Sherlock Holmes: Is it kidlit?
Reading Nicholas Meyer's The West End Horror
Recently, I found a copy of The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D, as edited by Nicholas Meyer at a small antique shop in Mifflinburg, PA. Three things about this novel captured my fancy:
The claim that the story is an unearthed manuscript from Dr. Watson.
The back cover photo and bio line—“He is thirty and a bachelor.”—made me laugh.
Nicholas Meyer directed and was the uncredited writer of one of my all-time favorite movies, Star Trek: The Wrath Khan.
So, on the strength of all of the above, I handed over one hard-earned dollar to the shop's proprietor. As I left with the book, I reflected on Sherlock Holmes' impact on me as a child.
I'm not sure when I first read a Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I would be twenty-one years old before I'd read all of his adventures in The Complete Sherlock Holmes). And yet, the character was so ubiquitous I've always felt I've known him. It's much like James Bond—or even Santa Claus. You can't escape him. Popular culture is replete with references. For a small, humorous example, here's Peter Brady of the Brady Bunch in 1973 …
Much like Peter. I wanted to be Holmes. And from time to time, I fancied myself the Great Detective. It's interesting how kids latch onto fiction initially written for adults. Along with television and movies, the comics I consumed as a kid also had their versions of Sherlock Holmes. Here are a couple comics from the 70s that I owned:
…and…
All of this is to say, I got to wondering, as I wandered back to my car, whether Sherlock Holmes could be considered kidlit. There's a lot about the character that's appealing to kids. The mystery. The charm. The "super-heroic" powers of deduction. The crime-fighting duo. The era and the city itself seem mythic.
Now, this being 2024, when I got home, I naturally went to the web and asked Google AI to answer this question for me. Its response was unequivocal:
No, the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are not considered "kid lit" as they often contain themes of violence, death, and complex language that might be too mature for younger children, although adapted versions specifically designed for kids do exist; for younger readers, it's best to look for child-friendly retellings of Sherlock Holmes stories.
Being human—and a natural contrarian at that—I can't say I was fully satisfied with this answer. In fact, it amused me some days later when I listened to an interview with Nicholas Meyer himself, who recounted how his love for Holmes went back to age eleven when his father gave him the books to read! So stick that into your algorithms, Google AI!
What do you think? Can the original stories be considered kidlit? Also, do you remember when you first "met" Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson? For my life, I can't!
So, what did I think of Nicholas Meyer's novel? Did I like it?
I absolutely loved the conceit behind the novel and the great length Meyer goes to give it the illusion of authenticity, down to having footnotes where he as the editor remarks on the accuracy of Watson's account. It's worth reading the acknowledgments and watching some YouTube interviews just to appreciate the work that went into creating these. They fit superbly into the original canon. Meyer makes it easy to believe Holmes existed. Which is exactly what I want in a Holmes novel. I want to believe! Honestly, if you're going to believe in something outrageous, isn't this more entertaining than, say, Bigfoot? I think so.
The characters are all charming and three-dimensional. I appreciate that his Dr. Watson isn't a dunce. The interaction between our detective duo and historical notables such as Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde is great fun. If I had a quibble, it's that the mystery wasn't all that hard for this reader to figure out. But, for me, that's a small thing. Even though it was written decades ago, the story felt fresh and relevant.
To date, Meyer has written five Holmes novels. The first, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, was published in 1974. It was a New York Times bestseller and became a movie for which he also wrote a screenplay. His latest, The Return of the Pharaoh, came out only a few years ago, in 2021. I'm now on the hunt for the complete collection. The game’s, as they say, afoot!
Until next time, Always Be Creating!
—Bill
As an aside, I've been tempted to delve into the Enola Holmes Mysteries, specifically designed for a younger audience. I've enjoyed the Netflix series. If you've read the novels, let me know what you think!