Possibly more than any other, Sherlock Holmes seems to be the one fictional character people try to understand on a nonfiction level. This is the result of the nearly perfect character that strives for justice and thrives on the thrill of the chase. But this result was also fueled by the era of Sherlock Holmes’s creation.
How Art Imitated Life
Mr. Lycett demonstrates how Holmes presented London and, more broadly, England during the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. The author briefly mentions Conan Doyle’s early days as a doctor on a whaling vessel in the Arctic and on a trading vessel in West Africa. He took up photography as a hobby, which honed his eye for detail. More importantly, his experiences lent him the opportunity to write both fiction and nonfiction articles. Mr. Lycett consistently indicates how Conan Doyle’s experiences show up within the details of his detective stories.
The author showcases many aspects of Conan Doyle’s life, like his interest in science, sports, and even politics. Understanding the fictional character’s creator enables Holmes fans to better understand the detective. “It is true that Holmes followed no obvious political party,” Mr. Lycett writes. “But there is little doubt about his general orientation. He was a liberal imperialist, like the man who created him.” It may be this political ambiguity that contributes to the detective’s ongoing appeal.
Science, Art, and Sport
As Mr. Lycett notes, perhaps the most striking influence on Conan Doyle’s fiction was science. Born the year that Charles Darwin published his work “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, Conan Doyle grew up amid changing scientific perspectives and major philosophical shifts. “Underpinned by the insights of Enlightenment philosophers, who stressed scepticism, rationality, and empiricism, the spirit of scientific experimentation and enquiry had thoroughly permeated British society by the Victorian era,” writes Mr. Lycett. “This was the spirit which inspired Sherlock Holmes.”Anyone who’s watched a Holmes film or TV episode may recall the detective playing or picking away at his violin as he whiles away time or delves deep into thought. Conan Doyle, however, hardly possessed an interest in concert music; nor, as Mr. Lycett notes, was he an artist (aside from writing, of course). Reading any of the adventures of Holmes and Watson, one would think that art was a fundamental for Conan Doyle. Yet considering the era and place in which the creator lived, art―from musicians to painters―was fundamental to Holmes. “One thing is clear,” the author writes, “Holmes channelled a considerable appreciation of art into his calling as a detective.”
The Creator Reflecting the Creation
Interestingly, it wasn’t always Holmes reflecting Conan Doyle, but the creator also used the prestige and influence accumulated through his creation. As Holmes was preeminently known for his dogged pursuit of justice, his creator found himself walking in his detective’s shoes. “After becoming a household name, Conan Doyle increasingly used his reputation to push for changes on public issues,” the author writes, adding that “he himself often turned detective and tried to right obvious injustices.”An appealing aspect of the book is Lycett’s analytical approach to two highly analytical figures (one real and one fictive). It is a thorough investigation into how the outside world of Conan Doyle created the world of Sherlock Holmes and, inversely, how the world of Sherlock Holmes influenced, to some extent―and to a large extent in English literature―the world in which we live. As Mr. Lycett writes: “Although Holmes is so much a creature of the fog-ridden age in which he was created, he is also of all times.”
