Sherlock Holmes reread: The Final Problem

[vivdunstan]

Onto the last in the Memoirs collection, and going to discuss this pivotal story with big spoilers.

Approaching this one I knew, of course, that it was the Reichenbach Falls one. The story where Holmes apparently falls to his death in a fight with Moriarty. I'd known that from a very young age. At this distance in time I can't remember my first impressions of the story. I do wonder how I would have felt had I read this back in the 1890s in first print.

Rereading it now I'm more aware of its structure and which bits work for me and which bits don't. It starts unfortunately remote, as Holmes recounts a story to Watson. Though it becomes incredibly gripping as Holmes describes his first meeting with Moriarty in Baker Street. On the downside Moriarty is a character that appears to readers suddenly out of the blue in this story, and lacks the build up in earlier stories that would have made his reveal here more interesting. In Jeremy Brett's TV version Moriarty does first appear in "The Red-Headed League", which is a nice touch. And of course BBC's Sherlock TV series seeded him in advance.

The chase across London and the train journeys across the south of England are also gripping. Though reading them this time I'd not share Holmes's optimism that he has outwitted Moriarty, even with my prior knowledge of the ending. But then the European section, including the build up to Switzerland, is frustratingly brief. I read on my Kindle and it estimates how many more minutes I have to read in the current chapter. As I reread this time I was boggling at how little of the story was left as we approached Europe.

The ending, with the unexpected boy bringing a message leading to Holmes and Watson being separated feels well paced. And then we read Watson's account of what he discovered after. But it still feels frustrating abrupt. It's also a curious tale to read, since from the start the reader is led to expect a bad ending.

So a key death, and a story that feels very sudden and out of place. It was incredibly shocking for Victorian readers. Reading the Sherlockian canon in a more condensed way now it is less so. But still somewhat unsatisfying in its writing, and in particular how Moriarty's introduction is handled.

Comments

[a_cubed]

By the accounts I've read, Doyle wanted to stop writing Sherlock at this point and focus on other stories and styles. I get the feeling that the abruptness is about him wanting to be "rid of" Sherlock. of course, the public clamour, and financial pressures, led him to retcon Sherlock back to life, as we now know.

[vivdunstan]

Yup, he wanted to move away from it badly. But for me the end result is a story that isn't problematic because it's shocking, but more poor because it wasn't adequately seeded in advance. Which does fit with his "I've had enough!" thoughts. I was rereading the publishing history the other day, and had forgotten just what an extended time period there was between this and "The Empty House" ...