "plebians" or "ordinary people" in his mission to save "Sir Henry" from encountering the same fate as his uncle Sir Charles Baskerville.

There are tales of adultery, slanting lies and rendevous at late hours of the night in the moor which flanks the estate of Sir Henry. The evenings overlooking the moor are often disturbed by the noisy backdrop of a hound howling, but not the sound of a hound ever heard by anyone before.

The moor is dangerously dotted with mires in which a step could mean one's end. Muddy and deep, the step into such places becomes a trap for the unwary. Hence, the moor includes dangers beyond its sounds, it is a place where young and old should avoid unless they know which places are safe and which are not.

An entomologist named Stapleton knows the moor inside and out. He befriends Sir Henry and Watson. He cannot meet Sherlock Holmes who must stay in London for other cases. This story follows the day-to-day discoveries of Watson, more than others.

In the end, the intertwining of evil that haunts the people in the tiny hamlet becomes staggering and one must wonder - could a village of such small size really have so many people within it keeping such deadly secrets without one of the others (if not all of the others) knowing? Probably not. But, who cares.

And, I lastly note that Doyle certainly was more than a mystery writer. His prose rivals Forster or Waugh. For instance, he wrote:"We looked back on it now; the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams into threads of gold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad tangle of the woodlands.. . Now and then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone, with no creeper to break its harsh outline. Suddenly we looked down into a cuplike depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been twisted and bent by the fury of years of storm."

With prose like that, you only conclude: This is more than a mystery novel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DEMON HOUND OR HOAX?, August 5, 2000

By	Kenri A. Mugleston (Orange, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This is the most famous of the four full length novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This novel deals with the horrifying legend of a demon dog that destroys the lives of members of the Baskerville family.

Sherlock Holmes and Watson go to the Baskerville estate to check into the legend and also to protect their client Henry Baskerville. Watson does more detective work in this novel than the other ones which is a nice twist.

This is a good mystery and is easier to follow than the others written by Mr. Doyle. You should enjoy this engaging classic.