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The Hound of the Baskervilles (Modern Library Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Creator: Laurie R. King
Publisher: Modern Library
Category: Book
List Price: $7.95
Buy New: $1.92
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 309068
Media: Paperback
Edition: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 4.8 x 0.5
ISBN: 0812966066
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780812966060
ASIN: 0812966066
Publication Date: October 8, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Brand New! Immediate Shipment!
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Product Description
The most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles features the phantom dog of Dartmoor, which, according to an ancient legend, has haunted the Baskervilles for generations. When Sir Charles Baskerville dies suddenly of a heart attack on the grounds of the family’s estate, the locals are convinced that the spectral hound is responsible, and Holmes is called in. “Conan Doyle triumphed and triumphed deservedly,” G. K. Chesterton wrote, “because he took his art seriously, because he lavished a hundred little touches of real knowledge and genuine picturesqueness on the police novelette.”
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| Customer Reviews:
Hound of hell November 18, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Hound of the Baskervilles" is a unique story in the Sherlock Holmes canon -- author Arthur Conan Doyle wrote it in the years between Holmes' death and his resurrection several years later.
But due to public pressure, Doyle brought Holmes and Watson back temporarily for a sort of "memoir" tale, a tale of supernatural curses, escaped convicts and ghastly glowing hounds. It suffers a little from a lack of Holmes, but is otherwise a tightly-written, solid little mystery.
Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead of a heart attack -- apparently killed by a family curse in the shape of a giant dog. So his pal Dr. Mortimer asks Sherlock Holmes to protect Charles' heir, Henry Baskerville, who has just arrived in England to claim his estate and inheritance.
But even without Holmes, Watson can tell that something is up -- secretive servants, peculiar neighbors, an escaped criminal, a giant quicksand marsh, and the sounds of a dog howling in the night. But Holmes knows that the curse is no supernatural hound -- and that Sir Henry is in danger from a more real kind of ancient enemy.
"Hound of the Baskervilles" stumbles in one area -- the relative lack of Holmes. He's out of the picture for most of the book, and Watson does plenty of solid detecting on his own. Everybody loves the faithful narrator, but Watson isn't the Great Detective, and the book feels vaguely incomplete without Holmes inspecting clues and giving little hints to Watson.
The mystery unfolds at a languid pace, dropping a few red herrings along the way. Doyle pays loving attention to the dangerous, almost surreal Grimpen Mire and the surrounding countryside. But when Holmes comes back onto the scene, the book tightens itself up. All the plot threads rapidly slip into place as the real "hound" is uncovered.
Holmes' steel-trap mind is untarnished here, especially when he reveals what he figured out at the end. He's especially likable in an endearing scene at the beginning, where he educates Watson on deduction. But this is Watson's turn to shine, since he spends a long time gathering clues and even solving a sub-mystery without any assistance.
"Hound of the Baskervilles" is a short, satisfying Holmesian mystery, which is only hampered by Holmes' absence for about half the book. Solid work, and a good introduction to the Holmes series.
A Good Read August 25, 2006
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I purchased this book for my son for his summer reading assignment and he really enjoyed it!
"A hound it was...but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen." September 4, 2005
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
With echoes of Edgar Allan Poe, this 1902 novel continues to delight mystery-lovers. Elegantly written in formal prose, the story focuses on the moor surrounding the ancestral home of Sir Henry Baskerville, an American who has inherited it upon the mysterious death of his uncle Charles. The moor is so treacherous that no one dares venture upon it at night-one step off the path, and the mire will swallow the unfortunate victim.
Family legend says that a sadistic Baskerville from the eighteenth century once loosed a huge and ferocious dog in pursuit of a woman who had escaped his clutches, and that she had died of fright when she heard the dog panting behind her on the moor. The lecherous Baskerville, in pursuit, had had his throat torn out by this "dog from hell." The ghostly dog can still be heard howling on the moors, and many believe it was the dog which caused the elderly Sir Charles Baskerville to have his fatal heart attack.
In classically Gothic style, the novel features mysterious cries from the moor, foggy nights, an escaped prisoner, signals by candlelight, a butler who knows more than he says, a beautiful woman with a mysterious past, a small boy who carries messages, and someone who spies on the dark and isolated Baskerville Hall. Sherlock Holmes plays a lesser role in this story than he does in most others, remaining in London while Dr. Watson accompanies Sir Henry to his estate as an observer and protector.
Holmes, of course, is operating behind the scenes, learning about the activities at Baskerville Hall through the daily accounts which Watson sends him (and which reveal much of the action to the reader). By no means the bumbling character which films have portrayed, Watson offers sensible advice to Sir Henry and shows a keen eye for details of interest to Holmes.
Though the prose is often "purple" with melodrama and overwrought description, this contributes to the fun of the novel, providing a dramatic counterweight to the extreme logic of Sherlock Holmes, whose late appearance in the novel comes as a carefully timed surprise. The story is intriguing, the mysteries are well developed, the atmosphere is suitably spooky, and the resolution, though not really surprising, is appropriate. Even if the story had not been made into a memorable film with Basil Rathbone, The Hound of the Baskervilles would still be justly famous as Conan Doyle's best developed mystery, a genuine classic of the genre. Mary Whipple
 A nonstop page turner! August 18, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I began the book, I thought it would be slow going because it was written about 100 years ago. I was SO wrong! I finished the book in a period of less than 24 hours!!! This is an absolutely fabulous book! Doyle's use of language is masterful, and you are swept away to the moor with its swamps, jagged cliffs, and massive hills. I can honestly say I was quite spooked as I was reading some of it at night!
Since this is the first novel I have ever read by Doyle, I didn't know what to expect. But the twists in the plot and the constant itching to know what was going to happen next had me hooked!
I watched the 1959 movie after reading this, and I have to say it was a disgrace. I don't know if I would be happy seeing any of the versions, only because I don't know if any of them could even compare to the rich world and language used by Doyle to transport you to Devonshire!! But of course, the book is always better than the movie. :)
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