Welcome

Welcome! Like the book of the same name, this blog is an eclectic collection of Sherlockian scribblings based on more than a half-century of reading Sherlock Holmes. Please add your own thoughts. You can also follow me on Twitter @DanAndriacco and on my Facebook fan page at Dan Andriacco Mysteries. You might also be interested in my Amazon Author Page. My books are also available at Barnes & Noble and in all main electronic formats including Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iBooks for the iPad.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Quintessential Quote #52

"I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone"
This is a very Holmesian quote, reminiscent of "I use my head, not my heart" from "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client." Most probably, Holmes even thought that it was true. But it wasn't.

The Canon is full of examples of Sherlock Holmes being emotional, even sentimental. A few come to mind immediately:
  • Holmes turns down the offer of an emerald snake ring from the King of Bohemia as a gift for his service, requesting instead a photograph of Irene Adler.
  • James Ryder in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is just the first of numerous villains -- some of them murderers -- that Holmes allows to escape for essentially sentimental reasons.
  • On the other hand, he assures Killer Evans in "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs," "If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive."
No, Holmes was not a just a brain. He was a fully rounded human being. For professional reasons he generally tried to triumph over his softer emotions, but he did not lack them.

What's your favorite example of the emotional Sherlock Holmes?

1 comment:

  1. Mine is his getting a whip to punish Mary Sutherland's stepather in A Case of Identity- as we all know, Holmes was a misogynist, but he couldn't bear with women abuse-even psychological one, like in this case. I always cheer mentally at this scene :)

    ReplyDelete