David Grann. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession. New York: Doubleday, 2010. 352 pages.
Great non-fiction is just as suspenseful and revealing of the human condition as great fiction. With The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, David Grann gives the reader twelve intriguing pieces of great non-fiction.
The collection starts with a short introduction in which Grann lays out the thematic (though not topical) unity of the book: each of the pieces is, in some way, about sleuthing. Whether its investigating a murder, looking for a half-mythical sea creature, or seeking to recover lost memories, the people who move through these pages are all looking for something.
After the introduction comes the chapter which likely gave the book its title: an investigation into the death, under mysterious circumstances, of the world’s foremost Sherlock Holmes expert. If this were an episode of a TV police procedural, most viewers would dismiss it as ridiculously contrived: the expert, who was himself unraveling the mystery of a cache of lost Holmesiana, was found dead of an apparent suicide that would have baffled the Baker Street detective himself. Grann not only hooks the reader into the case; he gives the reader a glimpse into the world of Holmes devotees, a group that makes Trekkies look like they treat Star Trek with a casual irreverence. But Grann doesn’t make them into geeks or misfits; he instead communicates the enduring appeal of Holmes in an increasingly chaotic world in a way that might have you checking a few Arthur Conan Dolye books out of the library. I can’t think of any better testament to Grann’s skill or style as a writer.
Other stories are no less riveting. Some of the more gripping ones are the tale of Krystian Bala, a would-be philosopher and author whose novel was used as evidence at his trial for murder; walking with Kevin Shea, a firefighter who survived 9/11 but is still tormented by his inability to remember what he did on that day; and a ride-along with the sandhogs, subterranean construction workers who have been building water tunnels under the streets of New York for generations. Those are just a few of my personal favorites, but every story in this collections sheds light on something meaningful in an interesting way. The pieces are all brief, but deep.
The bottom line? This is an outstanding collection of non-fiction that will whet your appetite for more.
I might give this book a try – being as it’s non-fiction. I rarely read fiction much anymore (and not for any particular reason except that there are so many new fiction books that I don’t know where to begin).
Plus, in a way..I don’t get too much enjoyment from trying to read the latest Stephen King (etc) novel…and I don’t feel I have enough time remaining (10-15 years hopefully) to spend it on (seemingly) enjoyable reading.
That is likely a big ‘negative belief’ on my part which I should correct. Still, I prefer 97% non-fiction…with an occasional 3% dip back into ‘classic fiction’ titles.
My step-dad used to talk like Sherlock Holmes. He was a big lover of mysteries and Mickey Spillane type stuff.
As a kid I read a few Hardy Boys books and even some Nancy Drew. But, the Hardy Boys seemed too 1950s for me, and my older brother wouldn’t let me touch his collection anyway. So, around 1960 I stumbled upon a new series of ‘kid’s mystery’ books and the character named Brains Benton.
The ‘Brains Benton series’ of 6 books came out around 1960-1962 and I loved them for being more exciting and modern than the Hardy Boys. To me Brains seemed very much like ‘new-decade, new wave 1960s mystery’…and I appreciated having my own ‘sleuth idol’…who (I felt) I could relate to more than my step-dad’s Sherlock or my brother’s Hardy Boys.
To each his own.
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I think I’ll check the library to see if this book is available.
As it is right now, I am sort of reading ‘Roll the Bones’ as my ‘enjoyable reading book’ and it provides a good break from reading computer tech books and sociology stuff.
In my mind, ‘Roll the Bones’ reads like enjoyable fiction. Other than that…the only other fun books I’m currently reading are 4 books on how to play the harmonica. I’m actually reading a ‘Harmonica for Dummies’ book.
And just to make it perfectly clear…I am not trying to play ‘blues harp’. No way. That is too “predictably” of a choice. I’m too much of a non-conformist to go ‘that blues route’.
Instead I’m specializing in learning old campfire, cowboy and Tin Pan Alley songs…and I never plan on calling my new harmonica a “harp.
No. It’s strictly a “harmonica”. I bought it at Mandalay’s ‘House of Blues’ for $12. It is a fantabulous piece of breath-powered technology.
I’m only five weeks into ‘learning harmonica’, but am getting fairly good at playing ‘Red River Valley’, ‘Oh Susana’, ‘Camptown Races’, ‘Rock of Ages’, ‘Jingle Bells’ ‘Old Ang Syne’ and ‘Birmingham Jail’.
Plus…I’ve figured out how to play some good Mid-Sixties Bob Dylan bits, and ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, plus Andy Williams ‘Canadian Sunset’…and believe or not….’Tiptoe Thru the Tulips’.
Harmonica playing is much easier than I ever imagined and is a very relaxing solo adventure. It took me this long to find that out.
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This Week’s Highly Recommended Book:
‘Harmonica Americana: Learn to Play America’s 30 Greatest Songs’
by Jon Gindick 1995
I swear I saw a TV version of the Sherlock murder described above, but I can’t remember what show; or maybe it was a movie. If anybody knows, let them post now or forever hold their piece.
I swear I am trying to stop posting so much. I overdo everything. People are probably convinced I’m mental and have a blogging OCD.
I agree. Still. Maybe it’s because I lost my Internet service for a few months and know how precious a Net connection can be..or maybe it’s simply because I personally am running out of time….or maybe is’ simply because I enjoy typing in an empty white comment box..and like veering comments off-track…and enjoy commenting about other things than the intricacies of casino operations and their chance for failure, success and all of that other armchair analysis.
I have nothing against the websites that concentrate so much on why certain casinos are succeeding, lagging, investing, not investing, etc…or speculations about what the big shot operators are thinking (or not thinking).
To me that’s more like a political discussion. It’s all about governings and casino government. In a way it reminds me of ‘sports-talk’ and the opinions of how good or bad a team is and how the coach should manage things.
It’s good people follow those things so closely. But that’s not what really interests me.
I prefer this website, because it’s a place where original thoughts can be expressed. I never was one who liked spending my time analyzing sports or government (or daily casino management).
In a way some of those blogs comments are mainly battlegrounds of various opinions. They aren’t for me and vice versa. I don’t understand the analysis…and I don’t own stock or whatever it is that motivates all that dissection of the industry. It all goes way over my head or interests.
So, I post here a bit too much instead. I’m trying to soon reign that in though…because maybe I’m diluting the pool. Who knows. But don’t think I haven’t wondered about that likely possibilitiy many times over the last year I’ve been commenting.
The reason I wanted to post one more comment here was because I just finished reading the “Wild Cards” chapter of ‘Roll the Bones’ this Sunday morning and it is really good writing about ‘frontier gambling’ (one of my favorite topics).
Next, I get to start reading the chapter called ‘Fools of Fortune’ on the 273rd page of this great 500 page book.
This book has taken me from the B.C. era of gambling – all the way thru the historic ages and countries like Italy and England.
I feel good to have finally made it to the sections on ‘Wild West Gambling’.
Other chapters I’m looking forward to reading (or re-reading) are:
* Gambling for Fun and Profit
* A Sunny Place for Shady People
* Wise-Guys and One-Armed Bandits
* The Legitimization of American Gambling
* Hard to Resist (Nevada Becomes America’s Gambling Oasis)
* The Salvation of Sin
* A Place in the Sun (The Strip is Born)
Then the final sections (Part 8 & 9).
Then I get to the part I like best — The Notes —which I always keep from reading until the very end. The Notes Section, to me, is like the gold at the end of a rainbow….like the DVD, ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at how a movie got made, etc.
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Anyway. This is the only gambling website that shows ‘book reports’ on Fridays. I’ve really enjoyed having a ‘Vegas place’ to talk about books.
If I stop writing here, it’s simply to give people a break from my monotonous writing style and to not hog space. And for any of those people who wish I would have left much sooner…well, I had an agenda and function to perform here. My agenda was to supply plenty of off-beat, off-track and unusual comments. My agenda was to always supply some type of original thought…and maybe encourage others to do likewise (and to not worry about how ‘off-beat thinking’ can be criticized and lampooned).
It’s like Edison said:
“Hell. There are no rules here. We’re [I'm] trying to accomplish something.”
As weird as I got…no one can every say I didn’t supply a unique perspective. Ellipses and all…..
That was my only agenda.
10-4
I never realized that the book reviews were on Fridays.