Sweet.

I only spotted the thread today... I don't think I will quite make it in time...

We can discuss this story at anytime.  That's why  the title   of this topic  is devoted to just STUDY IN SCARLET.  This thread will always be here.   I'm going to finish my reading tonight,  and so I'll post my review later.  Join me, when you get a chance.   I look fwd to hearing your views too.  And, yes, if you want, you may compare ACD's canon story to the television airings, whether it be Jeremy Brett's,  Benedict Cumberbatch's, or  someone else's version.

Oh, take your time - I'm 50% through now.
And meanwhile I changed to German version  - holidays are for relaxing, aren't they? 

Last edited by Mattlocked (August 8, 2012 10:02 am)

Ok, I don't think I will attempt to write a full review... I'll just try a short comparison to Study in Pink:

First of all, I was quite surprised how the first part of the novel was used virtually to the word in the BBC series, but the second part is completely different.
What I immediately noticed was that the Sherlock Holmes of the novel is a more mature, self assured man than the character we see in the TV series. He is slightly vain, as Watson notes, maybe more so than Benedict's Sherlock, but otherwise he seems more at ease, still excitable but not as impatient.
Watson himself is less active than Martin's character, he is actually suffering from the effects of his injury, and happy to take it slowly. Also, he does not get involved in Holmes' dealings straight away. That puts him in a slightly different position from the Watson of the series, because he can observe and analyse more carefully, as he is not actually part of the investigation itself. Of course, such a character would be less interesting to watch on screen, which was probably one of the reasons Mofftiss made the change
.
Regarding the story, I was a bit surprised to note that in the novel, the police immediately assume that they have a murder on their hands. In SiP, it takes three deaths for them to even consider any alternative to suicide. I am not entirely sure why the writers decided to change the police line of investigation so drastically. Any thoughts?

Finally, there is of course the most significant difference - the motive of Jefferson Hope. Here, I must admit I prefer the original to the TV solution. Murder as a crime of passion and revenge may seem old-fashioned, but it still is probably the strongest motive I could think of for killing someone in cold blood. At first, the long, detailed background story seemed a little out of place in a detective novel for me, but then I understood that it serves the purpose of making Hope's behaviour more believable, make us grasp just how much and how long he suffered. I missed that in SiP. The cabbie is just a man with twisted concept of helping his children, it is hard to feel any sympathy for him at all.
But then again, the writers had to make sure we as viewers don't hold a grudge against Watson for shooting him, so they couldn't tell a heartbreaking story, could they?

Yes---many similarities between SIP BBC  and the canon SIS.   It's amazing to me how Moftiss took an original story and made it into something  for the time we live in now. 

I  forgot to mention--The first murder of Drepper  in SIS  was with the word RACHE  which is german  for "revenge"  In this version it was used as it was meant to be used,  but the dead man didn't write it--  it was the killer  who wrote it.  But the killer wasn't german.....So I wonder how he knew what the word meant?   


from kermit---
Regarding the story, I was a bit surprised to note that in the novel, the police immediately assume that they have a murder on their hands. In SiP, it takes three deaths for them to even consider any alternative to suicide. I am not entirely sure why the writers decided to change the police line of investigation so drastically. Any thoughts?  quote---

Kermit-- good question--Ok...in the canon story,  Gregson and Lestrade weren't very smart--Holmes was smarter than them,  but Holmes let them go on about their business anyway and Holmes found the killer himself without any interference from the police.   But,  in SIP,  Lestrade was desperate for help from Sherlock,  and, again, Holmes was smarter.  Lestrade thought it was suicide because he didn't even THINK that there was a reason behind the deaths.  (but he SHOULD have realized it, since the dead ppl didn't leave any suicide notes behind!!)

ACD  has/had been all over the world at the time he wrote Sherlock Holmes and Study in Scarlet,  so there is that possibility that he wanted to use the german word Rache  in there somewhere.  Having found the right story,  he put it in there, and then it was we readers who read more into it.  And then BBC  sherlock writers figured out another way to use it,  which was brilliant.

Okay, I'm not in the mood to write a long review (sorry!)...

I enjoyed the read at the beginning at lot, especially because of the similarities and differences to BBC Sherlock. It was my first Sherlock Holmes book to read and I immediately loved the character of Mr. Holmes - no wonder the franchise became so succesful. After Holmes and Watson's first meeting I have to say it soon became a bit boring, but not so much that I would put the book away.
It surprised me a hell lot when the setting changed and they suddenly started telling the story of Jefferson Hope. I have to say, though, that I found it highly interesting and very suspenseful, a big change to the first part of the book. Then we changed back to Holmes and Watson and the "brutal murderer" suddenly became a sympathetic figure.
I'm still not sure if ACD was trying to hide a moral there - don't judge people before you know their stories?

I like the concept of the book. I like how you first only got a criminal and then you got a tragic character who you felt sorry for. But I think it could have been done better. It just seemed too inconsistent.

Yeah. So. I don't have any more thoughts on it right now. Too tired.

Yeah, I wasn't so keen on the middle section. It was very interesting to get a bit of background on the character, but most of the time I was just like..."Aww I want SH & JW back".

But never the less, I do love this book, and especially all the little bits that were appropriated and used so cleverly in ASIP.