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Reviews (2)
Jan 10, 2010
Best. Sherlock. Ever.
4 of 4 found this helpful Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the one truest to the original A. C. Doyle books. We see Holmes as the brilliant (albeit drug using) detective assisted by an able Watson (as opposed to the buffoon shown in other Holmes productions).
In terms of production, there are some obvious flaws in moving to electronic media. Motion is sometimes a bit jerky and sound quality could be better. Yet, still, the quality of acting, the accurate period costuming, and interesting stories make this by far the premier Holmes collection. For 45 hours of entertainment, this is an excellent buy.
Sep 07, 2007
Synopsis and Comments on "The Beekeeper's Apprentice"
1 of 1 found this helpful Mary Russell, orphaned at the age of 15, lives on an English countryside estate under the care of her miserly aunt. On one of her walk, Mary literally stumbles across a figure lying on the grass observing the habits of the bees. Introductions are made and Mary quickly recognizes Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes has retired from Baker St., although he continues to write manuscripts about various topics and it is this work which piques Mary's interest. As Holmes sees more of her temperament and keen observational skills, he eventually agrees to take her on as his "apprentice." Together they tackle mysteries - large and small - in the area until eventually he treats her less as an apprentice (and almost daughter) and as more of a partner.
The novel starts a bit slowly with the author telling us about how the story came to be written without getting into the storyline itself. That part should not be skipped, however, as it has future importance in the later novels. ("The Beekeeper's Apprentice" is the first in a number of King novels about Russell and Holmes. Ideally, the stories should be read in order. If you enjoy this first novel, the others should prove equally intriguing.)
This book - indeed, the entire series - keeps true to the Doyle's description of Holmes with some minor variations. In "Apprentice," for example, King somewhat alters the Holmes/Watson relationship by having Holmes be much younger and the Watson figure being used to add age (aka "credibility") to his - Holmes' - initial attempts at sleuthing as well as relating to local authorities. This allows the age gap between Russell and Holmes to shrink somewhat (her 15 to his nearly 50) - a fact that comes into play later in the series. In addition, it is interesting to see that King initially has Russell taking a very, very dim view of Watson and she as much as has Russell call Watson a fool for wasting his time with Holmes and writing stories rather than learning Holmes' techniques.
It would be difficult to characterize the audience for this book. Certainly Holmes' fans would find elements intriguing and interesting save, perhaps, for some of the flowery language infrequently used. Russell's age (15) might seem to make the stories attractive to younger female readers, however if they are unfamiliar with the Holmes character it might make it much less so. (By the "Holmes character" I should more specifically say the one of Doyle's writing, not the buffoon like characterizations appearing in movies.) I - in my 50's and a reader of all the Holmes stories - completely enjoyed the novel; my wife - in her 50's and having never read a Holmes story - seemed to equally enjoy it and in fact it has inspired her to read the original Doyle works.