In great contrast to review #1 I absolutely loved 'The House of Silk' - to the point where I was totally gutted when I finished and immediately set about cataloging which of the original Sherlock Holmes I have read (sadly most of them) and excitingly those I missed first time - the read/not read list corresponds almost identically to what's free/not free for kindles...
The time was certainly ripe last year for a revival of the great Holmes and increasingly important Watson after the huge success of the BBC adaptation with Benedict 'Otterface' Cumberbatch and the surprisingly attractive and not-hobbit like Martin Freeman. Getting Anthony Horowitz on board was too a stroke of genius - as the author notes at the end attest he may be the most prolific literary murderer of our times. Plus he himself has reckoned 'The House of Silk' is suitable for anyone 13+ and it just so happens he's vastly well known to the younger demographic - who might have liked the modern BBC adaptation but would worry about not liking a 'period' Holmes, except for the author already being known to them.
In tone and language and setting the novel feels like vintage Conan Doyle. Brief, sharp, almost sparse writing interspersed with detailed yet still highly functional descriptions of people and places. The strange and wide ranging locations visited in their quest are as bizarre and barren as would be expected. Watson is a reliable narrator as usual - and gets quite a few compliments on his chronicles.
The actual storyline of the book is initially brilliant, one seemingly minor criminal case swiftly blurs into something more potent and deadly. As far as the central 'crime' goes the build up is magnificent as the extent of the elusive House of Silk becomes known, and yet the final denouement feels lacking somewhat. The central crime seems both too attuned to modern sensibilities and somewhat lacking in scale and scope after the billing it was given. This is not to say the final resolution isn't satisfying - the eventual return to the original 'minor' crime and it's solving is brilliant, simply that the major crime feels a tad inauthentic.
It's easy to pick holes however and for the vast majority of the book I was completely hooked, in the way where a ride up an escalator becomes a brief 45 seconds of reading time. It's also quite fair to say if I re-read much of the Holmes so far it's fairly likely I would be able to pick out criticisms too.
All in all I hope Horowitz attempts another Sherlock Holmes and perhaps follows his own 'rules' more closely so delivering a more authentic story line.
Minor plot: 8/10
Major plot: 6/10
Period sensibilities: 4/10
Effort: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment