The Book Report: The Hound of The Baskervilles

By Kate Norrish

Staff Writer

Marcus Falcão / THE GATEPOST

Everyone knows Sherlock Holmes. Everyone loves Sherlock Holmes, and if you need an introduction to classic literature, I believe that this series, and in particular, this book, is the ideal starting point. Published serially between 1901 and 1902, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was famously sick of writing about this character, due to the character being influenced by the struggles of both his mentally ill father and patients in his practice. He tried killing him off, but the public literally rioted Sherlock Holmes back from the dead. Therefore, he wrote “Hound of The Baskervilles,” another novel, and many short stories, allowing Sherlock Holmes to live long enough to retire and become a beekeeper. It starts with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, eccentricities and all, having a client, a nervous man named Dr. Mortimer, claiming that his missing family member disappeared after he saw a giant ghost dog. Needless to say, Sherlock Holmes does not believe there are poltergeist pups roaming the moors, but regardless, the game is afoot. One of the reasons I consider “Hound of The Baskervilles” to be the best Sherlock Holmes story is because I find most of the “mystery-of-the-day " characters in other stories to be fairly forgettable. While Irene Adler and Moriarty are notable exceptions, this book is filled with characters like them - from Stapleton, the silly entomologist, to the far more complex Dr. Mortimer. And then, of course, there are the stars of the show - possibly the most famous friendship in fiction. In some stories, I could not care less about the mystery, but these two could spend a novel locked in a basement together and I would love it. Holmes wrangles out the weirdo Watson always had inside of him. Watson wrangles Holmes out of dangerous situations - place him and his “dear Watson” in nearly any situation, and they can make it fun and meaningful. There is endless debate as to the nature of Holmes’ and Watson’s relationship - platonic life partners, a closeted romantic couple, even a neurodivergent man and his caregiver - at this point, I prefer to read the books with the viewpoint that these are two men who love each other. After a hundred years, that is all. This leads to a bit of an elephant in the room. Sherlock Holmes is not just an autistic icon, he is THE autistic icon. Between his lack of body awareness, constant rocking and finger tapping, and obsession with both classical music and, of course, deductive reasoning, people have suspected that he may be on the spectrum for almost as long as we’ve known what autism is. This has always been a series deeply intertwined with the neurodivergent community, as Doyle cited his experience with insane asylums and pediatric care as inspiration for the character, imagining what might happen if one of those patients received the support they actually needed, according to a biography by Michael Sims. Before I continue, hear me out. Arthur Conan Doyle has my favorite writing style in all of fiction. Yes, I love Oscar Wilde. Yes, I love John Milton. However, Sherlock Holmes is a series that demands a particular brand of description, and Doyle nails it. Holmes has long ago infected Watson with his intense love of the world, and the descriptions force the audience to also fall in love with everything from trees to roofs. As an example: “To [Stapleton’s] eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year, Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we passed, The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation-sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.” You now have permission to judge me. If you’re in a Victorian short story and someone tells you, “hire Sherlock Holmes,” that is code for “you better hope this weirdo who can tell what kind of dog you have from your cane can figure things out. Otherwise, you can just accept your upcoming doom and quite likely death.” This series, and this book especially, is a celebration of different kinds of brains, and has long been a valuable story for the neurodiverse community. Between a bizarre premise, and fun characters who hold the raw inelegance of humanity, “The Hound of The Baskervilles” is one of the most famous detective stories in the world for a reason.