Shakespearian and Other Literary Investigations with the Master Sleuth (and Conan Doyle) Homing in on Holmes

Review: This book is composed of fifteen 'Chapters', each of which was published or presented at some earlier date. Many appeared in one of several Sherlockian journals; Baker Street Miscellanea, The Baker Street Journal, or the Baker Street Dispatch.. Others were published in less specialised forums such as Clues and The Armchair Detective and some first appeared in scholarly publications such as Thalia, the Shakespear Inc. Quarterly and The Aligarth Journal of English Studies. Those not previously in print were presentations at symposia.

In all cases, the chapters have been revised and edited from their earlier forms and carry additional comments and endnotes. The author has been meticulous in dotting all the 'T"s and crossing all the "I"s, something that is often lacking in usual "Higher Criticism".

Each of the Chapters tackles an interesting or worrisome problem in literary (usually Shakespearian) research, or in Sherlockean scholarship related to literature, and attempts to apply Holmes's investigative methods to the problem. The results are sometimes compelling, always interesting and usually amusing.

We who indulge ourselves in writing about The Writings tend to forget the formidable scholarship possesed by many of the earlier writers in the field and we do not hold ourselves to the strict rules developed over the centuries to protect literary critics from error. The early critics of The Writings, such as Monsiegnor Knox, Dorothy Sayers and T. S. Elliot were well aware of the dictates of scholarship and made real efforts to maintain the same standards in their writings about Holmes as they applied to their more serious literary efforts. However, for them and for many writers since then, these literary efforts were part of an elaborate game where one applied the rules of "Serious Scholarship" to popular literature.

Professor Fleissner is serious in his application of the tools of the professional to examination of literary influences in Doyle's writings about Sherlock Holmes. In part, this is evidence that the popular literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century has passed into the realm of Literature or oblivion. It is apparent that, at the very least, the Canon are NOT headed for oblivion along with so many other "great" works that were popular in that era. Fortunately for we amateurs, he has been able to produce a series of interesting and enlightening articles with much of their scholarly impedementa confined to footnotes and endnotes. These are often enlivened by the device of a dialog between Holmes and Dr. Watson, presented in pastiche format within the article.

This book is certainly a serious effort at literary criticism, but it is also an effort produced by a dedicated Sherlockian. It avoids the epithet of "Dry" that is usually associated with scholarly works and it retains the warmth and love of the Canon that marks all efforts by true devotees. It also marks a real milestone in English Literature. It is not the first serious study of The master but it is a measure of the level of acceptance The Writings are receiving in literary circles. "Holmes, he's not just for amusement"!

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, 2003