This entertaining collection of essays deserves to exist because
Sherlock Holmes sees things others don't. He sees the world in a
different way, and by so doing, allows us to see that same world - and
human behavior - in different ways as well. Oh, sure, there have been
countless detectives who have followed in his footsteps and who seem to
rival his abilities. Just turn on the TV or browse the local bookshop
and you'll find idiosyncratic super sleuths using forensics and
reasoning to solve a whole host of crimes and misdeeds.
And yet no one rivals our dear, dear Holmes. Why does Sherlock reign,
even more than a century later, as king? Can this mystery be solved?
Unable to reach either Holmes or Watson (or Doyle for that matter,
though we've tried every medium we can think of), we've been forced to
gather our own team of investigators to practice their powers of
observation and perception, to apply their own reasoning and
methodologies to the task at hand. The results, I fear, have led us to a
number of cases that must be solved first.
Is Holmes simply eccentric or a sociopath? s he human, a dog or
something from the holodeck? Is he as dangerous on the page as he is in
person? Wait - does he even exist? For that matter, do you? (I fear
several investigators have been forced to take a much needed holiday
after wrestling with that one.)
What is the source of his faculty of observation and facility for
deduction? Systematic training as Watson surmises? Genetic? Or is he
just really lucky?
And is this whole logic thing compatible with emotions? Are Holmes and
Watson good friends or soul mates? Just what is the nature of
friendship? Do they complete each other or just get on each other's
nerves? And why all the secrecy? Disguises? Deceptions?
The plot thickens. What is the essence of consciousness? Is the
observable world subject to our intentions? Why does Holmes debunk
mysticism when Doyle so readily embraces it? Why is Holmes our favorite
drug user?
Our notebooks are filled with clues and, dare I say, answers. Is there
more than one way to define the concept, justice? Is hope necessary in
the world? Is boredom? Play? Can any thing really be understood?
Objectively?
And just what is the last unresolved mystery involving Sherlock Holmes?
The game that's afoot isn't just the thing being pursued but the fun to
be had as well.
