Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read In 2015

"Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers."

I decided to join in the Top Ten Tuesday blog feature because 1) I need more blogging in my life again, 2) I love lists, and 3) my friend Hannah has been doing it for a while and it looked like a lot of fun! There's a new Top Ten topic at The Broke and the Bookish every week – except this week, the topic was free! As I was so dreadfully lazy reviewing all the great books I read last year, my topic this week will be...

Top Ten Books I Read in 2015

1. The Unknown Soldier (Finnish title Tuntematon sotilas) by Väinö Linna
Look look look, there's a Finnish novel in my blog post! See, I do read literature from my home country about once in a decade! Alright, the point is – I very rarely enjoy Finnish literary classics and non-classics even less, but reading a book such as The Unknown Soldier and writing about it on my blog makes me a very happy Finn. This is one of the few re-reads I included on this list. The Unknown Soldier is considered such a prime example of how the presentation of soldiers and war evolved in the Finnish literary landscape as well as a truthful description of the conditions in the Continuation War, that it is a compulsory read for every single Finnish secondary school student. Back in my school days, it completely surprised me by being the only "Finnish classic must-read" that I enjoyed. Now I'm glad I read it again, because the novel certainly is weighty and thought-provoking enough to endure a re-visit. The plot, essentially, is the Continuation War (1941-1944) between Finland and the Soviet Union from an ordinary soldier's point of view. Instead of one central character, the narrative follows a machine gun company that quite brilliantly works as a microcosm of the entire country, in terms of regional variety as well as political views. These men scorn their self-important superior officers, have absolutely no idea of the wider perspective or even the overall purpose of the war they are made to fight, grow bitter and fed up with the meagre food rations and generally present the Finnish soldier as the opposite of a shiny, national-minded hero. Critics disliked this approach when the book was published (1954), but nowadays the general opinion is that Väinö Linna achieved the most realistic, honest,  unpretentious depiction of the Finnish war front that there ever has been, and probably ever will be. I agree with this sentiment with all my heart – if anyone asks me what is the one Finnish novel that they should try, I say go find The Unknown Soldier. I heard that there was a new English translation out last year and that it's much better than the old one, though the title has been pluralized to The Unknown Soldiers.


2. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
This book is an absolute marvel, a masterpiece built out of genius, a unique tour de force of what tremendous delivery can be achieved in no other art form than the novel. The structure is just one of Mitchell's many triumphs in this book: there are six different narrators in different time periods ranging from the Gold Rush years to a post-apocalyptic future, each of them is interrupted at a crucial moment and then completed in the reverse order in which they were begun. The different narrative voices and styles come through so brilliantly that you have to wonder how they all came from one writer, not six. Thematically, Cloud Atlas delves deep into issues of colonialism, ownership, morality, and how a single individual finds their place in the world – all this in six different levels!


3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I read this one for last year's Banned Books Week. The story begins in Kabul, Afghanistan where the Talebans soon take over. The main character, Amir, manages to escape to the United States with his father, and they manage to build a new life in the newly formed community of other Afghan emigrants. However, something terrible happened to Amir's childhood friend just before the Taleban movement, and having witnessed it, Amir is haunted by the memory and the lie he has lived since then, and has to return to Afghanistan – now a strange and terrifying place for him – to make amends and set right what he feels he did wrong. The Kite Runner is often challenged for its violent content, and it's true that it describes man's cruelty in atrociously hideous ways – but it would be a great pity if this novel were discouraged based on that, because all of this works towards the theme of redemption which Amir seeks. With Amir, we readers have to sink deep down in despair in order to really feel the elation of rising up again. The Kite Runner will most definitely rip out your heart strings... But it's also one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, and will hold a place in my list of all-time favorites when I get round to writing it down.


4. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
The year is 1800, the British Navy is fighting Napoleon, and Captain Aubrey meets Doctor Maturin. Here begins a series of naval adventures set in the Napoleonic Wars, presented with meticulous detail concerning the navy and the politics of the age and seasoned with an epic Aubrey-Maturin friendship where one is a jolly, straightforward navy commander who is victorious at sea but a walking catastrophe on land; the other, an Irish-Catalonian doctor, naturalist and all-round intellectual who has many regrets about his secretive past and ends up working as Aubrey's ship surgeon with absolutely no knowledge of life (or jargon) on a fighting ship. The period setting alone would be a real treat as the Napoleonic Wars provide great opportunities for exciting navy action and political debates, but the very best thing about this series is the friendship between Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.


5. Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are off to fight the French again... until the Treaty of Amiens comes into effect a couple of paragraphs in. So now Captain Aubrey and his crew have to figure out what British Navy employees do when they're out of work. Fortunately, there is country life and bright young women's company to be enjoyed. With period-accurate dialogue and focus on social interaction, the first part of Post Captain is very much like a Jane Austen novel from the mens' point of view. It's quite a fun experiment really. All in all, I liked this one even better than Master and Commander. The first book, of course, laid the groundwork for Aubrey and Maturin's friendship; now, life on land sets up a series of conflicts between the two and it looks like we'll see Doctor Maturin's epic dueling skills in action. Even as the war recommences and the fellows have a ship again, the poor reader has to endure a roller-coster ride of tensions rising and falling between the two. Ladies, debts, a dodgy ship – times are hard. Still, there is humour aplenty as well, just like in the first book. Actually, I laughed my head off so badly on more than one occasion that people around me had to check if I was really reading about the Napoleonic Wars.


6. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
I asked this book for Christmas on a complete whim simply because someone mentioned it on Facebook and a gang of rich private school boys getting wrapped up in the supernatural while trying to find a Welsh king's grave sounded like an intriguing premise. It turned out, intriguing was a gross understatement – I finished the book in more or less 24 hours because I had to know what would happen to Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah. See, that's what happens to a reader when a writer decides, "Alright, my main characters are all going to be 17-year-olds, but instead of giving them the usual flat-and-angsty teenage treatment, I'm going to write them into such believably human, complex characters with actual flaws and problems that the readers are going to go insane trying to figure them out. Then I'll end the book while all the plot threads are still hanging in the air and say, Nope, this was just the first book in a four-part series, you have no life until you read the rest of it!" I love how the two settings of a privileged boys' school and a household full of psychic (in some cases psychedelic) women are presented side by side as Blue Sargent, a psychic's non-gifted daughter, becomes involved in the Raven Boys' quest. Blue Sargent is really the only slight complaint I have about this book. The boys she hangs out with are fleshed out to such an extent I want to cry my eyes out for all their individual hardships, while the main thing we get out of Blue is that she puts a lot of thought into appearing as non-mainstream as possible. Look, effortlessly individual and original people are great – people who work really hard to seem that way are just annoying. But I'm not condemning Blue just yet, I expect the rest of the series might add more dimensions to her. Besides, I need to get my life back soon.


7. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
I have kind of a divided opinion about my most recent Dickens read. It took me forever to finish because some parts of it were so slow and secondary to the actual plot that I left the book lying around for weeks at a time. Then, when I got to the good bits, I would always wonder How the heck was I ever able to stop reading this?! This is one of Dickens' "social problem" novels; in this case he delivers an astonishingly powerful commentary on the effects of institutionalization. It affects William Dorrit, a long-time resident at the Marshalsea debtors' prison; more tragically, it affects his daughter Amy, the eponymous "Little Dorrit", who can't escape her father's social stigma and his absolute dependence on her. Enter Arthur Clennam, quite an unusual literary hero for Dickens or in fact any writer: he's approaching middle-age, despairing over the unfulfilling life he has led so far, and constantly brooding on whether he will ever be any good to anyone. Dickens is criticized for writing characters who are either caricaturishly wicked or angelically innocent and this criticism is not at all unfounded (Little Dorrit herself is quite a frustrating little saint most of the time, though I'll have more to say about her once I get a proper review out) but stuff with Clennam is Deep. So even though I wanted to skip most of the indulgently satirical bits about Victorian British bureaucracy and the superficial life of the Merdles, overall Little Dorrit won me over with its earnest depiction of human despair and beautiful bits of dialogue. Charles Dickens continues to rock in my books.


8. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
This was another re-read. There's one thing I've noticed about detective fiction: It can be brilliant, but only in small doses. As a genre, I think it is one of the most reliant in certain conventions and patterns, and it takes a very skilled writer to avoid falling into repetition. Well, Agatha Christie is obviously one of the best in her class and she manages to break quite a few rules with And Then There Were None. The biggest one: there's no detective. There's no-one to keep a cool head when the bodies start piling up, no-one to reassure everybody that they will find the murderer. Tension climbs sky-high as people get claustrophobic and paranoid, everyone's darkest secrets are spilling out... It's utterly amazing. Even if I do get round to reading more Christie novels in the future, I doubt that any of them will be able to top this.


9. Looking for Alaska by John Green
Everyone knows John Green since he wrote The Fault In Our Stars. I started reading him from his first published work, Looking for Alaska, not knowing what to expect. My first thought? I'm clearly too old to read about teenagers being stupid. The main character is Miles Halter, a teen outsider who decides to move into a boarding school in order to experience something new. Apparently, in order to have a life he has to do stupid teenager stuff and get hopelessly infatuated with a most annoying girl named Alaska. This is the first half of the book. Then, there's A Huge Event, after which... comes all the stuff that had me thinking all sorts of deep things about life, loss and young peoples' mental capacities for weeks on end. I can't really say any more about that without spoiling everything. Just... apparently, there are writers out there who think that books aimed at teen readers can and should provoke discussion about the most difficult things in life. Bravo to them all.


10. Contes du jour et de la nuit by Guy de Maupassant
I couldn't find an English title for this one online and I read it in French myself. It's one of the short story collections by Guy de Maupassant, a notable French practitioner in that genre. It goes a little bit against the title of this post to include this one here because I haven't quite finished it yet, but my love for Maupassant's writing already runs so deep that I'm certain Contes will keep its place in the list even after I'm finished with it. Tales of day and night sounds like a collection of fairy tale treasures – but Maupassant's "fairy tales" are about real people in a very real, mostly provincial France and, like most fairy tales in their original form, it's not all bliss and sunshine. The beauty of Maupassant's stories is how earnestly they depict the most basic emotions and impulses that direct human lives.

5 + 1 screen adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles

It is quite safe to say that The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most well-known of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson's many adventures. One can only imagine what a craze it induced in 1901 when it started appearing in The Strand Magazine in serial form eight years after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's pen tipped Mr Holmes down the Reichenbach Falls, and nowadays it serves as an introduction to Sherlock Holmes for many curious readers – despite the fact that A Study in Scarlet is the first book in the Holmes canon, in publishing order as well as chronologically.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is also by far the most screen-adapted Holmes story. There have been films, TV films and serials all across the globe by various production companies – the BBC alone has commissioned three adaptations of this story over the years. As I liked the book so much and the long, long list of screen adaptations looked like a rather fun field for investigation, I set out on a mission to find The Best Adaptation. I'll admit right now, though, that I've only watched through five (plus one) of them so far. I picked out the ones that are most well-known, easily available, and represent different decades in film and television history.

So, here's a condensed list of the adaptations I'll be comparing, before I go into them in more detail:

• The 20th Century Fox film from 1939, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson
• The Hammer film from 1959, starring Peter Cushing and André Morell
• The BBC serial from 1982, starring Tom Baker and Terence Rigby
• The Granada TV film from 1988, starring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwick
• The BBC TV film from 2002, starring Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart
• ... and what's with the "+ 1"??? You'll find out... Or you might have guessed already. 

In order to make a fair comparison of all these very diverse adaptations, I also made up a list of certain points of assessment – these are elements that, having read the original novel, I feel are important to have in a good adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The elements I'm going to compare in all of these adaptations are: 

• Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson – how they work as individual characters, but most importantly what their relationship is like. Do they have the all-important chemistry with each other? Do both of them get enough to do? I'm paying special attention to their reunion scene as I think that's an excellent marker on how the screenwriter, director and actors perceive the Holmes&Watson dynamic.
• The supporting cast. One of my favorite things about the book was Sir Henry's neighbours! Therefore, a good adaptation has to have memorable supporting characters, and if they actually match with their book counterparts, that's a definite plus. I'm going to mention the supporting characters that made the biggest impression on me, good or bad. Just to be clear, Sir Henry will also be considered a supporting character – I know it might be a bit of a stretch, especially as he actually gets top billing in one of the adaptations, but I don't want a third wheel in the Holmes&Watson space! Oh, and if you've read my review on the novel, you'll know how important dear Dr Mortimer is to me – any adaptation that doesn't get him right simply can't get into my good books, at least not entirely.
• The Dartmoor setting. In the book, there's a complete change in atmosphere as the setting moves to Sir Henry's home in Dartmoor, and I want to see that on screen as well. I want to feel the bleakness and danger on the moor and the depressing heaviness of Baskerville Hall that Dr Watson describes to Holmes in his reports.
• The flow of the story. Whether it's a film or a miniseries, the plot has to advance and build up the story and the characters to relevant directions. Adapting from book to screen always involves adding scenes here and chopping off from there, but some screenwriters succeed better than others. Adding completely pointless scenes and inducing boredom while watching will be frowned upon.
• The final hound chase scene. It's not just one scene among the others – everyone spends so much time speculating about the old legend and whether there's really a hound on the moor, that when it finally appears, it had better pay off. 

Now that I've made clear how I'll be comparing the different adaptations, let's finally move on to business! Here are the five screen adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles that I've chosen for this post, in chronological order.

Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce film, 1939

Left to right: Dr Watson, Dr Mortimer, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry

Screenplay by Ernest Pascal

Directed by Sidney Canfield

Running time 1 h 20 min

Holmes and Watson

This is kind of a sad situation. I really like watching Rathbone's Holmes, he very much looks the part and has got so much style. Nigel Bruce's Watson, however, is a complete idiot. There's just no other way to put it. Dr Watson in this film speaks almost exclusively in questions and is made such a dumb sidekick that it just makes me cringe cringe cringe from start to finish. If Sherlock Holmes is supposed to possess such a superior brain, why on Earth does he put up with this film's Watson? Why does he send him off to Dartmoor as Sir Henry's protection, or let him carry a gun? How did this Dr Watson even graduate from medical school?! The reunion scene is the most cringe-worthy in the entire film. First, Holmes shows up in a disguise and Watson... he... tries to face off the "stranger" by loudly claiming that he's the Great Sherlock Holmes. This scene would be a total head-desk moment even if Holmes himself wasn't standing right next to him, listening to it all. Then he reveals himself to Watson, who spends the rest of the scene sulking like a little kid. This, dear audience, is what 1939 Hollywood made of the most notorious friendship portrayed in literature. 

The supporting cast

Richard Greene, who plays Sir Henry, was billed as the main actor in this film because he was, at the time, more well-known than Rathbone and Bruce, for whom this was the first in a series of Sherlock Holmes films. Greene is pretty much the typical, romantic male lead that films in those days and for decades since liked to have, but he plays the part charmingly enough. Wendy Barrie as Beryl Stapleton is quite a lifeless "pretty blonde girl" and her accent is terrible, which is quite bizarre as the actress is actually English! The household staff at Baskerville Hall are called Mr and Mrs Barryman for some unfathomable reason. Mr Frankland is particularly entertaining in this adaptation, whereas Dr Mortimer is an occultist who holds séances with his wife... Yes, you read that correctly. Isn't it just terrible? He doesn't even obsess about skulls in this film. Apparently, skull-collecting is a much more suitable hobby for the film's baddie than butterfly-collecting, so they give Dr Mortimer's skulls to Stapleton in this film. No one, I repeat, NO ONE should ever ever ever take Dr Mortimer's skulls from him. This blogger is not happy. 

The Dartmoor setting

I'm actually giggling to myself now, because I'm about to write: this movie has a Stonehenge in Dartmoor. I didn't find myself much affected by the atmosphere in Dartmoor while watching this, but then again I often have that problem with black-and-white films. I also remember reading somewhere that they had to stage all the moor scenes in the studio, which of course sets some limitations. But even with budgetary restrictions, they just had to have that Stonehenge where it doesn't belong. 

The story

This screenplay actually works really well in some places. It opens with Sir Charles' death, while the hound howls on the moor. We then see the Barrymans, the Stapletons, the Mortimers and Mr Frankland being questioned about the circumstances of Sir Charles' death before we get to 221b Baker Street. Sir Henry's arrival in England shows his new status as a highly desirable bachelor, which is a good addition. Later on, there's quite a well-placed scene where Sir Henry is about to stumble into the mire when Miss Stapleton, who's out riding, warns him. In the book, the affection between these two seems to build up rather quickly with little justification besides "he's a dashing young man and she's a pretty girl", but this film actually manages to build some sort of a groundwork for it. Also, I just have to mention that Miss Stapleton's horse is really pretty. The flashback to Sir Hugo and the beginnings of the hound legend is a bit clumsy, but the gravest offense that this film commits storytelling-wise is that completely unnecessary spirit séance conducted by Dr Mortimer's wife. It. Is. Pointless!

The hound chase

This scene might have benefited from some tension-building background music. There's just a lot of running around on the moor, Sir Henry wrestles with the hound a bit and doesn't seem to be in very much mortal danger, then Holmes and Watson fire some shots and the hound limps away. It seems like the filmmakers wanted to quickly wrap this scene away so that Stapleton could lock Sherlock Holmes in a Neolithic grave in the next one. 

Peter Cushing & André Morell film, 1959

Screenplay by Peter Bryan

Directed by Terence Fisher

Running time 1 h 27 min

Holmes and Watson

Here we have my favorite Holmes&Watson duo out of all these adaptations. Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes possesses the exceptional intellect as well as the social quirks of the great sleuth, you really get the feeling that this man's mind works differently than the average person's. André Morell gives us a Dr Watson who is not only watchable, but actually capable. This film, more than all the others in this posts, shows how Dr Watson is useful to Holmes in other ways besides sending him reports. The two have a couple of really nice scenes together where Holmes and Watson discuss the case and this genuinely helps Holmes make sense of everything that's going on and enables him to reach his conclusion. Their reunion scene is quite unique in that there's very little talking about and the duo almost immediately jump back into action. This wouldn't work at all if the actors weren't so good at communicating through their expressions. You get the feeling that these two have worked together so long and have perfected their dynamics to such extent that they simply don't need to exchange too many words about why Holmes was secretly hiding on the moor. The film ends with the two of them having tea back at Baker Street in perfect harmony. It's lovely.

The supporting cast

We obviously have to talk about Sir Christopher Lee first. He plays Sir Henry and boy is he dashing. He's quite good at acting too, in case you didn't know. He works wonderfully in the role, but I'm sorry to say the rest of the supporting cast don't. The most mind-boggling of all is Miss Stapleton, who is now called Cecile. In the 1939 we had a stereotypical bland blonde; here we have a stereotypical exotic bad girl who runs around the moor barefoot and is bitchy to everyone for no apparent reason... except, it turns out that she's totally with Stapleton in his evil plans – and Stapleton is her daddy. Marla Landi does quite a bit of hilarious over-acting and it doesn't help at all that she's struggling with the fake Spanish accent. Yes, this film takes quite many liberties with the source material... Frankland is a batty old bishop and Dr Mortimer isn't really Dr Mortimer at all.

The Dartmoor setting

The outdoor locations are quite stunning here, but it doesn't really look like Dartmoor at all. There's no mist hanging about, we get pretty sunsets instead. Baskerville Hall is quite dark and creaky, which is good. This was the first Hound of the Baskervilles film in colour!

The story

This adaptation deviates from the original book most of all, and the changes and additions don't always seem to serve the plot entirely. There's an unnecessary tarantula in Sir Henry's boot, lots of talk about an ancient blood rite that doesn't seem to serve any purpose, and quite a long scene down in a mining shaft that similarly doesn't take the plot much anywhere. Sir Henry has a heart condition, the only function of which is that Dr Mortimer can point out that Sir Charles had a similar problem. Some of the long conversations could do with a bit of chopping. Then again, there are some genuinely suspenseful moments, and all those good scenes with Holmes and Watson that I mentioned earlier. This film opens with the horrible history of Sir Hugo, which is quite a good move because all the other adaptations have a bit of a struggle slapping in a flashback while Dr Mortimer presents the case.

The hound chase

Cecile Stapleton pretends to take Sir Henry out on a romantic walk but then leads him straight where Daddy Stapleton awaits with the hound, who is supposed to look more terrifying with a funny mask on. Cecile makes some pretty comical facial expressions when Holmes and Watson turn up, but at least Sir Christopher Lee knows how to act properly terrified while being mauled by the hound. His paralyzed expression when it's all over and he realizes that Cecile betrayed him is especially heart-wrenching. 

Tom Baker & Terence Rigby serial, 1982

Screenplay by Alexander Baron

Directed by Peter Duguid

Running time 4 x 25 min

Holmes and Watson

Tom Baker's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes doesn't seem to be very popular – most people seem to think he hadn't quite managed yet to let go of his role as the Doctor. Well, I have to say I quite liked watching him. I haven't seen any of his Doctor Who episodes, so maybe that keeps me from drawing comparisons between those two roles. Terence Rigby, on the other hand, is a ridiculously annoying Dr Watson. Only Nigel Bruce can top his Watson in uselessness. He doesn't do much anything in any scenes, he just stands in the sidelines! I can't really say anything about the dynamic between Holmes and Watson because there doesn't seem to be any. I can't even remember what their reunion scene was like. 

The supporting cast

This is the first adaptation in the list that includes Laura Lyons, and Caroline Shaw is by far the best actress in that role. She delivers the bitterness of the abandoned wife most excellently. The Barrymores are also very book-accurate, as is Stapleton, who doesn't immediately get the "bad guy" stamp on his appearance – in the book, too, he seems like a perfectly normal man, until the very end. I like it very much that this serial stays truthful to that. The best bit, however, is dear Dr Mortimer. Finally, an accurate Dr Mortimer! He even obsesses about Holmes' parietal fissure! Thank you so much! Sir Henry is a bit bad-tempered and abrasive in this version, which is bizarre but doesn't fatally ruin anything.

The Dartmoor setting

Well, this looks like Dartmoor finally. Baskerville Hall seems quite comfy in this version, and the background music doesn't really up the atmosphere – it's actually quite terrible throughout the series. The first time the hound howled, the sound effect was so unconvincing that I actually missed it completely and then wondered for a while why all the characters suddenly looked so frightened. 

The story

A serial format always runs the risk of dragging in some places, but this one keeps the pace very well throughout. Each 25-minute episode ends with a nice cliffhanger. The screenplay is very faithful to the book so it doesn't commit any horrible travesty by changing things around unnecessarily, but neither does it attempt to make any creative choices that would make watching more interesting for someone who already knows what's going to happen. 

The hound chase

Oh, the music is so terrible that it ruins the whole scene. The hound looks ludicrous and there's something a little off about the editing when it attacks Sir Henry. 

Jeremy Brett & Edward Hardwicke TV film, 1988

Dr Watson, Dr Mortimer <3 and Sherlock Holmes

Screenplay by Trevor Bowen

Directed by Brian Mills

Running time 1 h 45 min

Holmes and Watson

Please don't fling your deerstalkers at me when I say I haven't really warmed up to the Granada series like most of the population has. I don't find any particular fault with it, or the two lead actors Brett and Hardwicke, but it's not my cup of tea. Jeremy Brett's dedication for his role shows throughout the series, but I also can't help noticing his deteriorating health. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the close-up shots already show a man not in the best health, and it makes me sad. Edward Hardwicke's Dr Watson isn't stupid at all, which is wonderful. He's steady and loyal, if a tad bit too "safe" in my opinion. This adaptation has the best Holmes & Watson reunion scene, though. As in the 1959 film, you get the impression of true partnership. Added bonus for displaying Holmes' lack of culinary abilities, and Watson's delightful frankness when he tells him so.

The supporting cast

Alright, Dr Mortimer in the 1982 miniseries was amazing, but this one is... absolutely perfect! I'm actually working really hard now to restrain myself from filling this section with hearts, smiley faces and exclamation marks. Alastair Duncan's portrayal of Dr Mortimer will be a never-ending source of happiness for me, proving just how perfectly a literary character can be transferred to screen on a rare occasion. I love the scene at Baker Street where he lets his spaniel jump on the furniture, completely oblivious to Holmes' disapproval – and the scene where he shows Dr Watson his recently unearthed skull. Oh my. Right, there were probably some other supporting characters in this film too that I should mention... Yes, Stapleton. He's really good in this too and sticks to his book-accurate pastime of butterfly hunting. Laura Lyons is included as well, but she isn't very impressive. To tell the truth, I always find the female characters in the Granada series bizarrely bland! They even managed to make a flat Irene Adler and Violet Hunter, how weird is that! Does anybody else feel this way? 

The Dartmoor setting

I don't seem to have anything important to say about this point, which probably means that I felt the setting worked reasonably well but didn't impress me in any particular way. This is what I mostly feel like when watching the Granada series. 

The story

The pacing dragged a tiny bit now and then, but I really liked what this film did with the middle part where Holmes is apparently absent from the story. There are little scenes sprinkled here and there that show someone collecting Watson's letters from the post office, and a close-up of Holmes' boots right before the reunion scene. Good work. You might also guess that I wasn't bothered at all that Dr Mortimer's role was expanded a little in this. He sits around with Dr Watson when he tracks down the mysterious "man on the tor" and replaces Lestrade in the hound attack scene.

The hound chase

The hound isn't terribly frightening, but the atmosphere is suitably eerie and Sir Henry seems genuinely affected by the attack. The composer was much better than the one in the 1982 serial!

Richard Roxburgh & Ian Hart TV film, 2002

Holmes on the right, Watson on the left

Screenplay by Allan Cubitt

Directed by David Attwood

Running time 1 h 40 min

Holmes and Watson

This film does the weirdest thing with the friendship of Holmes and Watson; they seem so fed up with each other I'm quite surprised they're living together in the first place. There's nothing Holmesian whatsoever in Richard Roxburgh's portrayal, and there's a terrible scene after Mortimer has presented the case where Holmes calls Watson an idiot, slams the door to his face and retreats to shoot up cocaine in peace. Um, did Allan Cubitt just completely ignore the bit in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories which clearly states that Holmes would only seek for stimulation in drugs if he didn't have a case to work on? So why is he now doing it right after he's been given a case? Watson is only fractionally better portrayed than his partner – I initially liked having a Watson who's closer to Holmes in age and portrays the rarely seen kind of Watson whom you can actually believe has seen the Afghan war and knows damn well how to handle a gun. There's also a nice detail about him being unbeatable at billiards. But then it appears that Ian Hart brings very little life and soul to the character. He's bad-tempered and surly most of the time, though that's quite understandable considering what an abrasive Holmes he's paired up with, and his last words in the film are: "I don't trust you, Holmes." ...Excuse me, what? 

The supporting cast 

So the leads are cringy, but hey, here we have the best Beryl Stapleton in the bunch. She's very pretty and, most importantly, she seems capable of showing real emotions, especially towards Sir Henry, with whom she has a couple of useful extra scenes. Sir Henry's character is perhaps a little overdone, but this film makes the most effort in exploring what it must have felt like for him, suddenly learning that he's heir to a large property on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. There's a particularly clever scene where he sits at the dinner table and looks furtively at the paintings of his ancestors, clearly feeling quite out of place. Richard E. Grant plays Stapleton, and he's a bit too obviously evil from the very beginning. And once again, Stapleton steals Mortimer's skulls. Mortimer himself has nothing to do with his literary counterpart. Aargh. 

The Dartmoor setting

Whatever the numerous faults with this film, I can honestly say that the cinematography is excellent. This is the only version that manages to build up real tension when Sir Henry and Dr Watson arrive at Baskerville Hall. I actually felt the chills on their journey there, it was so well shot. Baskerville Hall is quite gorgeous too.

The story

I like the beginning. It shows the prisoner Selden being pursued by policemen across the chilly moor, and we get quite a disturbing glimpse of how fatal the mire can be. This film then takes a leaf out of the 1939 film's book and shows how the investigation of Sir Charles' death proceeds, and this is very well done. Unfortunately, the film also recreates the damned séance scene which, once again, is completely useless. There are some extra scenes that give more depth to some characters, though in the case of Holmes and Watson it only works to highlight their incompatibility... At one point there's a time jump and suddenly it's Christmas! There's a huge party at Baskerville Hall, and there's a really stupid play for the guests' entertainment. Well, not a play exactly, just people tottering around in costumes. One of them is dressed as a black dog which I suppose was meant to be ominous foreshadowing, but I was laughing too hard at this point to pay attention to it. Laura Lyons doesn't exist in this film, so there is no explanation to why Sir Charles was waiting around outdoors in the first place.

The hound chase

Well, the hound in this version shows that special effects have progressed a little since the '80s though it could have been done much better, otherwise there isn't much to say. There's such an awful lot happening after the climax that it kind of diverts the viewer's attention. Beryl Stapleton is found dead. That's just awful and unnecessary. Watson gets shot, which enables Holmes to be suddenly concerned for his companion's welfare for a while, which is quite unexpected given how he's been acting earlier. Holmes follows Stapleton to the mire, where he almost drowns himself, but Watson comes to the rescue. I get the feeling that the screenplay started off wanting to cook up as much friction as possible between Holmes and Watson, then, after the hound chase, it suddenly occurred to it that this relationship should develop somehow and these guys were actually supposed to be friends – hence the shooting and drowning. All this forced development then amounts to nothing as Watson utters his last words.

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Now, did I find The Best Adaptation among all of these? Well, as you can see from my assessments, each of these five adaptations has something good about it. Sometimes they fail miserably in some areas, and at times they play too safe. Overall, I think the Granada version manages to deliver a most consistent adaptation, but for me it's not the kind of Favourite Adaptation that I would absolutely want in my DVD collection, though I would like to keep that Dr Mortimer. So, I'm still waiting to see an adaptation that does proper justice to the main characters and their partnership, doesn't ruin any of the supporting characters, delivers the haunting atmosphere of Dartmoor, and gives us a properly scary hound.

What about that mysterious "plus one", then? Dear readers, that is actually my favourite Hound adaptation but I couldn't place it alongside the others because... yes, it's the Sherlock episode "Hounds of Baskerville"! As it is a modern re-telling rather than an adaptation of the book, with different locations, characters and plot points, it isn't entirely comparable with the rest of the list. However... as it is a very good re-telling, it actually delivers all of the five elements that I was looking for in a Hound screen adaptation. Let's take a look.

"The Hounds of Baskerville" in Sherlock, 2012

Screenplay by Mark Gatiss
Directed by Paul McGuigan
Running time 1 h 28 min

Holmes and Watson

I'm going to be writing more about Sherlock in a couple of days, so I'll save most of my raving about how perfectly cast and portrayed the lead characters are for that post. These two are my favourite Holmes and Watson without a doubt, and I love watching how their friendship evolves throughout the series as well as in this episode alone. In this version, Sherlock comes to Dartmoor with John and Henry in the first place, so there isn't a reunion scene – however, I think the "I don't have friends. I've just got one." scene serves a similar function, and I love that moment to bits. 

The supporting cast

So, instead of upper-class Dartmoor residents we've got a severely traumatized Henry Knight, a couple of whitecoats and army officers at a military base, and Henry's therapist. The supporting characters pay homage to the book counterparts in familiar names, but they function very differently. They all serve a purpose, however, and are very memorable. I like Doctor Stapleton especially, and the two innkeepers who were added in.

The Dartmoor setting

I love the locations in this episode. Changing Baskerville Hall from a shady, ancestral mansion to a blindingly white-walled, sinister army base is a brilliant modern update. It's absolutely scary, as is Dewer's Hollow. The editing and the music set the increasingly tense atmosphere excellently.

The story

This episode explores how fear works in the human mind, and it's quite compelling. Numerous red herrings are thrown around involving sugar, Morse code and an actual dog. It's one of my favourite episodes in Sherlock overall! It doesn't go by the original book, but pays homage to it in brilliant little ways.

The hound chase

We don't know till the very end of this scene whether the hound is real or drug-induced... or both. Once again the editing, and the unique visual style employed in Sherlock, really works to up the adrenalin. 

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Have you seen The Hound of the Baskervilles adapted to the screen? Which one do you like most out of my list? Can you recommend an adaptation that wasn't mentioned in this post? What do you think are the ingredients for a great Hound adaptation? Let's get some proper discussion going in the comments!

Oh, by the way, there's also an episode in Elementary called "The Hound of the Cancer Cells". It has nothing to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle except the clumsy wordplay in the title.

The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: The Best in the Bunch

I mentioned in my New Year's post that I want to read all the Sherlock Holmes stories by the end of this year, going by the order in which they were published. I've read till The Hound of the Baskervilles and "The Adventure of the Empty House" from The Return of Sherlock Holmes so far, and I'm starting to shape the opinion that I prefer the short stories to the novels – with the exception of The Hound of the Baskervilles, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In my opinion, the Adventures and Memoirs collections are better than A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four at containing the adventure and mystery elements in the Sherlock Holmes stories and keeping the pace enjoyable. I liked both of these compilations of short stories very much, and rather than going for a traditional book review I thought I'd experiment a little and simply list my ten favorite stories from Adventures and Memoirs, and of course the reasons why I liked them particularly – as I'm always a huge why? person! I've listed the stories in the order in which they appear in the books because I think I need to get a bit more familiar with the canon and re-read all of these at least once in order to place them in an order of preference.

So, this is my Top Ten list out of the short stories in The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes!


A Case of Identity

Sherlock Holmes' adventures introduce us to clients and criminals of diverse walks of life and Holmes uncovers relevant character history from as far as the Australian gold rush and the Sepoy Rebellion in India. A Case of Identity shows the other end of the spectrum as it's a decidedly domestic affair, but no less crooked and appalling for it. Even if the subject of evil stepmothers has been endlessly explored in fairy tales and all kinds of fiction besides, I find Mr Windibanks a most intriguing villain in his terrible pursuit of psychologically destroying his stepdaughter.


The Adventure of the Speckled Band

And here we have another "Best Victorian Stepdad" candidate. Grimesby Roylott is an even darker character than Mr Windibank, and he has an awesome name. The part where Holmes and Watson sit in the dark for hours gives me the veritable creeps.


The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

I fell in love with this story right at the beginning when Mr Holmes' conversation with his noble client Lord Robert St. Simon had me laughing my head off. Also, the little business with the F.M. initials completely fooled me.


The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Reading the other participants' tag answers for Hamlette's blog party serves as proof that Miss Violet Hunter has many admirers. She deserves them, too, smart and adventurous as she is (I think you have to be quite adventurous to agree to move in with such a crazy household as the Rucastles'!) I only question her action of carrying around her cut-off hair... What's the point? There are plenty of utterly confusing clues along the story, and I was especially freaked out by the coil of red hair that Miss Hunter finds locked up in her room. This story also holds for me the golden memory of when I managed to deduce at least part of the mystery correctly – the part that Violet was hired to impersonate another red-headed woman! Jephro Rucastle is another great name for another diabolical character.


Silver Blaze

As a long-time horse lover, I'll never object to following Holmes and Watson to a horse stable, especially if it's located on Dartmoor. Dr Watson gets to show off his knowledge of surgical instruments, and we encounter the famous phrase "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" which now has a life of its own as a successful novel and stage play.


The Adventure of the Yellow Face

I was completely lost with what the meaning of that yellow mask could be, and the final resolution was not even remotely close to anything I could possibly have imagined. I never expected to be moved to tears while reading a Sherlock Holmes adventure, but now I have experienced that as well. Sadly, our society is still not done with finding fault in multi-racial families.


The Adventure of the Gloria Scott

Basically, I like this one because it was The First and because part of it happens on a ship. Something about a mutiny in a confined space in the middle of nowhere sets my mind reeling...


The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual

When I was a child, there were few things I loved more than a proper riddle in poetic form. The Musgrave Ritual totally wakes the child in me. I love watching Holmes running around the Musgrave estate, measuring imaginary trees.


The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter

I confess, the main appeal for me in this story is just that it's so hideously dark. Oh, and I met Mycroft Holmes for the first time! Hearing a character's voice and intonation in my head while reading is essential for me in order to have a perfect reading experience and not knowing what Mr Melas' Greek accent would sound like bothered me so much that I had to consult some Youtube videos to get a proper idea and continue reading.


The Final Problem

I had huge expectations for the original Moriarty after seeing Andrew Scott play him, and I wasn't disappointed. I was thrilled to find out that the fantastic "tea party for geniuses" scene in The Reichenback Fall has its roots in this story, and that Sherlock used a lot of the best original dialogue between Holmes and Moriarty!


What are your favorite short stories in the Holmes canon? Do you find them generally better than the novels or not? How do Adventures and Memoirs measure up against the later compilations that I haven't read yet?

Happy Birthday, Sherlock Holmes!

So, it looks like someone has a birthday today! Hamlette is celebrating at The Edge of the Precipice, and she graciously invited the rest of the Blogiverse to join in – thank you for hosting, Hamlette, I love your blog parties in case you didn't know! As it happens, I've been preparing a couple of Holmes related blog posts myself, so somewhere during this week you might expect a couple of Sir Arhur Conan Doyle book reviews, my opinions on the Guy Ritchie films, The Hound of the Baskervilles screen adaptations across the ages, and a couple of words... or a lot more than that... about BBC's Sherlock and CBS's Elementary. But first in order are Hamlette's party questions.


1. When and how did you first encounter Sherlock Holmes?

Sherlock Holmes is such an iconic character that I think everyone has some sort of an image of him, even if they don't intentionally seek him out. I was like this for the first 23 years of my life. I think I can call myself one of the "Cumberbatch generation" Sherlockians because, quite honestly, it wasn't till I got excited about Sherlock last March that I had any interest in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works. Before Sherlock, I think the only thing even close to Sherlock Holmes that I had ever consumed was Disney's The Great Mouse Detective – I still love that film, by the way.

2. Please share a fact or two about yourself related to Holmes. (You've read the whole canon, you've been to Baker Street, you're an official BSI member, etc.)

The aforementioned fact that my first Sherlock Holmes was the modernized one might already be  shocking enough for an old-school Sherlockian... Alright, I'm still going to add that Holmes' fixed association with the deer-stalker hat annoys the heck out of me. Only few months ago I read a (supposedly prestigious) film critic who went on about how Sherlock Holmes ain't a true Sherlock Holmes without that damned hat.

3. What are three of your favourite Holmes adventures?

I've only read the books in publishing order till The Hound of the Baskervilles, but I do have a couple of very strong favorites. The top three would be The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual. 

4. What draws you to the Sherlock Holmes stories?

Initially, I wanted to see exactly how Sherlock compared with its source material and why the writers had felt like this character and his adventures would work particularly well in a modern setting. Then, I found out that the stories were hugely entertaining, especially regarding the main character himself. I love all of his snarky lines.

5. If you were going to give Sherlock Holmes a birthday present, what would it be?

I would give him a top hat because I'm obsessed with them myself. It's also much more fitting for a Victorian London gentleman than... you know, that hat.

6. If you could climb into a Holmes story and replace any one character for a day, who would you like to be? 

I would want to be one of the Baker Street Irregulars. I would totally be in for one day on the grimier side of London, and I'd get to do seemingly random but very important stuff for Holmes, like dig for newspapers and tail people.

7. Please share some of your favorite Holmes-related quotes. 

"-- I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained." (Doctor Watson in A Study in Scarlet)

"The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness." (Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four)

"We solve crimes, I blog about it, and he forgets his pants. I wouldn't hold out too much hope." (John in BBC's A Scandal in Belgravia)


My Holmesy blog posts:

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock: Chronicles by Steve Tribe

My Top 10 in the Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

5+1 screen adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Alright, I am determined to write this blog post today, but it's so hard to concentrate. Two absolutely mind-blowing things happened to me yesterday and I have to share those first before I get to the point.

First thing: I was listening to Billy Joel again – which is not an unusual event because I like him a lot – and for the first time I actually paid proper attention to what his song Goodnight Saigon is about. This song, like many others, has previously had me so carried away simply by its melody and atmosphere that my brain didn't manage to absorb until yesterday that it's actually an incredibly powerful story about the Vietnam War. It nearly knocked me off my chair.

Second thing: I learned through Facebook that BBC is continuing their series of Shakespeare's history plays (having already made four of them into the well-known Hollow Crown tv-movies), and Benedict Cumberbatch is going to play King Richard III. That casting decision, in my mind, is an entirely valid reason for hyperventilation and tears of joy.

There. Now I can get to the actual point. Spooky dogs. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Dartmoor. I've made this review spoiler-free, except for that one paragraph at the end, which will be clearly marked.

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The legendary canon of Sherlock Holmes had been on my endless list of "things I should get to know better in the name of common knowledge" for a very long time, but it wasn't until I got my heart stolen by the modern-set BBC Sherlock (which will get its own blog post in the near future) that I took action to read one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works. I decided to start with The Hound of the Baskervilles despite that it's not the first in chronological order because it has made by far the biggest and most mysterious reputation out of all the Holmes adventures.

The Baskervilles are an old and high family who have their ancestral home on the bleak moors of Devonshire. According to family legend, they are haunted by a monstrous black hound who has been the downfall of most of the Baskervilles. The old stories start getting around again when Sir Charles, the current resident of Baskerville Hall, is found dead on the moor with a look of terror on his face. His nephew and heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, is summoned from Canada to claim his new property, but he only gets as far as London when strange things start to happen to him; an anonymous message that warns him against going to Dartmoor, boots going missing, a bearded stalker... Also, it is not quite clear what exactly killed his uncle Charles. So what else is there to do than pay a visit to Baker Street and get Holmes and Watson on the case?

Whatever expectations I had when I opened the book – and I was bound to have some, not only because I've read a fair number of detective stories and Victorian novels, but because everyone has some sort of an image of Sherlock Holmes in their minds – I couldn't have been more surprised. And I mean that in all ways positive.

The 1939 film is so very cheerful about its setting. Described from a Hollywood perspective obviously.

Of course I was not expecting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a boring writer (why would so many people read him if his books were dull?) but I definitely wasn't expecting The Hound of the Baskervilles to be so entertaining in a modern way – I really can't think of a more descriptive expression than that. It's compact, fast-paced, fun and constantly throwing in new characters and plot threads on the reader's plate! The mystery builds up brilliantly until the very last chapters, and the atmosphere on the misty, swampy moors is nerve-wracking. For goodness' sake, we even have to witness a poor pony drowning in the bog! I really do want to visit Dartmoor now, though, because of its depiction in this and War Horse. The Victorian period wasn't exactly favorable towards scandalous and dark elements in literature, but The Hound of the Baskervilles definitely doesn't shy away from things like sadistic husbands, marriage troubles and supernatural beasts. (Maybe things were starting to loosen up on the late Victorian years, which is when this novel was published?) I can completely understand why Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss were so inspired to re-invent Sherlock Holmes in modern day.

Another delightful element in this novel is its characters. Let's start with the obvious – Sherlock Holmes proves to be one of the most charismatic literary characters in existence right on the first couple of pages. There are few others in the world with such an entertaining combination of smarts and attitude. And Dr Watson is NOT the stereotypical "dumb sidekick" that, curiously, some Holmes adaptations tend to lean towards. For one thing, Sherlock actually sends him on his own to Baskerville Hall to help Sir Henry and make sense of the case. That's a tremendous act of trust, people! Dr Watson does most of the on-page detective work here, and he's not screwing it up. He very efficiently takes up the task that Sherlock sets him, to find out as much as he can about Sir Henry's neighbours. This enables us readers to meet a collection of (mostly) upper-class Dartmoor residents, all of whom we curiously find out are quite messed up one way or another. Dark secrets are unravelled, but some of these people are generous enough to provide us a much-needed laugh in the middle of the forbidding, supposedly haunted moorlands. My favourite character has got to be Dr Mortimer, who introduces the case of the Baskervilles to Sherlock Holmes and then spends much of his on-page time being all nerdy about different shapes of skulls. Mr Frankland is also worth mentioning – his hobby of choice is flinging away most of his fortune to put up court cases that concern his own life very little or not at all, because of course the actual legal forces in the area are getting none of the important things done.

Skip this paragraph if you don't want spoilers. There was just one element in this otherwise incredibly exciting and brain-stimulating book that didn't quite live up to my expectations. Quite ironically, this element was... the actual hound. I don't quite know what I was anticipating to be the deal with the supernatural, glowing killer dog, but the way it was handled was just conflicting, in my opinion. First we get chapter after chapter of gossipy hints about a "spectral hound" that has been after the Baskervilles for ages. Then the escaped convict Selden dies and it starts to look like some beast is actually out there. In the second to last chapter, the titular hound appears and... somehow it turns out to be just an ordinary, mortal canine which just happens to be gigantically huge and seems to give the impression of spitting flames out of its mouth. Come on, even the fact that the dog was dabbed with phosphorus can't explain that bit. And if the beast was mad enough to attack and kill whoever Stapleton pointed to it, how did it never cross its mind to attack Stapleton himself? It doesn't make sense!

End of spoilers. So, this is definitely a book that I can recommend, and it works quite well as an initiation to Sherlock Holmes in my opinion. It's a quick read – the Penguin English Library edition that I read is 175 pages – and builds up very nicely all the way. There are dozens of film and television adaptations of this particular Holmes story, and I'm definitely interested to see at least a couple of them. Have you seen any adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles that you could recommend?

PS The Shakespearean Lovers Quiz is in dire need of participants – don't be daunted just because it has the word "Shakespeare" in it!