Absolutely Everything to do with Sherlock Holmes

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I'm writing my Extended Project Qualification (or EPQ for short) on Sherlock Holmes. It's a project where I get to choose my topic and the question I need to answer, and then carry out research in order to write a 5,000 word essay on it.


I knew I wanted to do something English related, and since my A level course does not involve comparative essays (which I think are super fun) or  a lot of character analysis (also super fun), I thought I would pick an iconic character in English Literature to analyse. And who is more iconic than Sherlock Holmes?

I know what you're thinking - and yes, you can probably list me dozens of far more iconic characters, but I chose Holmes because of the legacy he carries. There have been so many modern adaptations of Conan Doyle's stories. People even thought Holmes was a real person, hence the Museum of London holding an exhibition entitled "The Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die."

The question I assigned myself to answer was "How do the various modern adaptations of Sherlock Holmes differ from Arthur Conan Doyle's original character?" so I have to look at a lot of different adaptations.

A lot of you reading this will automatically think of BBC's Sherlock, but I am not the biggest fan. There are actually so many adaptations of the Holmes stories, especially in recent years, so it was hard to focus on only a few. If you're interested in the mystery genre or Holmes in general, here is a list of the sources I plan on using:

Books

1. 'Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection' by Arthur Conan Doyle - You can see the front cover on my kindle in the image above. This specific kindle copy is perfect. It has all of the Holmes stories written by Conan Doyle in one place, and even has a list of where Sherlock Holmes has starred in other books and accross the media. Plus it's only 99p on the kindle store.

2. 'The Beekeeper's Apprentice' by Laurie R. King - An older Holmes finds his match in a teen genius, Mary Russell. I wrote my first review on this blog for 'The Beekeeper's Apprentice' which you can find here.

3. 'Death Cloud' by Andrew Lane - I wasn't a fan, but younger readers might be. Still, it was interesting to see how far young Holmes was from the man he would become. I wrote a (somewhat harsh) review for 'Death Cloud' which you can find here.

4. 'The Great Detective' by Zach Dundas - I haven't actually read it yet, but my librarian recommended it to me and I needed a published critical study to back up my essay.

Film and Television

1. BBC's Sherlock (TV) - Most people recognise this show. Although I'm not a follower of the huge fan hype surrounding it, I have to appreciate how the writers truly modernised the stories to appeal to a newer audience.

2. Elementary (TV) - Many compare the two big Holmes shows, but I personally prefer Elementary. The mysteries are very engaging and there is so much to write about when it comes to the development of Holmes and Watson's friendship, and how Watson plays such an important part in Holmes' life. I also won the book, ' Elementary: The Ghost Line' from a Goodreads giveaway which I am currently reading and enjoying.

3. Sherlock Holmes (2009 film) - I watched this a while ago and although I remember very little I recall enjoying it.

Museums

1. Museum of London - I believe this is closed now, but it was such a good exhibition which gave me a better understanding of Holmes' London.

2. The Sherlock Holmes Museum - I have still yet to visit - if I do I shall report back.


And that's that. There are so many more adaptations I have not read or seen, but these are the ones I have chosen to focus on.

Are there any others that are worth checking out?

- Helia