Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Most novelists will find that their creations are their greatest nemesis, they are the mirror of themselves magnified to such an extent that the reader will actively prefer to be in the company of the image built up in their mind than the author who built up a sweat framing the narrative description of the hero to whom the reader adores.
It doesn’t seem fair in many ways, that when pushed the reader will often have no clue about the writer’s own exploits, only saving their hero worship for the drawn and perfect; in a way it is almost as if the creation held a gun to the author’s head and willingly pulled on the trigger.
There are many instances in literature where over time the creation has become more memorable than the person who built their character, more members of the public would recognise depictions of Dracula than that of Bram Stoker, the weight of opinion would come down on the side of Heathcliff than that of the supreme Emily Bronte, and so it is with the elegant and demonstrably intelligent consulting detective from Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes, and that of the estimable Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Ironically the counter argument was posited in an earlier series by historian Lucy Worsley when she discussed the life of Dame Agatha Christie, however as the informative three-part series Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley On The Case Of Conan Doyle the difference between two of Britain’s much loved writers comes down to self-appreciation between author and that which gave them their greatest fame and fortune.
In Conan Doyle’s case the resentment over Sherlock Holmes becomes self-evident and understandable as the eminent historian states her case, as the observational discourse is laid out, it is no wonder that the man who had his own incredible adventures should feel bitterness to that which paved his fortune.
It is almost as if you are being shown up, that your worth is defined by a smarter human being, who is more intelligent, more logical, more agreeable that you can ever be, but they are formed from imaginary words, from gestures plucked from the ether, and whilst that character drawn may have been influenced by your own life choices, style or deeds, the public still will want them more than you; they will devour your soul to get to them, and it can only lead to apathy, disagreement, professional hatred.
Drawing upon the life of Conan Doyle, a man who played in goal for Portsmouth AFC, was a qualified doctor, sought adventures and insight during the Boar War, became a leading activist in spiritualism, even managing to pursue the freedom of a young man accused of horse maiming by proving his innocence, drove for Britain in a rally and winning the competition, and yet every time he was bested by his ultimate nemesis, his shadow in the imagination, the detective her arguably wished himself to be.
In this Lucy Worsley once more brings history to life in such a way that it is impossible not to enjoy the experience, to learn not only about the subject but your own relationship with the person being discussed, and in the case of Holmes and Doyle the difficult links between fact and fiction as they blur and meld at all times in what could be effectively said to be a single life.
Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley On The Case Of Conan Doyle is a dynamic piece of information, part psychological breakdown, all observation. Ian D. Hall