最后的致意英语书评

最后的致意英语书评 In the summer vocation I read a book whose name is His Last Bow The Sherlock Holmes collection that has the fewest number of short stories: 8. is even a story-less in its British edition. This is called His Last Bow because it shares that title with its anchor story. Other than that reason, I could not associate any of the other stories with Holmes bowing out as they all have the same ingredients or formula as the earlier Sherlock Holmes literary pieces. The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge.John Scott Eccles consults Holmes and Watson regarding the death of his Spanish friend, Aloysius Garcia. Two Scotland detectives, Gregson and Baynes, join. Garcia’s murder happened in a place called Wisteria Lodge in Esher. The murderer turns out to be from another house that Holmes was able to deduce from reconnoitering. I loved the presence of gothic element but the reconnoitering is quite unlikely in my opinion. However, if the area is peopled only by whites and Murillo is the only one from Latin America, then I may be wrong. What I mean is that Murillo’s skin could have made him a highly noticeable target. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box.Yuck, two severed human ears are inside the parcel sent to an old landlord, Miss Susan Cushing and Inspector Lestrade suspects that that this is a frank by his evicted tenants who are medical student. Holmes, as always, thinks differently and he proves that he is right. Quite ordinary but the straightforward narration plus the emotion of a wronged man made this story disquieting. For a while, I felt for the killer because his wife has a lover. Not that I could emphatize with him but Holmes held back the full information a bit there so I thought that the killer deserved my empathy. The Adventure of the Red Circle.The kidnapper of Mrs. Warren’s husband is identified using the following facts: messages sent to Daily Gazette’s Agony column, hiding in a boxroom, the lantern signal and the knowledge of Italian language. Underground terrorist activities are also involved. Aside from Pinkerton that was also mentioned in his last novel, the Italian Mafia-like organization, Red Circle, is involved here but there is no connection between Pinkerton and Red Circle. Felt like an ordinary Holmes story. The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans.This is the last appearance of Mycroft, Holmes’ brother. Arthur Cadogan West is murdered and seven out of ten pages of the secret submarine plans are found with his corpse. If the 3 pages are found, the person can create a submarine that runs from Bruce to Partington. Mycroft provides information that led to the identification of the murderer near the railway. Unlike the first story in this collection, the reconnoitering of the neighborhood is plausible to identify the place where the killing happened. The reason is that the corpse is found by the railway tracks. The Adventure of the Dying Detective.Would you ever imagine Holmes getting sick? He died but he never got sick in the previous novels and short stories. In this one Holmes is said to have contacted a contagious Asian disease and Dr. Watson is called to tend on him. Watson arrives but Holmes tells him to wait up to 6pm. Holmes asks Watson to fetch Mr. Culverton Smith who Holmes has accused to have killed his nephew, Victor. I felt sad reading this novel at first because I thought all the while that Holmes was sick and could die. It was unthinkable for me and Sir Doyle was able to truly catch my interest. The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax.Lady Frances is missing but Holmes is busy so he sends Watson to investigate. He proceeds with the investigation and finds out that Lady Frances has gone to Germany, met the Schlessinger couple and a big bearded man. Holmes telegraphs back asking of the condition of Mr. Schelessinger’s ear. Just like “Baskervilles,” this story has Watson in the forefront of action and Holmes relegated to the back burner. Or so I thought. Just like in “Baskervilles” Sir Doyle always keeps surprises up his sleeves. The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot.Messrs. Tregennis and Roundhay consult Holmes because the former’s brothers (Owen and George) have gone mad and his sister (Brenda) died. During the investigation a cousin of the Tregennises, Dr. Sterndale, postpones his trip for the sake of the investigation. The following day, Tregannis himself is found dead by Dr. Sterndale. Who kills or turns the siblings? Read and find out for yourself. The Devil’s Foot is a chemical from a plant root in Africa. This is one of the best stories in this collection. Very engaging. His Last Bow.Von Bork is a German spy is leaving Britain for Netherlands bringing with him a lot of valuable information that may be used by German during the first World War. His friend, Von Herling says that those can make him rather a hero. Von Bork is still not happy though. He is still waiting for another tip (naval signal). I will not tell you the rest of the story because as I do not give too much away. This one is very good though. I did not see “it” coming. Also, told in a third person, this felt different because all the other works in the canon are narrated by Watson (first person). This is said to have been written during the World War I to uplift the morale of the British soldiers so this is a spy story rather than the usual detective’s tale. Truly, a breath of fresh air. On to the last collection of short stories called The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes and I will then be done with the whole Sherlock Holmes canon. Which canon I am planning to read next? I am contemplating between reading the whole works of Samuel Beckett or maybe read the rest of the 11 books included in Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time. I am still collecting, little-by-little, the whole works of William Shakespeare so, even if I want to read him next, I still cannot do that