So, about a year ago, I wrote that I wanted to start reading through this list of classic and influential novels. A few months ago, I finally started by reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.*
I’m a big fan of TV crime shows like CSI and Psych (and of the mystery genre in general), and The Hound of the Baskervilles fits into the detective niche perfectly. Some say that the Sherlock Holmes novels really invigorated the detective genre to become what it is today (although the Sherlock Holmes novels were not the first of their kind; Edgar Allen Poe wrote the first detective fiction story featuring a character named C. Auguste Dupin).
If one were to read through a list of legendary creatures, one would find that the spectral hound (or the Black Dog) features heavily in British folklore. It is upon that myth that the story-within-the-story of The Hound of the Baskervilles is based. The legend told in The Hound sets the scene for the mysterious events that happen upon the moor, which Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr. Watson are sent to investigate. The description of the events (as told by Dr. Watson) is written to be suspenseful and thrilling but with enough foreshadowing that a clever reader may infer the truth behind the mystery.
It is Doyle’s character of Holmes that really makes this novel great. Holmes’ attention to even the tiniest detail and his steadfast determination to understand the truth of the strange events happening in the moorland are traits seldom found in other fictional characters (even other fictional detectives). As a mathematician, I appreciated Holmes’ logical prowess and ability to make significant conclusions based on seemingly insignificant information. In addition to a thrilling storyline, Doyle writes compelling characters in Holmes and Watson, and I found myself reading more Holmes stories after The Hound in a desire to experience more of the quirky crime-solving capacity of this seemingly mismatched duo.
All things considered, I am surprised that The Hound of the Baskervilles isn’t higher on the top 100 list from which I’m reading, because it really is an influential novel, and it tells a great story. Most importantly, it was a great way to get me motivated to continue my goal of reading the books on the list. When I get around to it, I’ll let you know what I thought of The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.
*Note that The Hound of the Baskervilles is number 99 on the list of books, and I said I’d read them all in descending order. I decided that perhaps that was a lot of wishful thinking on my part, because looking back, there are probably several books on that list that I really won’t enjoy. Mostly, I didn’t start with Gone With the Wind because I didn’t want to pay $20 for a decent copy, and every copy that I found at any library looked like a cheap romance novel (granted, it is a romance novel, but it’s supposed to be a classic). So I do hope to really read everything on the list someday, but I may not be doing it in the exact order that I originally stated.
