The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 2

By: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 29 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Volume two in this series consists of one novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and two collections of short stories, which include "Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" (a total of 23 stories). These creations by Doyle represent the finest work of his Holmes series, and certainly the most famous. They are reproduced here (and in all volumes) in the order in which they were first published.

First appearing in print in 1890, the character of Sherlock Holmes has now become synonymous worldwide with the concept of a super sleuth. His creator, Conan Doyle, imbued his detective hero with intellectual power, acute observational abilities, a penchant for deductive reasoning and a highly educated use of forensic skills. Indeed, Doyle created the first fictional private detective who used what we now recognize as modern scientific investigative techniques. Doyle ended up writing four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson. All but four are told in the first person by Watson, two by Holmes, and two are written in the third person. Together, this series of beautifully written Victorian literature has sold more copies than any other books in the English language, with the exceptions of the Bible and Shakespeare.

Public Domain (P)2010 Audio Connoisseur

AC Doyle Brings it!!

If you could sum up The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 2 in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing smooth talker

What does Charlton Griffin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great voice; when I think Sherlock I hear Charlton Griffin.

Any additional comments?

As a fan of the Law and Order, I feel like this is OG for the 1890s. Formulaic? Yes. Enjoyable? Immensely! Worth getting without a doubt.

Sherlock Holmes - Still great after all this time!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audio book to a friend so that they could become familiar with Sherlock Holmes and how it stands up to the test of time. In fact I recommend the whole series.

What did you like best about this story?

Classic Sir A.C. Doyle.

Have you listened to any of Charlton Griffin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Mr. Griffin does an excellent job as narrator and doesn't lull you to sleep. His narrative work is consistent and even. A good voice that does not grate on the nerves even after many hours. I am sure the Doyle estate is happy with his treatment.

If you could take any character from The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 2 out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Sherlock Holmes of course. To observe his brilliance in action firsthand.

Awesome

loved it. it's story are amazing and so realistically believable. you need to get this book

Holmes at his best

The Hound of the Baskervilles might be my favorite Holmes story. I am a surprised fan. I definitely had a misconception of mystery novels. So even if you're not normally a fan of the mystery genre I strongly suggest a foray into Holmes.

Who doesn't love Sherlock?

Loved listening to all these who done it tales again. A relaxing and intriguing series of stories that still held my' interest 100 years after it was written. It is also interesting to hear how they lived in the time before telephones, cars and the internet.

Shockingly Modern

I’ve been sampling the “classics” more for a few years. I have mixed feelings about the classics, as a group. Both time and the “wisdom of the crowd” are a powerful filter, but sometimes the gap in world views is a problem. For example Aristotle’s word view was just too un-modern for me glean much from his writings. In contrast Plato requires only a modest ability to explore less modern paradigm and many of his gyms are trivially transported to a modern context.

Sherlock Holms felt like it was written today and merely set in the past. It was truly amazing. The only tell was slight aversion to gore (which I rather think is not such a bad thing).

It is targeted at the young reader, but very inter-generational. It’s the perfect book to read to your children or grandchildren.

Fantastic!

The narration, the stories, what more could I ask for. My only regret is not giving it 10 stars.

Classic tales marred by misproununciations

This narrator is almost perfect for the part. It's a big job -- there are tens of characters across the stories. He's got a great accent and keeps the characters straight.

But he mispronounces words.

So he speaks with what *sounds* like an English accent, but he mispronounces common words like "disconsolate" which he says "disconSOlate" instead of "disCONsolate" and he calls Charing cross (which should rhyme with "bearing"), Charring cross. He rhymes it with "barring".

He calls Sydenham, Sidenham (it should be Sid to rhyme with Hid not side to rhyme with hide). And he calls Norwich nor-which instead of the more proper "Norritch".

He pronounces the word "clerk" in the American fashion rhyming it with Berk instead of the proper English pronunciation Clark.

It's infuriating and maddening. It ruins a perfectly good delivery. His narration is practically flawless in every other respect, but holy smoke: if you're reading about England, try to learn the names of the places before you start.

And it's strange because these Americanisms come out of a very plummy if old-fashioned Engish accent.

If you can bear the occasional mangling of a place name or an unusual adjective (he says trusulent for truculent) then this is for you. But if you're English, then maybe it's more than sanity can bear.

My suggestion: buy the first one and see if you can stand it. I've bought two volumes now, and it's touch and go if I'll buy the third.

But maybe that's just me.

The stories hold up surprisingly well, 120 years after they were written. They pre-date fingerprinting, for example, and even the internal combustion engine; but the principles of forensics laid down here, and the structure of the stories is echoed across the decades by everybody we now know, from Kathy Reichs to Lee Child.

I read them all as a boy, of course. This has been a wonderful way to re-read them. Barring of course the egregious pronunciation which is slowly driving me completely mad.

Very enjoyable!

Would you listen to The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 2 again? Why?

Yes. I enjoy the stories and the performance. The stories are interesting mysteries without being gory or dirty like so much of the modern writing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dr. Watson. He portrays the story in a humble way even when he puts himself at risk and helps to solve the cases.

What does Charlton Griffin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The British accent that you would expect the characters to have as well as an American accent when the characters are American, etc.

Wonderful Classic brought to life

I loved re-entering the World of Sherlock Holmes, and the narrator does a splendid job with different voices for the different characters. Only one point was not perfect - his womens voices are a bit annoying in the long run. But SHerlock and Watson are spot-on!