Questions tagged [arthur-conan-doyle]
Questions about the works of Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) or his life as a writer.
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What is meant by "I was blue ribbon" and "I broke my blue ribbon"?
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box (a Sherlock Holmes short story):
"'I was blue ribbon at that time, and we were putting a little money by, and all was as bright as a new dollar. My God, ...
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Why isn't Arthur Conan Doyle considered a first-rate writer? [closed]
Why isn't Arthur Conan Doyle considered a first-rate writer?
I find the style of the Sherlock Holmes books astounding. Here are some of the sentences I liked:
Holmes lay with his gaunt figure ...
- 179
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Sherlock Holmes: What does "woman's' hand" mean?
This is an excerpt from the Sherlock Holmes novel named The Hound of the Baskervilles (emphasis mine):
"Well, Sir Henry, your uncle had a letter that morning. He had usually a great many letters,...
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Where did Doyle write that the Hound of the Baskervilles was originally intended as a "Victorian creeper", and what does this mean?
According to Wikipedia (section "Technique" in the Wikipedia page for the famous Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles"; emphasis mine):
The novel incorporates five ...
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In 'The Sign of the Four', what happened to the Sikh accomplices at the end?
Jonathan Small always maintained how he was loyal throughout to his other three Sikh/Indian accomplices. The last we read of them was when they all met with Sholto and Mortsan and told them about the ...
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Does "sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt" imply social class?
Quote from "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle":
His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves ...
- 41
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"The Evil One" in Sherlock Holmes series
Holmes makes a reference to an individual he referred to as the "Evil One" in "The Adventure Of Charles Augustus Milverton", though without explicitly naming him:
...He is as ...
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Visualising a scene described in the beginning of “The Adventure of the Three Students”
The sitting-room of our client opened by a long, low, latticed window on to the ancient lichen-tinted court of the old college. A Gothic arched door led to a worn stone staircase
This is the ...
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Meaning of "She impressed me neither favorably nor the reverse."
I'm reading "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" by Arthur Conan Doyle. I came across this sentence by the character Violet Hunter:
Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colorless in mind as ...
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Is Von Bork's "I've been there" the idiomatic expression here, in "His Last Bow"?
I’d like to ask about the sentence from His Last Bow by Conan Doyle.
“.. It was on my first arrival. I was invited to a week-end gathering at the country house of a cabinet minister. The conversation ...
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What does "more than I gave" mean in "I therefore named a price which was £500 more than I gave"?
I’d like to ask about the sentence from The Three Gables by Conan Doyle.
.. but naturally I was interested in what he said. I therefore named a
price which was £500 more than I gave.
Here I’m not ...
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Was Professor Moriarty ever apprehended or killed by Sherlock Holmes?
Professor Moriarty was Sherlock Holmes' arch enemy.
Was Professor Moriarty ever arrested or killed by Sherlock Holmes?
user5000
4
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In "Adventure of the Priory School", what is going on with the reward money and the cheque?
In the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Priory School", Holmes shows perhaps the most amount of interest in the reward money. Holmes initially confirms the terms of the reward ...
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What did Conan Doyle mean by saying the butler would adorn a bench of bishops?
I’d like to ask about the following sentence from "The Illustrious Client" by Conan Doyle.
A butler, who would have adorned a bench of bishops, showed me in and…
I wanted to know what ...
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4
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Which does this part refer to, a pencil or the words?
I’d like to ask about the sentence in The Red Circle by Conan Doyle.
The words are written with a broad-pointed, violet-tinted pencil of a
not unusual pattern.
This is uttered by Holmes when he saw ...
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