How Sherlock Pulled the Trick

How Sherlock Pulled the Trick

Author: Brian McCuskey

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13: 0271090448

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A masterful combination of literary study and author biography, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick guides us through the parallel careers of two inseparable men: Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reconsidering Holmes in light of Doyle’s well-known belief in Victorian spiritualism, Brian McCuskey argues that the so-called scientific detective follows the same circular logic, along the same trail of questionable evidence, that led Doyle to the séance room. Holmes’s first case, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887, when natural scientists and religious apologists were hotly debating their differences in the London press. In this environment, Doyle became convinced that spiritualism, as a universal faith based on material evidence, resolved the conflict between science and religion. The character of Holmes, with his infallible logic, was Doyle’s good faith solution to the cultural conflicts of his day. Yet this solution has evolved into a new problem. Sherlock Holmes now authorizes the pseudoscience that corrupts our public sphere, defying logic, revising history, and promoting conspiracy theories. As this book demonstrates, wearing a deerstalker does not make you a mastermind—more likely, it marks you as a crackpot. Fascinating and highly readable, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick returns the iconic Holmes to his mystical origins.


Book Synopsis How Sherlock Pulled the Trick by : Brian McCuskey

Download or read book How Sherlock Pulled the Trick written by Brian McCuskey and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A masterful combination of literary study and author biography, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick guides us through the parallel careers of two inseparable men: Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reconsidering Holmes in light of Doyle’s well-known belief in Victorian spiritualism, Brian McCuskey argues that the so-called scientific detective follows the same circular logic, along the same trail of questionable evidence, that led Doyle to the séance room. Holmes’s first case, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887, when natural scientists and religious apologists were hotly debating their differences in the London press. In this environment, Doyle became convinced that spiritualism, as a universal faith based on material evidence, resolved the conflict between science and religion. The character of Holmes, with his infallible logic, was Doyle’s good faith solution to the cultural conflicts of his day. Yet this solution has evolved into a new problem. Sherlock Holmes now authorizes the pseudoscience that corrupts our public sphere, defying logic, revising history, and promoting conspiracy theories. As this book demonstrates, wearing a deerstalker does not make you a mastermind—more likely, it marks you as a crackpot. Fascinating and highly readable, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick returns the iconic Holmes to his mystical origins.

How Sherlock Pulled the Trick

How Sherlock Pulled the Trick

Author: Brian McCuskey

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0271090464

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A masterful combination of literary study and author biography, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick guides us through the parallel careers of two inseparable men: Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reconsidering Holmes in light of Doyle’s well-known belief in Victorian spiritualism, Brian McCuskey argues that the so-called scientific detective follows the same circular logic, along the same trail of questionable evidence, that led Doyle to the séance room. Holmes’s first case, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887, when natural scientists and religious apologists were hotly debating their differences in the London press. In this environment, Doyle became convinced that spiritualism, as a universal faith based on material evidence, resolved the conflict between science and religion. The character of Holmes, with his infallible logic, was Doyle’s good faith solution to the cultural conflicts of his day. Yet this solution has evolved into a new problem. Sherlock Holmes now authorizes the pseudoscience that corrupts our public sphere, defying logic, revising history, and promoting conspiracy theories. As this book demonstrates, wearing a deerstalker does not make you a mastermind—more likely, it marks you as a crackpot. Fascinating and highly readable, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick returns the iconic Holmes to his mystical origins.


Book Synopsis How Sherlock Pulled the Trick by : Brian McCuskey

Download or read book How Sherlock Pulled the Trick written by Brian McCuskey and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A masterful combination of literary study and author biography, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick guides us through the parallel careers of two inseparable men: Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reconsidering Holmes in light of Doyle’s well-known belief in Victorian spiritualism, Brian McCuskey argues that the so-called scientific detective follows the same circular logic, along the same trail of questionable evidence, that led Doyle to the séance room. Holmes’s first case, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887, when natural scientists and religious apologists were hotly debating their differences in the London press. In this environment, Doyle became convinced that spiritualism, as a universal faith based on material evidence, resolved the conflict between science and religion. The character of Holmes, with his infallible logic, was Doyle’s good faith solution to the cultural conflicts of his day. Yet this solution has evolved into a new problem. Sherlock Holmes now authorizes the pseudoscience that corrupts our public sphere, defying logic, revising history, and promoting conspiracy theories. As this book demonstrates, wearing a deerstalker does not make you a mastermind—more likely, it marks you as a crackpot. Fascinating and highly readable, How Sherlock Pulled the Trick returns the iconic Holmes to his mystical origins.

A Slight Trick of the Mind

A Slight Trick of the Mind

Author: Mitch Cullin

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2006-05-09

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1400078229

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The basis for the Major Motion Picture Mr. Holmes starring Ian McKellen and Laura Linney and directed by Bill Condon. It is 1947, and the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, now 93, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse with his housekeeper and her young son. He tends to his bees, writes in his journal, and grapples with the diminishing powers of his mind. But in the twilight of his life, as people continue to look to him for answers, Holmes revisits a case that may provide him with answers of his own to questions he didn’t even know he was asking–about life, about love, and about the limits of the mind’s ability to know. A novel of exceptional grace and literary sensitivity, A Slight Trick of the Mind is a brilliant imagining of our greatest fictional detective and a stunning inquiry into the mysteries of human connection.


Book Synopsis A Slight Trick of the Mind by : Mitch Cullin

Download or read book A Slight Trick of the Mind written by Mitch Cullin and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2006-05-09 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The basis for the Major Motion Picture Mr. Holmes starring Ian McKellen and Laura Linney and directed by Bill Condon. It is 1947, and the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, now 93, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse with his housekeeper and her young son. He tends to his bees, writes in his journal, and grapples with the diminishing powers of his mind. But in the twilight of his life, as people continue to look to him for answers, Holmes revisits a case that may provide him with answers of his own to questions he didn’t even know he was asking–about life, about love, and about the limits of the mind’s ability to know. A novel of exceptional grace and literary sensitivity, A Slight Trick of the Mind is a brilliant imagining of our greatest fictional detective and a stunning inquiry into the mysteries of human connection.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023-03-09

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0198863128

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"I never can resist a touch of the dramatic." The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is now best remembered for its concluding story in which the great detective appears to plunge to his death into the waters at the bottom of the Reichenbach Falls, locked in a struggle with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty. However, the collection also brings the reader back to the beginnings of Holmes' career, involving a mutiny at sea and a treasure hunt in a Sussex country house, and a first encounter with Holmes' older brother Mycroft, of whom Holmes says, "If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from any armchair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived". This collection includes some of the detective's greatest cases, such as 'Silver Blaze' and 'The Naval Treaty', and even one case which Holmes fails to solve. Edited with an introduction by Jarlath Killeen, this volume examines Holmes as a safeguard against social breakdown and chaos, as well as an agent of justice and goodness against the forces of evil. It also situates the collection in the growth of life writing in the period, and explores the ways in which Holmes became increasingly 'real' to readers as more details about his personality and biography are revealed in the stories. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


Book Synopsis The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by : Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Download or read book The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-03-09 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I never can resist a touch of the dramatic." The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is now best remembered for its concluding story in which the great detective appears to plunge to his death into the waters at the bottom of the Reichenbach Falls, locked in a struggle with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty. However, the collection also brings the reader back to the beginnings of Holmes' career, involving a mutiny at sea and a treasure hunt in a Sussex country house, and a first encounter with Holmes' older brother Mycroft, of whom Holmes says, "If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from any armchair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived". This collection includes some of the detective's greatest cases, such as 'Silver Blaze' and 'The Naval Treaty', and even one case which Holmes fails to solve. Edited with an introduction by Jarlath Killeen, this volume examines Holmes as a safeguard against social breakdown and chaos, as well as an agent of justice and goodness against the forces of evil. It also situates the collection in the growth of life writing in the period, and explores the ways in which Holmes became increasingly 'real' to readers as more details about his personality and biography are revealed in the stories. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Critical Reception of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Critical Reception of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Author: Laurence W. Mazzeno

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 164014093X

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Examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their adaptations, and also attending to the wide range of his published work. Twenty-first-century readers, television viewers, and moviegoers know Arthur Conan Doyle as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the world's most recognizable fictional detective. Holmes's enduring popularity has kept Conan Doyle in the public eye. However, Holmes has taken on a life of his own, generating a steady stream of critical commentary, while Conan Doyle's other works are slighted or ignored. Yet the Holmes stories make up only a small portion of Conan Doyle's published work, which includes mainstream and historical fiction; history; drama; medical, spiritualist, and political tracts; and even essays on photography. When Doyle published - whatever the subject - his contemporaries took note. Yet, outside of the fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes, until recently relatively little has been done to analyze the reception Conan Doyle's work received during his lifetime and since his death. This book examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their many adaptations for print, visual, and online media, but attending to his other contributions to turn-of-the-twentieth-century culture as well. The availability of periodicals and newspapers online makes it possible to develop an assessment of Conan Doyle's (and Sherlock Holmes's) reputation among a wider readership and viewership, thus allowing for development of a broader and more accurate portrait of Doyle's place in literary and cultural history.


Book Synopsis The Critical Reception of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by : Laurence W. Mazzeno

Download or read book The Critical Reception of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle written by Laurence W. Mazzeno and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2023 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their adaptations, and also attending to the wide range of his published work. Twenty-first-century readers, television viewers, and moviegoers know Arthur Conan Doyle as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the world's most recognizable fictional detective. Holmes's enduring popularity has kept Conan Doyle in the public eye. However, Holmes has taken on a life of his own, generating a steady stream of critical commentary, while Conan Doyle's other works are slighted or ignored. Yet the Holmes stories make up only a small portion of Conan Doyle's published work, which includes mainstream and historical fiction; history; drama; medical, spiritualist, and political tracts; and even essays on photography. When Doyle published - whatever the subject - his contemporaries took note. Yet, outside of the fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes, until recently relatively little has been done to analyze the reception Conan Doyle's work received during his lifetime and since his death. This book examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their many adaptations for print, visual, and online media, but attending to his other contributions to turn-of-the-twentieth-century culture as well. The availability of periodicals and newspapers online makes it possible to develop an assessment of Conan Doyle's (and Sherlock Holmes's) reputation among a wider readership and viewership, thus allowing for development of a broader and more accurate portrait of Doyle's place in literary and cultural history.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023-03-09

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0198835221

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'Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!' The mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville brings Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to Dartmoor in the most famous of all of Arthur Conan Doyle's books. Is Sir Charles the latest victim of the ancestral Curse of the Baskervilles, which summons a demonic hound to stalk the moor and exact vengeance for a past misdeed, or is there a more modern, more prosaic explanation for the sudden death? In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the modern, rational world, and the ancient, supernatural world collide in the novel which brought Sherlock Holmes back from the dead. This new edition of Conan Doyle's classic mystery is part of a series of new editions of the Sherlock Holmes stories published in Oxford World's Classics. Darryl Jones's Introduction explores the competing worlds of the supernatural and the scientific in the novel and in Arthur Conan Doyle's life, the novel's colonial background and origins, and the role of landscape, folklore, and folk horror in the novel.


Book Synopsis The Hound of the Baskervilles by : Arthur Conan Doyle

Download or read book The Hound of the Baskervilles written by Arthur Conan Doyle and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-03-09 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!' The mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville brings Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to Dartmoor in the most famous of all of Arthur Conan Doyle's books. Is Sir Charles the latest victim of the ancestral Curse of the Baskervilles, which summons a demonic hound to stalk the moor and exact vengeance for a past misdeed, or is there a more modern, more prosaic explanation for the sudden death? In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the modern, rational world, and the ancient, supernatural world collide in the novel which brought Sherlock Holmes back from the dead. This new edition of Conan Doyle's classic mystery is part of a series of new editions of the Sherlock Holmes stories published in Oxford World's Classics. Darryl Jones's Introduction explores the competing worlds of the supernatural and the scientific in the novel and in Arthur Conan Doyle's life, the novel's colonial background and origins, and the role of landscape, folklore, and folk horror in the novel.

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes

Author: George Mann

Publisher: Titan Books (US, CA)

Published: 2017-08-22

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1783299339

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Once again, famous associates of the Great Detective – clients, colleagues and, of course, villains – tell their own stories in this collection of brand-new adventures. Meet Lucy Hebron years after Holmes’s only ever failed deduction; follow your nose down the streets of London with Toby the Dog; join Mrs Hudson on her first ever case; greet an ambassador from Mars alongside Lord Holdhurst; and confess your sins to your cellmate, Professor James Moriarty…


Book Synopsis Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes by : George Mann

Download or read book Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes written by George Mann and published by Titan Books (US, CA). This book was released on 2017-08-22 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once again, famous associates of the Great Detective – clients, colleagues and, of course, villains – tell their own stories in this collection of brand-new adventures. Meet Lucy Hebron years after Holmes’s only ever failed deduction; follow your nose down the streets of London with Toby the Dog; join Mrs Hudson on her first ever case; greet an ambassador from Mars alongside Lord Holdhurst; and confess your sins to your cellmate, Professor James Moriarty…

Knife Edge

Knife Edge

Author: Andrew Lane

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Published: 2015-12-08

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 0374380120

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Teen Sherlock battles a monstrous adversary on a mission to Ireland with his brilliant brother, Mycroft. Young Sherlock is thrown into a tangled web involving a spiritualist whose powers have attracted the attention of governments around the world. At the castle where the medium is demonstrating his "gift," Sherlock finds a household in turmoil. Servants and some of the guests are frightened but who--or what?--has terrified them so much that nobody will speak out? Young Sherlock must bring all his powers of deduction to bear in unraveling his greatest mystery yet. Sherlock Holmes: Think you know him? Think again.


Book Synopsis Knife Edge by : Andrew Lane

Download or read book Knife Edge written by Andrew Lane and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). This book was released on 2015-12-08 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teen Sherlock battles a monstrous adversary on a mission to Ireland with his brilliant brother, Mycroft. Young Sherlock is thrown into a tangled web involving a spiritualist whose powers have attracted the attention of governments around the world. At the castle where the medium is demonstrating his "gift," Sherlock finds a household in turmoil. Servants and some of the guests are frightened but who--or what?--has terrified them so much that nobody will speak out? Young Sherlock must bring all his powers of deduction to bear in unraveling his greatest mystery yet. Sherlock Holmes: Think you know him? Think again.

The Sherlock Effect

The Sherlock Effect

Author: Thomas W. Young

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2018-04-20

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1351113828

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Forensic science is in crisis and at a cross-roads. Movies and television dramas depict forensic heroes with high-tech tools and dazzling intellects who—inside an hour, notwithstanding commercials—piece together past-event puzzles from crime scenes and autopsies. Likewise, Sherlock Holmes—the iconic fictional detective, and the invention of forensic doctor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—is held up as a paragon of forensic and scientific inspiration—does not "reason forward" as most people do, but "reasons backwards." Put more plainly, rather than learning the train of events and seeing whether the resultant clues match those events, Holmes determines what happened in the past by looking at the clues. Impressive and infallible as this technique appears to be—it must be recognized that infallibility lies only in works of fiction. Reasoning backward does not work in real life: reality is far less tidy. In courtrooms everywhere, innocent people pay the price of life imitating art, of science following detective fiction. In particular, this book looks at the long and disastrous shadow cast by that icon of deductive reasoning, Sherlock Holmes. In The Sherlock Effect, author Dr. Thomas W. Young shows why this Sherlock-Holmes-style reasoning does not work and, furthermore, how it can—and has led—to wrongful convictions. Dr. Alan Moritz, one of the early pioneers of forensic pathology in the United States, warned his colleagues in the 1950’s about making the Sherlock Holmes error. Little did Moritz realize how widespread the problem would eventually become, involving physicians in all other specialties of medicine and not just forensic pathologists. Dr. Young traces back how this situation evolved, looking back over the history of forensic medicine, revealing the chilling degree to which forensic experts fail us every day. While Dr. Young did not want to be the one to write this book, he has felt compelled in the interest of science and truth. This book is measured, well-reasoned, accessible, insightful, and—above all—compelling. As such, it is a must-read treatise for forensic doctors, forensic practitioners and students, judges, lawyers adjudicating cases in court, and anyone with an interest in forensic science.


Book Synopsis The Sherlock Effect by : Thomas W. Young

Download or read book The Sherlock Effect written by Thomas W. Young and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-04-20 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forensic science is in crisis and at a cross-roads. Movies and television dramas depict forensic heroes with high-tech tools and dazzling intellects who—inside an hour, notwithstanding commercials—piece together past-event puzzles from crime scenes and autopsies. Likewise, Sherlock Holmes—the iconic fictional detective, and the invention of forensic doctor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—is held up as a paragon of forensic and scientific inspiration—does not "reason forward" as most people do, but "reasons backwards." Put more plainly, rather than learning the train of events and seeing whether the resultant clues match those events, Holmes determines what happened in the past by looking at the clues. Impressive and infallible as this technique appears to be—it must be recognized that infallibility lies only in works of fiction. Reasoning backward does not work in real life: reality is far less tidy. In courtrooms everywhere, innocent people pay the price of life imitating art, of science following detective fiction. In particular, this book looks at the long and disastrous shadow cast by that icon of deductive reasoning, Sherlock Holmes. In The Sherlock Effect, author Dr. Thomas W. Young shows why this Sherlock-Holmes-style reasoning does not work and, furthermore, how it can—and has led—to wrongful convictions. Dr. Alan Moritz, one of the early pioneers of forensic pathology in the United States, warned his colleagues in the 1950’s about making the Sherlock Holmes error. Little did Moritz realize how widespread the problem would eventually become, involving physicians in all other specialties of medicine and not just forensic pathologists. Dr. Young traces back how this situation evolved, looking back over the history of forensic medicine, revealing the chilling degree to which forensic experts fail us every day. While Dr. Young did not want to be the one to write this book, he has felt compelled in the interest of science and truth. This book is measured, well-reasoned, accessible, insightful, and—above all—compelling. As such, it is a must-read treatise for forensic doctors, forensic practitioners and students, judges, lawyers adjudicating cases in court, and anyone with an interest in forensic science.

The Sherlock Holmes Force Book

The Sherlock Holmes Force Book

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 4

ISBN-13:

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A magician's set consisting of an instruction pamphlet and a book for performing "magic" trick. A book is opened at any page and the spectator concentrates on the first word of the page or the first word on any line, etc. The magician immediately names the selected word. Although the book's title page suggests to contain several stories by A. C. Doyle, yet same two pages from The Study in Scarlet are repeated throughout, except for the title page and the table of contents.


Book Synopsis The Sherlock Holmes Force Book by :

Download or read book The Sherlock Holmes Force Book written by and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A magician's set consisting of an instruction pamphlet and a book for performing "magic" trick. A book is opened at any page and the spectator concentrates on the first word of the page or the first word on any line, etc. The magician immediately names the selected word. Although the book's title page suggests to contain several stories by A. C. Doyle, yet same two pages from The Study in Scarlet are repeated throughout, except for the title page and the table of contents.