Chapter 5 Chapter 2 The Best Years

Everything about detective novels comes from Sherlock Holmes. At the end of the 19th century, the British Empire ushered in a female ruler, and also ushered in the most glorious moment since the founding of the country.The ruler was named "Victoria", and this glorious moment is therefore called the "Victorian era". With the relentless global expansion, the symbols of empire appear in every corner of the world.It was a national emblem composed of two mythical beasts—one was a lion in reality, and the other was a legendary unicorn.The lion symbolizes the vast majority of British people: loyal, hardworking, down-to-earth, following the rules, and advocates global colonization and large-scale industrialization; the unicorn represents the "small group" of the British island: supernatural, detached, predictable, neurotic , with an extremely rebellious spirit.

Self-respecting Britons have been looking for the best ambassadors for lions and unicorns to embody the glory of the "Victorian era".In the end, the problem was solved by a writer of detective novels who had become a monk.Holmes is the unicorn, Dr. Watson is the lion, everything is so perfect and fit. "My dear Watson, we should strictly separate the 'impossible' from the 'uncommon' and not confuse them." Whenever Holmes, wearing a deer cap and holding a big pipe, taught his companions like this, we know , Another strange case was solved.Like Hamlet and Horatio in Shakespeare's writings, and Don Quixote and Sancho in Cervantes' writings, this pair of partners renting at 221B Baker Street in London has already surpassed the shackles of genre novels and become people's hearts. classic.

The six-foot-tall, unusually thin, hook-nosed, square-jawed, penetrating-eyed detective, wearing a deer cap, baggy coat, and pipe, gallops across the perfect consciousness of all readers. Regarding the image of Sherlock Holmes, I have to say that it was caused by accidents. The Sherlock Holmes stories were published primarily in The Shore Magazine, a magazine that was very keen to illustrate the stories.The magazine was going to hand over the illustrations to a young painter named Padgett.But the Padgett family had two established painters—brother Sidney Padgett and younger brother Walter Padgett. "Beach Magazine" originally planned to give the job to his younger brother Walter, but the invitation letter was handed to his older brother Sidney for some reason.

After receiving the task, Sidney took his younger brother Walter as a prototype model-the original painter became the object of painting.Today's Sherlock Holmes fans must be lucky--Walter is a good-looking guy--otherwise, we don't know what Sherlock Holmes looks like today--maybe with a full beard! The prototype of Sherlock Holmes has been a hot topic of research for more than a hundred years. The vast majority of people believe that the prototype of the great detective is Conan Doyle's university professor-Joseph Bell.Professor Bell often encouraged Conan Doyle to observe and analyze the patients who came to see him, so as to have a preliminary judgment on the patient's condition before diagnosis.Professor Bell once deduced that a man was a cobbler from the wear and tear of his outer trousers; he also concluded that a British soldier had been stationed in the West Indies from his elephantiasis.Conan Doyle made a lot of notes about Professor Bell, which laid the foundation for the later creation of Sherlock Holmes.

But Conan Doyle's family has always believed that the prototype of Sherlock Holmes is Sir himself.Conan Doyle's logical analysis level is very high, not only in fictional novels, but also in real life, he is also famous all over the world.Conan Doyle cracked many cases in his life and cleared up many people's injustice.His youngest son Adrian Conan Doyle clearly pointed out: "The prototype of Sherlock Holmes is my father-the great Lord Arthur." Of course, people who have read the stories of Sherlock Holmes will not ignore one person-Dubin in Edgar Allan Poe's works.Conan Doyle read Edgar Allan Poe carefully and repeatedly.In "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", Dupin used a series of logical reasoning to analyze the thoughts of his accomplices; in "The Hospitalized Patient" created by Conan Doyle, Sir copied this scene to Sherlock Holmes, allowing the The detective tells the truth about Dr. Watson's inner world-this shows the influence of the image of Dupin on Conan Doyle.

Holmes once said to Watson: "You must think that comparing me with Dupin is a compliment. However, in my opinion, Dupin is really an insignificant guy... He has some analytical genius, but it is by no means love A remarkable figure in Poe's imagination."—Although it is full of irony, it is not difficult to read Conan Doyle's admiration for Poe.Perhaps Jazz has always believed that Holmes in his own pen is the extraordinary figure in Poe's imagination. Mr. Sherlock Holmes made his debut in 1886, and that's how famous he was.After several twists and turns, the story was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887.

After the publication, "Lippincott Magazine" took the initiative to invite the great detective to come out for the second time.Thus, a second story appeared in 1890.In this story, we learn for the first time that Holmes is a drug addict. In 1891, Holmes helped the troubled King of Bohemia get rid of "A Scandal in Bohemia", and met the most respected opponent in his life, Ms. Irene Adler.This incident was later ruthlessly disclosed by "Seaside Magazine", and Holmes became a household name almost overnight.Faced with the increasing demands of readers and the increasing compensation of "Seashore Magazine", Holmes solved more than twenty incidents in a row, and these stories were later collected in two collections of "Adventure History" and "Memoirs".

Afterwards, Detective Sherlock Holmes encounters the greatest danger of his life.In "The Last Case", he and his greatest enemy, Professor James Moriarty, fell into the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, and the world's greatest detective bid farewell to his followers.Of course, people would not accept this ending and expressed strong anger and dissatisfaction.A detective can have such a great charm, so that the British, who have always been known for their reason, are crazy. In 1902, the events that Holmes had solved earlier were made public, rekindling readers' enthusiasm for the detective.In 1903, in the case of "The Empty House", Sherlock Holmes narrowly escaped death, and the greatest detective was resurrected!A new set of stories headed by "The Empty House" came out, and was published in 1905 under the title "Return". In 1915, Holmes successfully solved the case again.

Due to the years, Holmes retreated to the second line and lived in seclusion in Sussex, where he enjoyed beekeeping.Happily, he has moved away from cocaine; even more happily, he has not distanced himself from reasoning. The 1917 and 1927 "New Detectives" told readers about Mr. Holmes' experience of serving his country during the World Wars.So far, all 60 reasoning stories about Sherlock Holmes have been presented to the world.Without exception, these stories have become the "Bible" that records the great achievements of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. "If you eat an egg and think it's delicious, why do you need to know the hen that laid it?"

This is the famous saying of Mr. Qian Zhongshu, but the situation is just the opposite here.It is really necessary for us to have an in-depth understanding of the creator of "Sherlock Holmes". Arthur Conan Doyle, British, author of Sherlock Holmes stories. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, England on May 22, 1895.The Doyle family was a thriving Catholic family.His grandfather John Doyle (1797-1868) was a well-known political satirist cartoonist with the pseudonym "H.B.".John had seven children, but two died before reaching maturity. Among the five children, James Doyle (1822-1892), Richard Doyle (1824-1883) and Henry Doyle (1827-1892) are also successful artists.Richard, in particular, was of great artistic prestige at the time.The youngest son, Charles Altamon Doyle, did not embark on the path of art, and his life was unsuccessful and his situation was rough.However, Charles' son, Conan Doyle, became one of the most recognizable figures in the world.John's daughter was named Anne Martha Doyle (1821-1899), and the family called "Annette".

Conan Doyle attended a local school in his early years.When he was a child, he spent a lot of time on reading, and he covered a lot.In his autobiography "Memories and Adventures", he wrote: "It is said that the library committee once held a special meeting for my affairs, and passed an internal regulation at the meeting, requiring borrowers to change books no more than three times a day." He also enjoys the rough life on the streets, often gets into fights, and always comes out victorious.Mothers do not want their children to be influenced by a bad environment.Although the economy is not well off, she decided to send her son to a good school.Father Charles required his son to attend a Catholic school.Eventually, Conan Doyle enrolled at Stoneyhurst in 1868. Stoneyhurst is a well-known boarding school for Jesuits in England, which has always been known for its strict management.Conan Doyle later did not like to recall this period of boarding school life.For the first two years he attended Hodder's preparatory school.During this period, he was homesick and always depressed.Later, I entered this school, where the education was more stringent, even using medieval terms to restrain students.The courses are also quite dry, including trigonometry, arithmetic, grammar, syntax, poetry, rhetoric, and so on.Conan Doyle read poetry and French novels for pleasure, but had no interest in these subjects at all. Under such an environment, Conan Doyle developed a rebellious psychology and tried his best to break the shackles.He fights boys and flirts with girls in town.As a result, he was punished many times.The school believes that punishment can change students.The most common form of corporal punishment is nine hits on each hand with a rubber rod.After the beating, the hands are often bruised and purple, and it is difficult to complete actions such as opening the door and holding a pen.If the circumstances were serious, the instrument of corporal punishment would be upgraded to a birch whip. During his studies at Stoneyhurst he developed a growing interest in literature.He liked Mayne Reed's novels.Not surprisingly, Reed's adventures were popular with teenagers at the time.He also liked Walter Scott's historical romance novels.Scott is the pioneer of historical novels, and Conan Doyle later created historical novels, and his intention to leave a name in history in this field is also related to the worship of Scott.His greatest passion at this time was the work of Thomas Babington Macaulay, including his poetry.He also started to write poetry, and felt that he not only enjoyed writing poetry, but was really good at it.In his final year at the school, Conan Doyle became editor-in-chief of the school newspaper.He also sent his own poems and plays to his great-uncle in Paris, the famous journalist Michael Kernan.After reading the work, the great-uncle wrote to Doyle's mother: "There is no doubt that he has this talent. I see original ideas and imaginative play between the lines." Conan Doyle later claimed that he was a mediocre student at Stoneyhurst, and that teachers didn't think much of him.However, it can be seen from the teachers' letters to his parents that most teachers have a high evaluation of Conan Doyle.In the higher-level entrance examination after the completion of studies, Conan Doyle's grades were also very good.That is to say, he could enter a university for further study, but his parents and teachers thought he was still young, so the school suggested that he go to the Austrian Voldeki Church Public School for a year. Studying in Austria is much easier than at Stoneyhurst.There are warm dormitories and delicious meals.At this time, he came into contact with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, including "The Gold Bug" and so on.One of the strangest things to happen in Austria was Conan Doyle's inclusion in the school band.Strong and strong, he was chosen to play the bass tuba. Although Conan Doyle's literary talent was accepted by his family, but facing the financial situation of his family, what he needed to do was how to earn money to support his family.So, after some discussion among family members, it was suggested that he go to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine.Because he couldn't afford tuition, Conan Doyle decided to apply for a scholarship.He successfully won a scholarship, but by mistake, the money has already been given to someone else.In desperation, he accepted a small grant and entered the University of Edinburgh. In 1885, Conan Doyle received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Edinburgh.After several twists and turns, he started to operate a private clinic.One day this year, Conan Doyle's good friend Dr. William Parker asked him to consult a young patient.The patient's name was Jack Hawkins.The diagnosis was meningitis, and I was exhausted.The young man lives in a rented apartment with his mother and sister Louise.But because of his illness, the landlord did not want them to continue living.A family of three is homeless, and Dr. Parker suggests that they move to Conan Doyle's clinic, which can also increase Conan Doyle's income.A few days later, Jack Hawkins died. Conan Doyle admired her elder sister Louise's meticulous care for her younger brother.The two fell in love with each other and got engaged within a month.In the same year, the two tied the knot and went to Ireland for their honeymoon.Doyle's mother was frustrated because she wanted to find a wealthy family for her son.However, Conan Doyle liked his wife very much, calling her "Tuyi", saying that she was "a very gentle and kind girl" and "no one would have a more gentle and kind partner than her".Louise is sympathetic and doesn't like publicity. Facts have proved that Conan Doyle as a doctor is quite "bad".He sat in the clinic all day doing nothing, and no patient came to the door.One day, a man came into the clinic coughing.Just as Conan Doyle was about to diagnose him, the visitor explained that he was here to collect the gas bill.For most of the fall, he sat in his clinic waiting for patients to come to him.He recalled: "At night, when all hope of a patient coming was gone, I would lock the door of the house and go out and walk miles to let off steam. Sometimes I didn't come home until dawn." Detective fiction has achieved what it is today, and it must be grateful to the physical fitness of the citizens of the British Empire at that time.The clinic run by Conan Doyle was empty.Forced by life, he had to find another way out.He loved literature since he was a child, and he chose to write detective novels because he regarded Edgar Allan Poe as his idol.Since then, the medical field has lost a crappy down-and-out doctor, and the detective field has gained an epoch-making immortal talent. After they got married, the couple bought a large scrapbook for pasting newspaper clippings and writing notes.Among Conan Doyle's notes are the following sentences: "I read Gabrielo's detective story, Le Coq Detective, and there is a story about the murder of an old lady whose name I forget ( After he checked it, he added The Murder of Le Roux) and it was all well written, like Wilkie Collins, better than Collins." There are also fragments of sentences like this: "The sleeve of the coat, the knee part of the trouser leg, the hardened skin of the thumb and forefinger, the boot—any one of these can give us a clue. If all these are added up, it is impossible not to describe the truth. And a complete picture." It can be seen that Conan Doyle began to conceive a detective novel. At the beginning of 1886, Conan Doyle began to create his first novel - "a mess", the two protagonists are Sheridan Hope and Ormond Shack.The final draft was named, and the protagonists became the familiar Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (Dr. Watson's name comes from James Watson, a friend of Conan Doyle). At the end of April 1886, the novel was finally completed.Conan Doyle sent it to Cornhill Magazine.A month later, the editor of the magazine wrote back saying that the novel could not be published, that it was too long for a magazine issue, and suggested sending it to the publishing house. So Conan Doyle sent the manuscript to Arrow Smith Press.Although the reply was polite, he flatly refused, thinking that the level of the novel was not up to standard for a famous publishing house like theirs. The doctor was not discouraged, and sent the manuscript to Fred Vaughan Publishing House, which was also not appreciated. Conan Doyle expressed his dismay in his letters to his mother, but he remained confident that his novel would bear fruit.He approached Ward Locke, and things seemed to turn around.The editor-in-chief of the publishing house, Professor Bettany, has no time to read these "little works", but his wife is a lover of literature, and often reads the works of newcomers instead of her husband.She read it in one night. The next day, she ran to her husband's office and exclaimed, "This is a natural novelist! You can't imagine how good his novels are!" A few days later, the professor finished reading it and felt very good, so he asked the director for advice.There was no such thing as "detective fiction" at the time, so the board positioned it as "cheap literature" and figured someone would read it.So the publisher wrote to Conan Doyle to tell Conan Doyle that the work would be published next year, and paid £25 for this and possible future publications. This condition is too harsh, and Conan Doyle is also very unhappy about the positioning of the novel.However, he had no choice but to accept it. Published in Beeton's Christmas Annual, winter 1887.Now this annual has become a favorite of collectors, with only about 30 volumes known to exist in the world, and the estimated price of a good annual is as high as US$150,000. Needless to say the following stories, because Conan Doyle's experience has since merged with Sherlock Holmes' experience.We just need to know two things: First, the manuscript fee was 25 pounds; when it came to "Adventure History", it became 50 pounds per article; "Memoirs" paid 1,000 pounds for 12 articles; £1!You know, the pound was an absolute hard currency at that time, and the purchasing power of 1 pound was equivalent to 80 pounds now! Second, Arthur Conan Doyle was knighted by the Queen of England in 1902 for his defense of the government's war in South Africa.However, no one can tell how much Holmes' influence played in this knighting process. His wife Louise gave birth to a son and a daughter for Conan Doyle, but unfortunately his son Kingsley died before he was 30 years old. In 1906, Louise died. In 1907, Conan Doyle married Jenny Leckie.Lackey gave birth to Conan Doyle's youngest son, Adrian Conan Doyle.The father doted on Adrian very much and left almost all his property and all authorship to his youngest son. In his later years, Conan Doyle became a staunch supporter of "spiritualism", and he gave speeches everywhere to promote his views. On July 7, 1930, the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died at the age of 71.On the jazz's tombstone, the clear writing accurately summed up his life: "True as steel, honest as a sword." According to incomplete statistics, so far, there are about 10,000 parodies (departments) of Sherlock Holmes; more than 3,000 episodes of various film and television works; and various comments about the phenomenon of Sherlock Holmes are even more difficult to count.In the West, there is a discipline called "Sherlock Holmes", which specializes in various researches related to Sherlock Holmes, which is unique in the field of detective novels. In Europe, in the United States, in Japan, and in every corner of the world, there are professional Sherlock Holmes fan clubs, which often hold various activities.Among these Sherlock Holmes fans, there are super figures such as Churchill, Roosevelt, and de Gaulle who can determine the fate of the world.With such strong support above, the greatest detective Sherlock Holmes can certainly spread the fire of detective novels to the whole world. Why Sherlock Holmes?Why wasn't another detective popularizing detective fiction at another time?I think, apart from the needless factors such as text and style of writing, the background of the times plays a decisive role here. Although the timing of the events does not exactly coincide, there is no doubt that Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is undoubtedly the most perfect spokesperson for the Victorian era. So what does that era mean? In 1837, an innocent 18-year-old girl attacked the British throne.Queen Victoria (1819-1901) full name Alexandrina Victoria.His father, Edward, Duke of Kent, was the fourth son of King George III, and his mother was Princess Victoria of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Germany. In 1840 she married her cousin Albert of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family. The Victorian era is called the Golden Age by historians.At that time, about 400 to 500 million people in the world (equivalent to 1/4 of the global population at that time) were the subjects of the British Empire; its territory was about 30 million square kilometers, which was 20% of the world's total land area.Spread from the British Isles to Gambia, Newfoundland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, India, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Malta and countless islands, the British Empire has 24 time zones on the earth territory.Therefore, the British Empire is also known as the "Empire on which the sun never sets". At this time, it coincided with the completion of the British Industrial Revolution and the establishment of the factory system.Industrialization has promoted the rapid development of productivity.From the point of view of the main economic development indicators, in 1848 the British iron output had exceeded the sum of all countries in the world, coal accounted for 2/3 of the world's total, and cotton cloth accounted for more than 1/2. In 1851, the UK's GNP was 523 million pounds, and by 1870 it had risen to 916 million pounds.As far as the horizontal comparison of per capita national income is concerned, the per capita national income of Britain in the mid-19th century was 32.6 pounds, that of France was 21.2 pounds, and that of Germany was 13.3 pounds. The Victorian era was also a period of great cultural prosperity.People bought paintings, looked at them, read about them, and argued about art with more fervor than ever before.The life of most painters in this era was better than that of painters before and after.Art journals were published in large numbers, and private galleries appeared in large numbers.Literary and artistic works, such as poetry and novels, are also sought after, and many great writers have emerged. "This artistic element in the blood is apt to have the most curious hereditary form," says Holmes in The Greek Interpreter.He likes to play the violin and listen to music, and his grandmother is the younger sister of the French painter Vernay.Watson hastily concluded that he had no literary knowledge when he did not fully understand Holmes, but it later proved that Holmes quoted all the classics at his fingertips.He is a cultural product of the Victorian era, and he is the cultural epitome of this era. To sum up, the appearance of Sherlock Holmes in this era is already destined to become a legend.He is no longer just a detective, not only representing rationality and rigor, he is a product of the Victorian era, a symbol of prosperity, affluence, stability and idealism.Readers may forget a certain incident that Holmes has dealt with, but no one can ignore the galloping four-wheeled carriage, the gas lamp that stays on all night, the telegraph and the train that just entered the public's sight. Every Chinese is proud of the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and every Chinese has the ideal of "returning to the Tang Dynasty". A plot that is infinitely nostalgic and destined not to be replicated. Therefore, Holmes must be immortal. The story of Sherlock Holmes played a decisive role in the development of western detective novels.It is no exaggeration to say that any subsequent detective works follow the route set by Conan Doyle. The story of Sherlock Holmes sets three models, which can be summarized as: "mystery" as the foundation; "country" as the foundation; and "people" as the foundation. It is easiest to understand based on "mysteries", that is, the core of detective novels lies in the setting and solution of mysteries.All the works of the golden age of detective novels, Japanese Benge and Neo-Benge works, and today’s works such as "The Da Vinci Code" are all created based on this principle. The "country" based on "country" refers to the social background in a broad sense.It is not difficult to find that most of Sherlock Holmes' experiences are related to the era and social background - the privacy of those in power, money transactions, moral betrayal, ethical condemnation... Behind the mystery, the decisive factor is often the good and evil of human nature.And Conan Doyle also pays special attention to the exposure of human nature.This point is best demonstrated in the later works of Western hardliners and Japanese socialists. The former genre even launched a "black revolution", ending the golden age that lasted for thirty years. The "people" orientation is mainly reflected in the exaggeration of Sherlock Holmes's personal heroism.His wisdom, courage, thoughts, and even his shortcomings all have a huge impact on readers.The strong portrayal of the protagonist is very common in later detective works, and many creators are even complacent that their characters have more eccentricities.Measured in a broad sense, this "people"-oriented spirit is almost abused in the "007 series" and Hollywood blockbusters. The greatness of Sherlock Holmes lies in that he hardly left even a little room for later writers to move, and basically exhausted all the creative directions of detective novels.But who dares to express dissatisfaction?He is "Mr. Sherlock Holmes"! Based on these, for quite a long time afterwards, "copying" Sherlock Holmes became the only proposition for all creators.Ever since, we saw a detective world belonging to "Sherlock Holmes".