ACD's birthday

[mightymads]

Today is the 162nd anniversary of ACD's birthday. For the occasion, here's a quote from the man himself:

"In short stories it has always seemed to me that so long as you produce your dramatic effect, accuracy of detail matters little. I have never striven for it and have made some bad mistakes in consequence. What matter If I can hold my readers? I claim that I may make my own conditions, and I do so. I have taken liberties in some of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I have been told, for example, that in "The Adventure of Silver Blaze," half the characters would have been in jail and the other half warned off the Turf for ever. That does not trouble me in the least when the story is admittedly a fantasy.

It is otherwise where history is brought in. Even in a short story one should be accurate there. In the Brigadier Gerard stories, for example, even the uniforms are correct." © 

 

Comments

[dustbunny105]

This quote really tickles me, since what's stopped me from doing much in the way of Holmes fic has been worrying over historical accuracy.

[mightymads]

I wonder if Holmes stories are great *because* ACD didn't bother too much, just letting his creativity flow. Tried a couple of Brigadier stories, wasn't impressed, tbh.

[dustbunny105]

My immediate thought on reading the top part of the quote was, "Yeah, that seems fair," so I am of that opinion! Doyle knew what kind of stories he wanted to tell with Holmes and they weren't overly grounded in reality.

[luthienberen]

I do love this quote from Doyle! Indeed, he is correct for while we have fun analysing the historical details (or lack thereof) in his Holmes stories, they live on to this day despite inaccuracy and inconsistencies.

For my part, I adore historical accuracy, but I believe it has its place (example, I need to believe your character belongs in the century / era you're writing in and isn't a 20th or 21st Century drop-in!).

The tales of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson resound for me due to their friendship and the unique backdrop of the adventures they partake in, as well as their individual personalities. I would dare to say that Doyle was accurate enough to pull off his tales. If either Holmes or Watson had been less compelling, or their friendship not as it should be, then I think even the most fantastic adventure would ring hollow.

I also think that their professions and social standing were sufficiently "accurate" or "realistic" that any surprising leaps from there were acceptable. Watson had a believable (if not always consistent) background of an army doctor and practice ~ neither of these may have been consistent, but the groundwork was so it worked. The same for Holmes. Sometimes as we have debated mightymads Holmes' deductions are off-base, but they are consistent within his overall character and suit the theme of the story so work.

Thank you for this super celebration of Doyle and the wonderful picture of him! Happy bleated birthday Sir Doyle!

[mightymads]

It's funny that ACD didn't include the time he lived in into history, and thus factual accuracy was not too important for him when he wrote Holmes stories. And Holmes stories, in turn, became an imbodiment of Zeitgeist of the late 19th century.

I'm also glad that he had Holmes fully grounded in a rational world, and that Holmes never turned into a spiritualist. Anyway, most of Holmes stories were accurate enough to inspire further development of forensics and to capture so many minds for so long.

[recently_folded]

*snort* ACD has his moments as a bit of a pompous fraud. That's a really contorted way to say "I dgaf about Holmes and those idiots loved it anyway."

ETA that that's not to say he didn't invent something amazingly durably enthralling with those two characters and the world they live in. I have profound respect for that but, really, a statement like this is an utter insult to Holmes himself.

[mightymads]

That's the point, I think: Holmes and Watson are such compelling characters that details are often secondary. If he had fretted too much about accuracy, such stories like The Speckled Band would have never happened. Who has even heard about Brigadier Gerard except Doyle fans?

ACD might have different views on Holmes throughout his lifetime, and if he belittled his greatest creation, Holmes paid him back with the same coin. Ultimately, ACD didn't gain anything by sneering at Holmes. All he achieved was being sneered at instead.