Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stores, Volume I and II

Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

"I moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me. When I turned again , Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me across my study table. I rose to my feet, stared at him for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears that I must have fainted for the first and last time in my life. Certainly a gray mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand."

""My dear Watson", said the well-remembered voice, "I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected.""

"I gripped him by the arms."

""Holmes!" I cried. "Is it really you? Can it indeed be that you are alive? Is it possible that you succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss?""

- From The Adventure of the Open House, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bantam Classics.

Many months ago, I wrote about a list of books Zexiv brought with him on the Sub on a long journey to Canada, promising to review every one of them sometime in the future. I had completely forgot about that until recently, when Zexiv and I happened to turn on the television in camp and saw the 1959 film version of The Hound of Baskervilles airing on the Turner Classic Movie channel. It was the middle of the movie and we were only able to catch parts of it, having some errands to attend to, but the bits we caught had had us for glued for a while to our seats. Being both fans of Sherlock Holmes, we knew there had been a couple of movies and TV movies made on this famous literary character, but it had been our first time to catch an actual episode on TV. We later learned that this movie version of The Hound of Baskervilles appears to be one of the best made on this character. Peter Cushing's impression of Holmes is pretty close I would say as to how we imagine he looked in the books, with his tall lanky frame, sharp features, and abrupt manner. Not having seen the entire movie I cannot say how true this is to the original story; I don't remember however Holmes having any romantic interest in this particular story.

The 2 volumes of Sherlock Holmes' complete novels and stories were an advent gift of Puff to Zexiv many years ago, when they were still living in the home country. It took Zexiv perhaps 4 years to finish the 2 books, as these are not stories you would probably want to read continuously, and so he started and finished other books in between. He would usually read the stories from this book late at night in Manila, and on rainy days here in Vancouver, and it was one rainy day that he finally came to the end of the 2 volumes featuring the 56 short stories and 4 novels of Sherlock Holmes. It is quite an accomplishment, and he was almost sorry to see it end, although he now goes back to certain parts of the books, rereads some of the stories, and recently started reading again The Hound of the Baskervilles.

What are our ideas of great books? To Zexiv and I these are the kind you would want to bring with you if you were marooned on a desert island (hopefully you would also have an unlimited supply of water, food, toothpaste and soap too :) - books with lots of adventure that you can reread again and again, those set perhaps in exotic lands, and which can magically transport you to another time and place and make you forget for a moment where you actually are. Being hopeless romantics, we also prefer books with "happy" endings, where the good guy always wins. And it helps if the main character is quite likeable, and if the style of writing is not the rambling sort that demands total concentration. There are other books, for instance, which we also consider very good, but which we would not list in the "marooned island" category, such as Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter and George Orwell's Burmese Days, both of which end very tragically, and where the good guy actually dies. Or take for instance, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, which is also very good, but demands total concentration and a very quiet place to read, due to the very wordy style of writing , in order to appreciate it. Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I and II are 2 books we would count as one of our favorites and is something we would recommend to anyone looking for a very good read.

The books start with Watson meeting Holmes for the first time in A Study in Scarlet and becoming his flatmate and later, friend, and biographer for many of their succeeding adventures together. We see Holmes brilliantly applying his Science of Deduction to cases originating in places as far as the Wild West and colonial India, with the ever loyal and dedicated (but not so intelligent) Dr. Watson by his side. We are introduced to Holmes' arch nemesis Professor Moriarty in the Valley of Fear, and encounter him again in The Final Problem, where following a violent confrontation and struggle, they fall off a cliff to their apparent end. Apparently due to the outcry of Sherlock Holmes' many readers and fans, the character is brought back by the author a few years later in The Adventure of the Empty House. Later on we see Holmes featured in perhaps his best known adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles, which has also become our favorite among all the novels and stories. The books finally end with The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, where an understandably weary Arthur Conan Doyle makes clear to his readers at the start of his intentions not to continue with the series. We see Sherlock Holmes amd Watson age through the years, but never see their definite end which makes them truly immortal characters.

It is through the keen eyes of Watson in many of the short stories that we really get to know and appreciate the character that is Sherlock Holmes. This is what we have come to know of the greatest of detectives:

- A chemist by profession, with some informal medical studies such as in comparative anatomy

- A lover of fine music who also plays the violin

- A night owl and (usually) late riser

- Loves a good smoke with his pipe and has made an exhaustive study on the different types, makes and characterics of tobacco

- Unsentimental, abrupt and direct in his dealings, yet compassionate and humorous at times

- A firm believer in the Science of Deduction but also aware of its limitations

- A master of disguise and convincing actor

- Can spend several days in a row lying motionless on his sofa (?) and staring into space, when pondering a problem or when lacking the intellectual stimulation from new and challenging cases

- Apparently not normally armed (he relies on Dr. Watson for his revolver)

- Only known to have been smitten perhaps once in his life with one woman (someone he met in one of his cases)

- Apparently someone with a bit of an opium addiction

As you can see, definitely a very intriguing, interesting and likeable character ...

The books are very atmospheric and magically transport you to 19th century Victorian London with it's cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, gas lights, rain and fog. Even if you never get marooned on an island, it's something we would recommend for reading on the beach or when cooped up at home on a rainy day. Very very highly recommended! ...

P.S. On another topic, Zexiv, Puff and I are also fans of the Harry Potter Books and have read all 6 books. Like many Harry Potter fans we are eagerly awaiting the last book due to come out this weekend. We wonder if perhaps Sirius Black or Dumbledore will be resurrected in the last book to fight the final battle, just as Sherlock Holmes was brought back to life after that seemingly unsurvivable fall down that cliff. Or perhaps if Harry Potter himself "dies" in the last book, will J.K. Rowling find a way to bring him back as well for his fans sometime in the future? Something to think about ...

Wanted: Four Ornery Varmints

"Taft"
"Del Pilar"
"Custer"

"Thompson a.k.a. Thomson"

An APB has been issued for the capture of the above desperadoes, last known to have been sighted in Camp Redbrick. Wanted, among others, for the robbery of the Redbrick City Savings Piggy Bank and the Redbrick Chocolate Chip Bakery. Other information, gathered from our radio transmitter in Camp Grayloft is as follows:

1. All characters known to be active in daylight only, for some reason preferring to retire about 9 or earlier in the evening, especially Taft and Del Pilar. Some are also inactive for certain afternoon hours.

2. Extremely adept in the art of disguise and concealment - Thompson or Thomson, to be precise, has been seen extorting candy from several homes in Redbrick City threatening "tricks", dressed up as Fred Flintstone.

3. All are also known not to be above infiltrating establishments in the Camp Redbrick area, which have been identified by the gang as attractive targets. Del Pilar for instance is suspected of having assisted from time to time in the Redbrick Chocolate Chip Bakery, feigning interest in the art of chocolate chip cookie making.

4. Other known information about the individual gang members:

a. Taft - A child prodigy and expert swimmer who began school at the age of 2 and 1/2

b. Del Pilar - Pokemonster afficionado and car collector

c. Custer - Patron of the arts, especially the Ballet

d. Thompson or Thomson - Owner of several private armies, ceramics painter and Tintin collector

All members are suspected to be armed with water guns looted from the Camp Redbrick Armory and should be approached with extreme caution. I have alerted our comrades in the camp and in the subterranean vault to be on the lookout ...

Post no bail!!! ...

Once Upon a Time in the West

Zexiv discovered this movie during a trip to New York a few months ago, where he bought the DVD. He and I have watched it a number of times since then and it now ranks among Zexiv's top 5 favorites, together with A Bridge too Far, Meet Me in St. Louis, Empire of the Sun, and (he is a bit embarassed to admit this), Sound of Music.

There is nothing like a good western, and they don't make them like they used to anymore. Actually the western genre has largely fallen out of favor with many of today's moviegoers, which is a pity, as a lot of these movies have much to offer in terms of spectacular cinematography and adventure, and great lessons of moral courage, integrity and the true pioneering spirit. Zexiv remembers his father being a being huge fan as well in his younger days, and he remembers going to the movies to see Red Sun and The Cowboys (with John Wayne). Among the TV series' Zexiv used to watch as a kid were reruns of shows such as Wanted: Dead or Alive and Lone Ranger.

Zexiv recalls wearing a cowboy costume as a little kid one halloween (complete with a silver Sheriff's star) and playing Cowboys and Indians many times with some of his schoolmates. One of his prized possessions was a tepee which he got as a gift from his parents, which had canvas walls painted with animal designs and real wooden colored poles made he thinks of bamboo. He would set it up during special occasions such as birthday parties and even remembers camping in the back yard with Inverbras one night in this tent. This was back of course when there weren't that many mosquitoes yet and before the days of dengue ...

Playing Cowboys and Indians was something Zexiv and Inverbras enjoyed doing at their paternal grandparents' house as well, at their weekly visits there for Sunday lunch. Their grandparents lived in a huge compound with the adjoining house belonging to an uncle and aunt and there were many places to run around, hide, or crouch behind to get a good "shot". And having lots of cousins made for lots of action. Zexiv remembers that his uncle who lived in the adjoining house used to impress his nephews by twirling around their toy revolvers, just like the skilled gunfighters would do in the movies. And later on Zexiv and Inverbras got their own metal pump action toy rifles, which they had great fun sticking corks in, and using for target practice.

This particular spaghetti western stars Henry Fonda - who was well into his 60s at the time - as Frank, a landgrabber and ruthless enforcer of a railroad tycoon. Charles Bronson plays Harmonica, a mysterious gunfighter, who forms an unlikely alliance with the bandit Cheyenne (played by Jason Robards) to protect the recently widowed Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale). The movie starts off quite slow in the beginning, but quickly picks up. It features a dramatic cinematography (lots of the slow panning wide angles and extreme close ups Sergio Leone is known for) and a brilliant soundtrack by Ennio Morricone which goes very well with the movie (in fact Puff, on hearing a certain haunting melody repeated a number of times, asked Zexiv "if this was a love story"). It is a movie Zexiv and I highly recommend - if you could see just one western this would be it. You can almost smell the dust, smoke and the horses' sweat ...

Photography School

Not a lucky number, but this became Zexiv's favorite room for the 2 darkroom courses he took.

After going through developer, stop bath and fixer, prints are brought outside the darkroom to be washed here.

The entrance to darkrooms 1-4. This room also has a dryer for prints and negatives as well.

Hallway leading to 2 classrooms at the end. Door to the left leads to darkrooms 1-4.

Being a film guy through and through, Zexiv didn't spend much time here except for the 1 Photoshop class he took. The instructor would usually sit in front.

While waiting for his turn to be called to present his portfolio to the panel for review, Zexiv snapped these pictures of a portion of the second floor of his school. He used his new top secret reconnaisance camera, which was given to him by Inverbras. The camera also functions as a communications and entertainment device, as well as an electronic black book and organizer for the increasingly absent minded Zexiv.

Originally he had planned a dramatic video of him exiting the bus, crossing the street to the front of the school, focusing on the windows with the signs and photos displayed, and then entering through the front door, climbing the carpeted steps to the 2nd floor, and pausing for a short moment, before slowly opening the 2nd door leading to the reception area (fade away to black here). Unfortunately that plan was hastily scrapped when Zexiv found out he had the camera all the while facing the wrong way, which was his shirt. It was also upside down ... the pitfalls of learning how to use a point and shoot again with a fixed lens when you have gotten so used to an SLR with a zoom. It is a very handy thing though to have around when you don't want to be lugging around your gear ...

The school is not that large in terms of size, but quite impressive with about 3 classrooms (one of which also doubles as a makeshift studio), 2 studios (which also function as classrooms), 5 darkrooms, and a computer room with a number of PCs. There is also a small reception area on the 2nd floor with a couch and some armchairs and a coffeemaker and water cooler. Having attended both large (the state university in the home country) and small schools (i.e., GBA in NYC), Zexiv was always more comfortable with smaller schools and class sizes - somehow he found this more conducive to learning. It is also easier to get to know people and form friendships in this kind of setup.

During his first few terms, when Zexiv discovered the magic of developing and printing your own black and white film, the darkroom became one of his favorite places. There is something about working with your hands in the dark with the familiar smell of developer, fixer, and stop bath, and watching an image unfold right before your eyes. More than once, Zexiv's instructor told him to go ahead and use the radio inside to play music while working, but it seemed more fun and relaxing, actually even kind of therapeutic, to just work in almost complete silence, the only sound being the swishing of water in the trays and the ticking clock on the wall.

Aside from the darkroom, Zexiv also immensely enjoyed the lectures held in a classroom at the end of the hallway, where the instructor would give lectures and show slideshows of photos of famous photographers and where the students would show their own pictures (in Zexiv's case, usually through a 35mm slide projector, or through black and white prints laid out on the table), usually after a fieldtrip or two, to get feedback. It is really the practice gained through numerous field trips and regular feedback which he thinks made him a much better photographer.

The school itself is located in a very pleasant and interesting neighborhood, with a public library, a coffeeshop, a used bookstore, a pizzeria (which makes an excellent lasagna by the way), and small bookstore nearby. There is also a major bus stop just a few steps away which is pretty convenient, especially since some of the classes can end quite late in the evening.

All in all, Zexiv took a total of 15 classes (each running for about 30 hours over a 10 week period) in a little more than 2 years. Most of these were geared towards his interests which were shooting nature and landscapes, although he did take a few courses requiring him to photograph people (either in the studio or outdoors), to round out his experience. He also shot most of his pictures during this time using either black and white negative or color slide film. Interestingly, he recalls how during his first year a lot of his classmates were still using film cameras and projecting their slides on the wall; later on he noticed that a lot had shifted to digital cameras and he was one of the very few still showing his slides through a projector. He added though that there seems to be a recent resurgence towards film among some of his classmates, particularly with those shooting with black and white. He thinks this is a very good thing ...

P.S. Zexiv passed his portfolio review ... in the end he decided to present his best wide angle shots, both for nature and landscape, and received constructive and helpful feedback. He is quite happy about how everything turned out and is now excitedly planning a list of photo projects for the summer.

Happy Birthday Canada

Bowen Island
BC Interior

Canada Place

When Zexiv was a kid, he and a few schoomates used to like playing with water. One of the things they would do, while other kids their age were busy with after school sports or games was head to this hilly part of the school. They would turn on one of the water taps and watch the water as it quickly wound its way in a narrow channel down the hill, and using their imagination, would pretend it was white water rapids. They would put an ant or two on a leaf or bottle cap and watch enthralled as the makeshift boat was carried down the "river", and repeat this a couple of times. Anyone who would pass by would probably wonder what they were doing (other than obviously wasting a lot of water), but at that moment, Zexiv and his friends were lost in another world. They imagined they were somewhere in the wide open spaces of the west, where just like in the cowboy movies they used to watch, you could travel for a long time and see not a soul for miles, just endless prairie grass, desert, or pine covered mountains. Of course none of them had ever experienced anything like that, having all been raised in the city, in crowded, humid and smoggy Manila. This was all just a dream to them. The world for Zexiv was a very small place, most of the time limited to home, school, and the commercial center nearby.

Yesterday was Canada Day, and walking across Capilano Suspension Bridge, he and I got to talking about how far he had come since those days and how he never imagined he would be in a place so lush, full of the evergreen forests and mountains he used to dream about as a kid. Aside from its rich multicultural society, Canada's (and more so, BC's) most important asset is really its natural environment. He considers himself very lucky to have been able to experience this. Vancouver in particular is very ideally situated, and you can ski, hike, and walk down the beach or sail all in one day, if you have the energy for it. Since moving here we have explored many of the beautiful forested parks in the BC area, have hiked down trails lined by some ancient and gigantic trees and walked down to the edge of a river to see the rapids up close. It's a very amazing and beautiful place.

Moving to Canada also allowed Zexiv to pursue a long time dream of his, which was to study photography. He says he cannot imagine being able to do this where he came from. And nothing beats BC for nature photography ... there is really nothing like it in the whole wide world.

Of course, BC is only a small part of the enormous country (the second largest in the world, next to Russia) that is Canada and there are still many other areas which we hope to see in this lifetime. We have never been to the Canadian Rockies, and it would be nice to go up north and see what the Yukon and Northwest Territories are like. Newfoundland sounds exciting too, as well as Calgary for the rodeo.

This sure beats turning on the water in school and watching the ants go down the rapids :).

Happy birthday to our adopted home!