Guest Posts

(November 1, 2013) Halloween &  Unhappy Birthday, Moriarty! Today’s widespread admiration for villains and criminals noticeable in contemporary literature, film as well as in society brought into my focus one earlier Sherlockian society. Let’s quote from Dr Watson’s notes, as he his own experience with “those injudicious champions who have endeavored to clear his [ie. Moriarty’s] memory”: I t is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished… My hand has been forced, however, by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother, and I have no choice but to lay the facts before the public exactly as they occurred. I alone know the absolute truth of the matter, and I am satisfied that the time has come when no good purpose is to be served by its suppression… As to the gang [of Professor Moriarty], it w

(November 18, 2013) Sherlock Holmes, the compassionate detective             Sherlock Holmes is the most well-known detective in the world, who had been already studied countless times from thousands of aspects. In this writing I would like to deal with one of his characteristics. My thoughts are based on the original stories and the Sherlock Holmes series of Granada Television – the reason for the latter is quite simple: it is my favourite adaptation and it is the most faithful to the Canon.             First of all the title of my article needs some explanation. Being compassionate means that one feels with those who suffer. „According to Buddhism for a man to be perfect there are two qualities that he should develop equally: compassion on one side and wisdom on the other. Here compassion represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or the qualities

(October 29, 2013) Sherlock Holmes in Japan by Vasudev Murthy writing as Akira Yamashita The “Great Hiatus” – as the period after “The Final Problem” with the famous Reichenbach Fall until “The Empty House” is called by Sherlock Holmes aficionados – covering three years of the Great Detective alleged death between May 1891 and April 1894 is a time span inviting all apocrypha writers. It represents a challenge for them. Some handle it in less successfully, others better. However, Vasudev Murthy made a perfect performance and succeeded in rising to the occasion. Like a virtuoso playing his Stradivarius. Every writer brings into his narration both his canonical as well as personal knowledge, experience, liking... The same is valid for Vasudev Murthy. As an Indian classical violinist he involved India and music into the story. And working for a Japanese company helped him to incorporate Japan and its tradition and culture there, too. All that he shares with his readers in an