O'Neal,+Ben

__The Original Illustrated Shelock Holmes__ by Arthur Conan Doyle

Hi, my name is Ben O'Neal, and I'm reading __The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes__ by Arthur Conan Doyle. I chose this book because i enjoy mystery stories and Sherlock Holmes. My mother found this book at a bookstore for seven dollars and so she bought it for me. The first short story is called __A Scandal In Bohemia__. The story is told by Holmes's best friend Watson. Holmes is sitting at home when the post man arrives with a letter. The mysterious note tells Holmes that he will have an important visitor soon. The next day there was a knock at the door. A man came in with an embarrassing case for Holmes to solve. The man was Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, hereditary King of Bohemia. The Duke's problem was a woman by the name of Irene Adler. She had a picture of the Duke and herself hugging and smiling. The problem was, the Duke was about to be married and Irene threatened to show the picture to his fiance if he went through with it. Holmes started by following Irene out of her house to see what she would do normally. The plan took a right turn when Holmes observed a man by the name of Godfrey Norton enter her house. Holmes discovered that this man was a lawyer. The first thought that went through Holmes's head was that Irene was going to give the picture to Godfrey. Holmes continued to follow the two and they ended up at a church. Holmes allowed the two to walk in before he followed. Irene and Godfrey ended up getting married. The Duke thought it was all over but Holmes still wanted to make sure. Holmes and Watson went to Irene's house and put on a skit of sorts that had Holmes in her house in minutes. Watson threw a smoke bomb into the house yelling fire. Irene thought the house was on fire so she ran to grab the picture out the hiding spot. Homes then knew where the picture was located. The next day he went to the house and retrieved the picture for the Duke. The Duke then rewarded Holmes for his beautiful work. I didn't think the book would start off with a mystery that didn't include killing but i still enjoyed the plans and thinking Holmes contributed to the case. I can't wait to find out what happens with Holmes in his next story.

__Blog__ 2 10/8/11 Pages Read- 14 Story Name- The Red-Headed League

In the last short story I read, a man named Mr. Jabez Wilson came to Sherlock Holmes with an unusual case. Mr. Wilson said that he had joined a League called the Red-Headed League. The league consisted of men with full heads of pure red hair. He also stated that he was given the job of rewriting the "Encyclopedia Britannica". Mr. Wilson then told Holmes that one day when he had gone to work, there was a sign announcing that the Red-Headed League was finished. Holmes told the man that he would have the case solved in two days tops. After Mr. Wilson had left Holmes told Watson not to disturb him for at least fifty minutes. Just as Holmes had sat down, he stood and told Watson to grab his hat for they were going to a concert. Holmes walked past the door of Mr. Wilson and tapped his cane on the ground. He then knocked on the door and Mr. Wilson's assistant came to the door. Holmes go directions to the theater and thanked the man. After the concert Holmes gathered the police chief, Watson, and the owner of the bank, went to the vault of the bank, and then proceeded staking out waiting for the perpetrators. All of a sudden a block on the floor of the vault began to rise. Holmes grabbed the man coming out of the hole and explained there were officers waiting at the end of the tunnel for the other man. Holmes told everyone that it was the assistant to Mr. Wilson. The assistant had been working for the Mr. Wilson for only a month. He also stated that the head of the Red-Headed League and the assistant had been working together to get Wilson out of the way to dig a tunnel for the cellar of Wilson's House to the bank. It had taken them at least a month. Holmes once again solved another mystery.

Describe a Character- Sherlock Holmes- Sherlock Holmes is a tall, slender man with a nose shaped like a hook. Holmes' actions are mostly what define him. At one moment he will be hard at work and the next he will be sitting and listening to a orchestra concert wave his hands to the music. His sleuthing methods are also at best, peculiar. He has the best yet weirdest way of solving cases. He isn't like Batman roaming in the dark, plunging out of shadows. He, more or less, wants to be right in the middle of the action and be a major part when the plan comes to an end.

My thoughts on the book are way different then i thought they would be. I think this book is amazing when it ties the pieces of the mysteries together. I did think that the book would have stared out with a more violent case to really grab the reader. Instead the book grabs the reader by showing how distant Holmes can be from people and how twisted his methods can be. I can't wait to read the next short story, "A Case Of Identity".

Blog 3 10/18/11 Pages Read- 12 Story Name- A Case Of Identity

In this story, Sherlock Holmes is faced with the case of a missing person. Miss Mary Sutherland walked in to his home and told him about her missing lover. She met him at a dance and right away they decided to get married. Her father in law said he didn't agree with her dating. It turns out the missing man, Mr. Hosmer Angel, was actually the ladies father in law in disguise. His motive was as follows; he wanted his new wife's money but if the daughter married someone, he would lose half of his share of the money. The father in law dressed up as Hosmer Angel and tricked her by having Mary Sutherland promise to never love anyone but him. Hosmer then "disappeared". This way the father in law would get all of the money and not have to share it.

Describe a Character- Watson- Watson is a doctor that works with Holmes. He is very smart but not as smart as Holmes. Watson is happily married but he does go off with Holmes to get a break from work.

My thoughts on this book as a whole have stayed the same so far. The book is mainly centered on deceiving people and easy cases. I hope the book takes a turn towards more intense cases. I can't wait to read the next story, "The Boscombe Valley Mystery".

Blog 4 12/3/11 Pages Read- 16 Story Name- The Boscombe Valley Mystery

In this short story, Holmes and Watson are faced with a murder mystery. A boy ,James McCarthy, has been convicted of his father's, Mr. Charles McCarthy murder. Police officials believe he is the killer because he was having an intense argument with his father right before he died. The boy claims he had just come home from a trip and he saw his father walk into the woods. He followed him to see what he was doing. The boy started to walk away when all of a sudden he heard his father cry in pain. He turned and ran to his father's body. He also pointed out that he had seen a jacket lying on the ground. Holmes went to crime scene and found footprints and some tobacco. Holmes deduced the man was crippled because one footprint was deeper than the other. Holmes then found the killer, Mr. John Turner. He killed Charles because Charles was practically forcing his son to marry John's daughter. It drove him mad so he killed him.

Describe a Character- Mr.John Turner- He is an old, crippled man. He has little to no hair and a long gray beard. He walks slowly with a cane. He cares very much about his daughter, maybe too much.

My thoughts on this book have changed immensely. This is the first murder case and it was very exciting. I still love the way Holmes puts thing together just right so he can nab the criminal. I am can't wait to sit down and read the next story, "The Five Orange Pips."

Blog 5 12/3/11 Pages Read-11 Story Name- The Five Orange Pips

This story is about a man,John Openshaw, that inherits a house from his father, Joseph Openshaw, who received it from his father. The only problem was, the family was "cursed". The man's grandfather was at home one day when he received a letter with 5 orange pips,or seeds. The letter was marked with the letters "KKK". Later the Grandfather died.The papers said it was "an accident" but Joseph Openshaw thought something was up. When the father grew up he had a son, John. One day Joseph received a letter containing 5 orange pips with the letters "KKK" on it. A few days later he died by "an accident" as well. John then told Holmes he had received a letter containing the pips and the letters. Holmes went to investigate but by the time he was at John's house John was dead. Holmes never found out who it was.

Describe a Character-

My thoughts on this book have grown. This mystery has left me wanting more of Holmes' story. This mystery was one of the most bizarre mysteries I have ever read. I am so excited to read "The Man With The Twisted Lip."

Blog 6 12/4/11 Pages Read- 14 Story Name- The Man With The Twisted Lip

In this story, a woman named Kate Whitney comes to Watson's house to see his wife. The lady said she had seen her husband disappear. She also said a homeless man had been picked up for his murder. Watson told Holmes the strange story of the husbands disappearance and immediately Holmes was interested. Holmes found out that the husband had been working for a newspaper. The man had been working on a story about the homeless and he was pretending to be a homeless man to find out what it was really like. Holmes then decided to take a trip to the jail to see the homeless man. He went up to the homeless man and took a sponge and "cleaned" his face. A mask fell right off. The man was the news writer that was supposedly murdered. He said he was making so much money that he decided to stay. One day his wife came and saw him changing, so he closed the door, cut himself on some glass, and then climbed out the window. The wife opened the door and saw the "homeless" man out the window.

Describe a Character- The Homeless Man- This man has orange hair, a pale face with a horrible scar, a turned up lip from the scar, a bull-dog chin, and a pair of dark scary eyes. He is known as a professional beggar. He wears a tattered coat and a greasy hat for money.

My thoughts on this book are about the same. The cases keep getting weirder. I like the cases were there is a crazy turn of events in the story. I can't wait to tell you about the next story, "The Adventure Of The Blue Carbuncle"

Blog 7 12/4/11 Pages Read- 12 Story Name- The Adventure Of The Blue Carbuncle

This particular story is very short. Holmes was at home staring at a hat when suddenly Watson walked in. Holmes told Watson that he had a visit from the inspector. The inspector brought in a hat and a goose and told Holmes that he had seen a bunch of guys beating up and old man. This old man was carrying a goose. The man ran into a ladder to try to get away from the men. The ladder fell and broke a store window and the inspector ran towards the men to help the man with the goose. The men ran off and so did the goose man because he thought he was in trouble for the window. The inspector came back with more news the next day. HE and his wife decided to eat the goose and while eating it they found a diamond belonging to the Countess of Morcar. Holmes decided to retrace the steps of the goose. He ended up with the man that stole the diamond, John Ryder. He said he wanted to get the diamond to his cousin, so he stuffed it into a goose that he received from his sister. Before he left his sister's house, he talked for awhile. When he turned to leave, he had forgotten Which goose was his. He picked the wrong one and the right goose ended in the inspector's hands.

Describe a character- The goose- nice fat goose with a weird tail. The goose's tail was barred.

This story was so weird. Who sticks a diamond into a goose? I think i would have been easier to just mail it or put it in his pocket and take it there. Instead he would have had to eaten the bird, found the diamond (or eaten it too), and then sold it for a lot of money. The next story I'm going to read is "The Adventure Of The Speckled Band."

Blog 8 12/4/11 Pages Read- 15 Story Name- The Adventure Of The Speckled Band

Holmes and Watson were sitting at home when a lady walked in and told them about her sister's death. She said her sister said she saw a speckled band right before she died. Holmes and Watson went to her house and found that her stepfather was a kind of crazy man with a short temper. Holmes also found that the father was into wild dangerous animals. The father owned a cheetah and a baboon. Holmes then found that the father had installed a rope in the deceased's room that was used to call the maid. Holmes found that the rope called a large snake. Holmes beat back the snake. Furious, the snake slithered its way to the father's room and killedhim. It was the father all along. He was such an angry man he would kill his own daughter.

Describe A Character- There were no new characters to describe and none of the present characters have changed.

My thoughts on this book are the same. This particular story was weird because I was thinking who is crazy and angry enough to kill their own daughter. The fact that he had a baboon was cool though. I think Sherlock Holmes is one of the best group of stories I have ever read.

Blog 9 "The Final Blog" 12/4/11 Pages Read-..............None because this is the last one. And there is no story name........ sadly :(

Sherlock Holmes. Fighting bad guys, solving mysteries, and somehow finding time to smoke his pipe. Dr. Watson. A nice man with a hankering for another one of Holmes' fantastic mysteries. Put them together and you get a dynamic duo of awesome. Solving crimes no matter what the cost. I have read some amazing stories about these two and now I'm going to sum it all down for you. First I will tell you about Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes is a very smart, very observant sleuth. He has only been defeated about four times. His major flaw would have to be his lack of people skills.He has no real friends besides Watson and he can be a real jerk sometimes. One of his best qualities is his observation skills. He can look around a room and notice 50 things when a normal person might be able to find ten. There is no real theme to this book because it's just a bunch of short stories. Mystery is really the main idea of this book. The mystery style is also very amazing. The way Holmes solves mysteries can be obscene but he is still very cool.

The author of this book, Arthur Conan Doyle, uses a very awesome form of writing. Since the stories take place back in old English times, he uses a more sophisticated form of writing. The only real weakness I could find while reading were the large words that I couldn't understand. I had to read back and put pieces together to understand.

And finally, my rating for this book is eight out of ten stars. I gave it this rating because it was an excellent book but there were those books and it could drag on for a while and the pages were in two columns and so it took a long time to read one page. Other than that it was great.

This book was an amazing experience for me. I learned how to talk in old English speech and had so much fun because I like mystery. I hope you decide to read this book after all I have said. If not you are so very silly.